The Power of Understanding People: The Key to Strengthening Relationships, Increasing Sales, and Enhancing Organizational Performance

by Dave Mitchell

How to build lasting connections through meaningful communication Developing successful relationships is critical to our success in both our personal and professional lives. The Power of Understanding People shows you how to establish and develop extremely effective relationships by providing you with techniques to better identify and understand the intrinsic needs of others. As a result, you will achieve better team dynamics, increased sales and client satisfaction, higher levels of employee engagement and performance, and even more satisfying marriages and friendships. This book provides the tools to understand others' unique communication style as well as your own. Get detailed advice on how to adjust to diverse communication styles, develop a unifying language for the organization, and better match motivational techniques to team members. Through storytelling and experiential exercises, author Dave Mitchell helps you gain insight into your own unique interaction style and teaches you how to communicate, motivate, sell, and service more successfully no matter the personality types involved.

Offers insight into the behavior cues and questions to ask to better understand someone's interactive preferences Explains how to enhance your sales efforts by better targeting your brand message to the client's style so that your products/services resonate with them more Examines strategies for creating a high performing work environment and achieve greater customer service excellence Contains conflict resolution strategies, including how to effectively work out differences within a team, between work units, with customers, and even in your personal life Armed with the ability to interpret the behavior of the people around you, you will achieve greater levels of success at work and at home while also learning how to better handle the difficult situations involving people in your life.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Psychology, Communication, Self Help, Personal Development, Management

219 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Since founding the Leadership Difference in 1995, over 350,000 people have attended Dave’s “enter-TRAIN-ment” seminars on topics that include leadership, customer service, selling skills, and personal performance enhancement. His clients include Allstate Insurance, Bank of America, Universal Studios, Hilton Worldwide, Sub-Zero Wolf Appliances, Electrolux Appliances, Trek Bikes, Walt Disney World and the CIA. Meetings and Conventions Magazine named Dave among the Top Speakers of 2015. In July 2013, Meeting Professionals International selected him as the Meeting Madness winner for Best Speaker of the Year at their World Education Congress in Las Vegas.

Prior to starting his own organization development consulting firm, Dave was the Vice President of Human Resources and Quality for Buena Vista Hospitality Group, Corporate Director of Training and Development for Marshall Field’s and a television reporter and producer for CBS News. He has a B.A. in Mass-Communications with an emphasis in Business Administration and a Masters Degree in Global Human Resources Development. Dave has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois and designated as a Certified Advanced Wine Sommelier by the International Wine Guild. Having failed to achieve his dream of playing professional baseball, he went on to a successful coaching career at the tee ball level.

Dave is the author of the book Live and Learn or Die Stupid! The book focuses on personal contentment and performance excellence. His second book, The Power of Understanding People, was released in December 2013 and was immediately named Best Business Book of the Month by Amazon. In January 2019, Dave released The Power of Understanding Yourself.

Dave lives in the heart of Washington wine country with his wife of 33 years, Lori; has two adult children, Brooke and Slade; three horses, two dogs, two cats and the occasional cow.

Reviews

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find people fascinating. I love learning about what makes people tick, why they do what they do, and how that works itself out in a world full of unique personalities. Dave Mitchell provides an informative, educated, and down-right entertaining look at the Jungian personality types--through the lens of the Hollywood stereotype. You might be a Hired Gun (think James Bond), a Crusader (think Costner or Crowe as Robin Hood), a Best Friend (think Sandra Bullock), or a Detective (think MacGyver). His book includes a brief assessment which allows the reader to determine their "character type"--and then, you simply "nod and grin", as you read about yourself. Or just for fun, have your spouse take the assessment (I did!). Dave's insights help you understand how you can better to relate to others--and how they relate to you. Whether in a corporate setting or on the home front, understanding people IS powerful.

This book is a must-read and one to which I will refer, time and time again.

And, I'm the Best Friend...I like that.

[Amanda Molina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

Easy read and great content. It helps develop you and your team if skills learned are used properly. The authors humor also gets me!

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is written in a very engaging style. We get entertaining stories as the author describes each main group (Romantic, Warrior, Expert, Mastermind) and more funny stories when he combines the test taker's top two perception styles, and compares these people to "Hollywood Styles": Meg Ryan as the Love Interest [romantic-mastermind]; James Bond as the Hired Gun [warrior-mastermind], Captain Kirk as the Adventurer [mastermind-warrior], and Audrey Hepburn as The Voice of Reason [expert-romantic]

Those in my group who've read the book all think the Main perceptions are spot-on: romantics want world peace, warriors want world domination, experts want all the facts, and masterminds want the pretty shiny, but we find some of the styles are hit or miss. The "love interest" in our group is spot-on, but the Adventurer (me) is not hitting all of the bullet points. He also uses the same characters for a couple different combinations: Jennifer Lawrence, Angelina Jolie, & Jodie Foster are all used to illustrate a couple different characters each; the Katniss Everdeen character as both the Crusader and Hired Gun...maybe the character arc as the series progresses?

Some of the best takeaways I received from the book were how to provide service, sell to,and de-escalate conflict amongst the different perception styles. I use this part as a training guide for my employees.

[Jethro Jacinto · Rating 5 out of 5]

You should never quit working on your communication skills- personally or professionally. I know I will re-read and reference 'The Power of Understanding People; for many years. Depending on the types situations and difficulties I may be navigating through, the insights provide a way to understand how to approach people and personalities in a more meaningful way. I feel like the key is the ability to guide myself to more positive outcomes. I highly recommend the book to anyone looking for personal growth and I would hope everyone strives to do that!

[Sonja Coull · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book everyone should read, to better themselves, understand their style and learn how to better interact with others. I’ve read corporate training books before. What I enjoyed about this was the sarcasm and humor interspersed in the writing. It will become one of my reference books whenever I find myself in a challenging topic with a colleague or even my spouse.

I highly recommend.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for anyone to read. This gives you a new perspective on how to interact in not only sales but all relationships in life.

[Omar Armas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had heard before the key concepts in this book, but Dave explain it so clear and easy, that for me, with a very low emotional intelligence level, had helped me to better understand all the people around me who has a different personality.
The quiz, the recommendations to negotiate and scan people, are really useful.

[Nikolas Larum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iconic personality type profiling has been with us for a while. From Hippocrates's humors to Jung's alphabet soup a la Myers-Briggs, these schemas have aided those interested in understanding people to classify them in general categories for greater ease of interaction. If you have spent any time in the corporate world or a modern mega-church, you have no doubt encountered this philosophy. From Humors to DISC to Jung to OCEAN, they all bear a consistent four part root that in spite of physiological evidence still leaves us nodding our heads in agreement. We know these types of personalities exist.
It is a testament to Dave Mitchell's talent that he is able to pick up this well-known paradigm of psychology and breathe fresh life into it through humor, anecdotes, and fresh nameplates on old character types. Enter the Romantics, Warriors, Experts, and Masterminds (no spoilers here – you’ll have to read the book to find out who wins)! Mitchell outlines these basic personalities and then blends them into characters we all recognize: the best friend, the hired gun, the specialist, the adventurer. He then illustrates these roles through well-known Hollywood actors who portray them.
I truly enjoyed this book, though I caution against eating while reading as you might choke on your food while laughing. Insightful and funny, this book is both enjoyable and helpful.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun take on the Myers-Briggs personality types concept. Mr. Mitchell has devised a quick test and that sorts personalities into categories that correlate to typical Hollywood characters. The book is written in a very enjoyable tone: humorous and conversational. I will be honest and say that the typos distracted me, but I enjoyed the content. The bulk of the text relates to personalities in a business setting and would have benefitted me in my former pharmaceutical sales career. The qualities discussed also translate to personal relationships, but the business applications were emphasized. (Note: I’ve already loaned my copy to a friend!)

[JP · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Power of Understanding people presents a personality framework for understanding relationships based on four types. The primary and secondary types combine to create a personality lens we can use to relate, serve, sell, and lead. Mitchell is both practical and funny. Compared to other frameworks, this one seems simpler and more practical. I'm always tempted in these summaries to share more specifics, but in this case, I recommend the book itself. It's concise and enjoyable to read.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dave is fun to read, and once again I found myself laughing out loud. He is astute and you can see the personalities in yourself, your family, co-workers, and more. I believe he has identified some very telling information that can help make you successful with relationships and in business. Enjoy.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked it up at the library on a whim and I'm glad i did. I really enjoyed this book. It made me laugh more than offering insight but I did get some take away from it. I gave it four stars instead of five only because there is uneven focus on the different styles.

[Francine Chu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read which mirrors mbti

[Patty Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved!!! this book it is a great read about personalities. We read it for work and it really helped us get to know one another and understand our personalities

[Menchie Wu · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tool book, it demonstrates 12 interactive styles using the four ‘basic’ types: romantic, warrior, expert and mastermind. And it teaches you how to interact with each of them.
First of all, these 12 by no mean capture the picture of everyone, and it seems to me an overly simplified approach.
There are def some great points I learned from the book about my own interactive styles, and I came to realize that I interact with a combo of all these four(with different proportions of course), so I will use it carefully when I try to identify other’s style and put them into the right ‘buckets’, as they must have, just like me, a mixture of the styles as well.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging, humorous & quick read. Gives a new twist on understanding personalities & communicating with others. He compares different personalities to Hollywood archetypes & actors. This book is written for those looking to strengthen business, sales & leadership skills. He writes about how each personality can excel in; Recognizing Others Styles, Leading Each Style, Selling to Each Style and Providing Customer Service to Each Style. There are then a few short pgs. on 'Personal Relationships and Interactive Style' family, friends & marriage. He later wrote a follow up book: "The Power of Understanding Yourself" that focuses on interpersonal relationships outside business.

[Craig Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw David Mitchell at a work conference. He was the speaker before the one that u was really looking forward to see. His presentation blew me away. Far Breyer then the speaker I was there to see. So I bought this book and his new one. This is a great read and insight into human behavior and how to deal with each one. I would recommend this to anyone that wants to understand other people’s traits and how to work with them. It’s a quick read. Although it shows that it took me two weeks, it was really in four sittings. I’m a pretty slow reader but it can be read quickly.

[Afshawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to read this book for work. Overall, a good and easy read with great examples. I wasn't remotely surprised as to what my leadership style was! It was helpful to hear about all the different styles and it help illuminate why I get along with certain members of my team vs. others. Lots of practical, easy to follow advice.

[Emily Steele · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't for me. I got halfway through this book which I was reading for work and gave up. It was a lot of fluff and personal anecdotes about a personality type framework shared through the lens of dated Hollywood character archetypes. The gist: all people are different (shocker) and we should adapt how we work with different people (duh).

[Sydney Stock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for my Leadership and I liked it a lot. I loved the perspective it gave me. It was funny and I loved all of the analogies. It really put everything into perspective. I liked learning more about myself and why I do and think the way I do as well as why other people do. It was the perfect length and wasn't repetitive.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely Amazing

Before completing this book I have recommended it to 6 people and one of them is my therapist. I have learned so much about myself, metacognitive and metacognition . This book was amazing. Very engaging! A must read!

[Allie Daluge]

This book was a part of my 'clear my TBR' challenge. I'm glad I finally got to it. A few good takeaways, but overall it was like many other books. I did like the Hollywood actor take on the different personality types.

[Jonathan Pavan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this a few years ago and I recall finding it alright but craving more in depth views on people, at times it felt a bit one dimensional, other times intriguing

[Kristin Lamendola · Rating 2 out of 5]

Something like a love languages approach for business applications. While I found the basic tenant of this book worthwhile, the writing style was such that I couldn’t take the content seriously.

[Lorraine Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! I use the principles that I learned in this book in all my relationships.

[Emily Matos · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read this book for work… not a total waste of time but it had about 20 pages worth of info drawn out into 200 pages 😴