What is Your Conflict Resolution Strategy?

Your greatest fear is often the opposite of your greatest joy. How you react to that fear — your conflict resolution strategy — is based on the DNA of your personality, revealed by taking the Core Values Index™ psychometric assessment.

When you take the Core Values Index psychometric assessment, your personality is reflected by a particular ratio of four broad personality categories called core value energies. It is the specific ratio of these core value energies that make up your CVI profile.

The four core value energies are:

Builder - represents power and action, with a strong sense of faith in your ability to handle any situation.

Merchant - characterized by the desire to be the connected presence of love and being worthy of love, along with a passion for truth.

Innovator - as the name implies, the hallmark of Innovator energy is wisdom and the desire to solve problems, coupled with a strong sense of altruistic compassion.

Banker - this energy values the acquisition of knowledge and data, governed by a strong sense of justice.

It is your particular blend of these four core value energies that comprise your CVI personality profile. (There are millions of combinations.)

Primary and Secondary Personality Traits

Most people have one dominant primary core value energy, represented by the highest score in their CVI profile. Their primary core value energy plays the biggest part in shaping how they see the world and prefer to act within it. Their secondary core value energy influences how their primary core value energy manifests.

Your secondary core value energy modifies or influences how your primary core value energy takes shape.

Some folks have well-rounded CVI profiles, where the difference in scores between their primary, secondary, or even tertiary and minor core value energies is slim.

Your Conflict Resolution Strategy

Among many other characteristics, each core value energy has what is called a negative conflict resolution strategy associated with it. This governs how you react to stress and conflict.

When an individual finds themselves in a situation where their greatest fear is triggered, they will quickly and automatically resort to their conflict resolution strategy.

For the vast majority of people, how they react to stress is automatic and unconscious.

To understand your particular conflict resolution strategy, the first step is to take the Core Values Index assessment and have your scores handy. Pay close attention to the primary core value energy in your CVI profile (that's the core value energy with the highest score).

The CVI takes only 8 minutes to complete and is the most reliable and accurate psychometric assessment on the planet. Learn more at erep.com/core-values-index/

(If your primary and secondary core value energies have the same score, each of those core value energies play an equal role in how you react to stress and conflict.)

Builders

Those with primary Builder core value energies are driven by their need to achieve. They strive to be the source of powerful action, the ones that can be relied upon to get things done.

The Builder's catalytic energy is faith. They have a strong sense of faith and confidence in their ability to always know how to act no matter what the situation.

The opposite of a Builder's drive to be the source of powerful action is their greatest fear: to feel powerless.

When a Builder feels powerless, their conflict resolution strategy is to intimidate. They will bully their way through the conflict, intimidating others and asserting their force of will until that feeling of powerlessness goes away.

If you are a Builder and you find yourself acting toward others in an intimidating way, recognize what is happening. Name your fear ("I am feeling powerless") and seek another approach to shift into a more constructive position that doesn't require power to achieve it.

Name your fear ("I am feeling powerless.")

Merchants

For people who have Merchant as their primary core value energy, your drive is to feel connected and the source of love in every group. Being valued and being worthy of that love is your greatest motivation.

The opposite of a Merchant's joy is the source of their greatest fear: being unloved or unworthy of love.

When a Merchant is feeling unloved or unworthy of love, their conflict resolution strategy is to manipulate.

When feeling unwelcome or unappreciated by someone, the Merchant will use their impressive powers of manipulation to emotionally harm the other person. They can also adeptly persuade other members of the group to emotionally gang up on the target of their ire.

If you are a Merchant and you find yourself emotionally manipulating someone else, recognize what is going on, name that fear ("My Merchant-ness is feeling unloved") and shift into a more constructive mode. By recognizing what is happening, you can often rely on your secondary or even tertiary core value energy to find a more constructive approach to the situation.

Name your fear ("I am feeling unloved or unworthy of love.")

Innovators

People with Innovator as their primary core value energy value wisdom and problem-solving above all else. They like nothing more than to be the resource people turn to for answers when difficult challenges come up.

If a person's greatest fear is the opposite of their greatest joy, then an Innovator's greatest fear is to feel foolish or unwise. The quickest way to make an Innovator uncomfortable or stressed out is to say, "I don't think you can solve this problem."

The opposite of an Innovator's greatest joy is to feel foolish or unwise.

When an Innovator feels foolish or unwise, their conflict resolution strategy is to interrogate. They ask leading questions motivated by the desire to make the other person look foolish. It's a way to shift the foolishness away from themselves and onto the other person.

As an Innovator, if you find yourself interrogating the other person, name your fear ("I'm feeling unwise or foolish") and shift into another core value energy. You can still work toward finding the answer to the problem, but you may need to take another approach that is more constructive to the needs of the group or the situation.

Name your fear ("I feel unwise or foolish.")

Bankers

When someone has Banker as their primary core value energy, happiness comes through the acquisition and retention of data and knowledge. Bankers don't just want little tidbits of trivia, they want to know all the bits and be complete resources on the subject.

As stated previously, the opposite of a person's greatest joy is the source of their greatest fear. What is the opposite of knowledge? Ignorance.

The opposite of a Banker's joy is to feel ignorant.

If a Banker is treated in a way that makes them feel ignorant, their conflict resolution strategy is to aloofly judge. They will withhold what they feel is their vast array of knowledge and let you flounder — essentially making you the ignorant one.

As a Banker, when you feel yourself getting into that aloof judgment mode, recognize what is happening. Name your fear ("I am feeling ignorant") and pick your secondary or tertiary core value energy to shift into a more constructive mode. As uncomfortable as it will feel to you, acknowledge that it is impossible for everyone to know all things in all situations, so finding another approach based on your secondary or tertiary core value energy can be a more productive way to ease your stress and get through that challenging situation.

Name your fear ("I am feeling ignorant.")

The Pecking Order of Conflict Resolution

Your reactions to conflict are often quick and automatic. In a fascinating phenomena revealed by the Core Values Index, you will travel from your primary to your secondary conflict resolution strategy if your primary strategy doesn't work. This, too, is automatic.

In fact, you can move through all four core value energy conflict resolution strategies very rapidly when confronted by particularly stressful or challenging situations. This typically occurs when the other person has the same primary or secondary core value energy as you, but at a higher level.

For example, when two people with Builder primary core value energies get into an argument, their instinct will be to intimidate. However, both will subconsciously recognize which of the two has the higher Builder score. The person with the lower score will automatically revert to the conflict resolution strategy of their secondary core value energy.

Conflict resolution between two people with similar CVI profiles is like an automatic pecking order, determining who is alpha.

All of this can take place in a matter of seconds and it is entirely subconscious.

As you learn more about your own CVI profile and the Core Values Index in general, you can learn to recognize when you are in your conflict resolution mode and consciously choose to dwell within another core value energy instead.

You can also learn to pick up on what another person's likely CVI profile is, or at least their primary core value energy, by how they react to stress or conflict. Do they intimidate when stressed? They are likely a primary Builder. Do they emotionally manipulate, interrogate, or aloofly judge? This tells you their primary core value energy is likely Merchant, Innovator or Banker, respectively.

If you are interacting with someone and they are in their conflict resolution mode, remove the reason in order to deescalate the situation. Stop making the Builder feel powerless, the Merchant feel unloved, the Innovator feel unwise, or the Banker from feeling ignorant.

Your knowledge of how the CVI works within yourself and within others is a powerful tool as you interact with co-workers, family members, or even complete strangers.

Core Values Index™ and CVI™ are trademarks of Taylor Protocols, Inc.