‘Challengers’ live with the attitude: ‘I care about my needs and not about the need of others’. For them it is ‘my way or the highway’. They would do anything to have their own way, be it selling a product or idea, even if it has a negative impact on the other party. They are happy with a win-lose outcome. 

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Benefits of this personality: This personality helps to stand up for and even achieve what you believe in and can be very efficient in resolving differences with others. 

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Disadvantages of this personality: It can result in  damage to relationships, and create an image of a selfish bully. This can result in damaging long term business prospects, unless we are able to explain why it was important to use a ‘challenger’ personality.
 

‘Problem-Solvers’ live with the attitude: ‘I care about my needs as well as about the need of others’. For them it is ‘we all win or no one wins’. They would go out of their way to find a common outcome, dig deep  into root causes, and find creative solutions that provide a win-win solution. 

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Benefits of this personality: This personality helps to find solutions that satisfy all parties and will help in building strong relationships for long-term mutual benefits. 

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Disadvantages of this personality: It can take a  long time to achieve agreement, which can result in the loss of advantages  due to delays in decision making, especially in competitive situations.  
 

‘Evaders’ live with the attitude: ‘If I leave it alone, the problem will go away; I don't care about my needs or about the need of others’. They would  sidestep, postpone, or avoid dealing with conflicts, believing that time will resolve the issue. They are happy with a lose-lose solution if it does not disturb their peace of mind and provides them with an easy life in the short term.

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Benefits of this personality: This personality helps in giving time for heated minds to cool down and find more information, and time to look at issues in a calmer manner.

 

Disadvantages of this personality: It can result in the issue festering within if not dealt early enough and the delay in decisions and actions can be disadvantageous, especially in competitive situations.

‘Martyrs’ live with this attitude: ‘If I help others my issues will get resolved in the long term; I don't care about my needs, but I do care about the needs of others’. They would sacrifice, go through personal inconvenience, discomfort and even losses to smooth over conflicts and maintain peace. They believe that the environment created would help to build relationships for long term mutual benefits. They may also be driven by a spiritual orientation and belief. They are happy with a lose-win solution for long term benefits. 

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Benefits of this personality: This personality helps to create peaceful environments during rough times and to pave the way for long term mutual success. 

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Disadvantages of this personality: It can result in others taking you for granted and taking advantage of your kindness. You could also be perceived as weak and uncompetitive.  
 

‘Deal-Makers’ live with the attitude: ‘You meet part of my needs and I will meet yours, let’s go fifty-fifty’. They stay midway in both axes of caring about their own needs and needs of others. They look for a fast solution, splitting the difference in half. They would try to come to a compromise solution without avoiding the situation as the ‘evaders’ would and without going deep into the issue to find a mutually acceptable solution as the ‘problem-solvers’ would. They are not as competitive as the ‘challengers’ nor would give in easily like the ‘martyrs’. 

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Benefits of this personality: This personality helps to get a quick solution, creates harmonious environments and gives a sense of a win-win resolution to the issue in the short run. It is also only one step away from any of the other four personalities, in case the deal does not materialize.

 

Disadvantages of this personality: Since there is no depth in the exploration, the result can end up as a win-lose, lose-win or lose-lose in the long run.