Watch the segment of MBS Training covering
the MBS Profile Report
The Self Profile on the MBS Profile Report is a graphical summary of a person’s basic communication style … their temperament.
To better understand a person’s temperament, we need to look at what each of their temperament traits mean and though each of a person’s traits is important, the most important of a person’s traits is their High Trait.
Remember that “Above the line & Below the line” DOES NOT mean that traits that are above the line are good and the ones below are bad. Both traits above the line and below the line are strengths. It’s a mistake when looking
at the Self Profile to think that traits that fall below the line are ones that you need to work on. Traits that fall below the center line are still strengths.
As we interact with a person, it is important that we make the effort to consider their “Point of View”. If we can work with each individual based on how they need to be worked with, we are then able to accomplish our own
goals. Effective working relationships result in improved communication, increased productivity and improved customer & job satisfaction.Understanding a person’s Self Profile … their “Style” … their “Point of View” …
their temperament … is our key to developing an effective relationship.
Though our Self Profile remains constant, we are able to adjust our temperament depending on a given situation in order to accomplish our goals.
If we’re called upon to give a speech … we make Extroverted adjustments. If we need to balance our checkbook … we make Structured adjustments. If we have to hurry to get something done at the last minute … we make Urgent adjustments.
The Adjustment Profile on the MBS Profile Report is a graphical representation of adjustments you were making approximately 4-8 weeks ago. It’s a snapshot of adjustments that we were making sometime in the past. Our adjustments may change from situation to situation.We make adjustments to accomplish our goals.
If at work you need to interact with other people, your Adjustment Profile may show that your E Trait, Extroversion, was going up. If the E is moving up the column (an up arrow) then you were having to be more outgoing and talkative. If on the other hand the E is moving down the column (a down arrow) then you were having to get off by yourself and be less talkative (as in the example).
Likewise, a D moving up the column in the Adjustment Profile (as in the example) indicates that you were having to be more Direct … you were taking charge, making decisions, focusing more on results. Directness moving down the column means that you were perhaps less in control, having to delegate more, taking a non-threatening style.
S moving up in the Adjustment Profile indicates that you were making Structured adjustments, paying more attention to the details, working more by the book, being more careful, crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s. If the S is moving down the column (as in the example) then you were more flexible, paying less attention to details.
Traits that appear in the Adjustment Profile in approximately the same position as they are in the Self Profile indicate that there was not any noticeable change in how you were using that trait. You were using that particular trait in your natural way … without adjusting.
Our Self Profile remains constant.
We are able to adjust our temperament depending on a given situation … that’s the Adjustment Profile.
How people see us as we are making those adjustments is shown in the Role Profile. The Self + The Adjustments = The Role
Looking at the Self Profile, this person is naturally Direct (+D), Private (-E), Paced (+P) and Structured (+S). The Role that people were seeing though was Non-Threatening (D below the line) and much more Flexible (S below the line).
Depending on the situation, this person may play a very different role. We need to work with people based on their temperament (the Self) and not on whatever Role they happen to be playing at the moment to accomplish their goals. Remember … the Role is just what you see … the Self is who they really are!
In the column to the right of the Self Profile is the Logic indicator.
At the point of making a decision, a person either leans mostly on the “facts” of the situation (L above the line) or they rely more on how they “feel” about the situation … their intuition (L below the line). In our example, the L falls below the center line so we would say that at the point of decision, this person will rely on their intuition, or what they feel will be the correct decision.
The “range” of a person’s profile is the distance between the trait that is furthest above the center line in the Self Profile and the trait that is furthest below the line. Most of the time, the L value falls somewhere between the highest and lowest traits.
As the L moves further UP the column, outside the range of the person’s profile, we say that the person relies on the “facts” of the situation sometimes to the point of becoming Black & White. When there is a decision to be made, there isn’t a lot of gray … it’s either one way or the other, Yes or No … not a lot of “maybe”. On the other hand, as the L moves further DOWN the column, outside the range of the person’s profile, we say that the person relies on how they “feel” about the situation to the point of becoming impulsive. They “feel” that the decision is the right one and they act.
Whether the Logic indicator is above or below the line is neither good nor bad. It simply indicates whether a person uses a fact-based or feeling-based method of decision making.
In the column to the right of the Adjustment Profile is the Concern indicator.
C can stand for either Comfortable, Concerned or Self Critical depending on where in the column the C is located.
If the C falls within the Comfort Zone (the gray shaded area) we say that when the person was making the adjustments shown in the Adjustment Profile, they were comfortable that they were going to achieve their goals. The level of concern that a person has is directly related to the Adjustment Profile.
As the C moves DOWN the column, outside the Comfort Zone, we say that 4-8 weeks ago when the person was making these specific adjustments, they were concerned whether or not they would accomplish their goals. The further down the column the C is, the more concern there was.
On the other hand, as the C moves UP the column, outside the Comfort Zone, we say that when the person was making these adjustments they were being hard on themselves … Self Critical. The further up the column the C is, the more Self Critical they were.
Even though the C may indicate that a person was being VERY hard on themselves (C high in the column) or that they had LOTS of concern (C low in the column) … things may have turned out fine. As a matter of fact, the person may be experiencing a similar situation, making similar adjustments, but their C may be right in the middle of the Comfort Zone.The C Level is a snapshot of how the person felt as they were making specific adjustments to accomplish their goals. They were either Self Critical, Concerned or Comfortable.
In the column to the right of the Role Profile is the Energy Level. An average energy is 250.
The Energy Level measures the total intensity of a person’s responses to the word descriptors on the MBS Survey.
Most people have plenty of “energy”. We’re sure of this because we rarely see people carried from work asleep. And while it is true that some people naturally have more energy than others, how they use that energy and whether or not that energy is available to them when they need it are important considerations. The energy that a person has is more available when he/she is comfortable.
