You already know I love sharing my experiences in life, hoping they might help others as well.
Whether it’s specific advice or general insights, my goal is to help people improve their quality of life. That’s the theme that’s been on my mind lately.
Hell, that’s why I started writing and created this blog in the first place! :))
If we’ve interacted before, you probably know that I invest heavily in education and, more broadly, in my personal development—not just professionally. I believe every resource or situation in my life has contributed to who I am today.
However, there are a few tools I consider true Game Changers.
Their impact is so profound and far-reaching that they leave a lasting mark on how my life unfolds from that point forward.
By far, my encounter with the universal laws is topping this list—and I don’t see how it could change (but who knows)—but that’s a topic for another time.
Still within this top 3 is PCM, which stands for Process Communication Model.
This tool shifts your perspective 360 degrees and impacts all areas of your life.
I first learned about this model in 2023 from my friend Paul Olteanu, a Master Trainer and coach, the #1 in Romania, and among the top 5 most active PCM trainers and coaches in Europe, and I’ve been deepening my understanding of it ever since.
I’ve also quoted Paul a few times and used insights from his course when writing this article.
Two important things to frame first:
First, I won’t dive too deeply into the details of PCM.
Instead, I want to focus on its utility and benefits. Because if you decide to take the test, it’s best to know as little as possible to avoid being influenced when answering the questions.
Second, as usual, I don’t believe in absolutes.
I don’t think anyone holds the absolute truth or that there’s just one tool that can help us or is the only valid one—not at all. But I believe there are tools that can complement each other, help us understand ourselves better, and generally improve our quality of life.
So, what is PCM?
In short, the Process Communication Model is a psychological model developed by Dr. Taibi Kahler in the 1970s to understand and improve interpersonal communication.
It’s a methodology that was used for nearly 20 years, between 1978 and 1996, to recruit and train teams for NASA’s space missions.
It’s also a tool used in character development at Pixar and in communication training for U.S. officials (for example, Bill Clinton, whom Taibi consulted when he won the 1992 elections).
PCM is the result of about 40 years of research and refinement, and its validation is based on over 1,000,000 analyzed profiles.
Moreover, Taibi won the Eric Berne Award in 1977, one of the most prestigious awards in transactional analysis, for his innovative research in understanding human behavior and for developing concepts that were later integrated into PCM.
I was drawn to this model for the same reason NASA used it in their recruitment: “because it addresses aspects of personality that remain highly consistent over time.”
Unlike other similar tools (like LSI), which focus more on dynamic elements that change over time.
There are 2 core ideas in PCM:
The architecture of personality resembles a building with six floors; the foundation of the personality is innate, while the other floors are formed in the first seven years of life. We all have characteristics of the six personality types arranged based on certain factors.
It’s about the HOW, not the WHAT. PCM addresses HOW WE SAY/DO things, not WHAT we say or do.
In other words, “The WAY we say something affects the likelihood that people will hear what we are saying.”
I won’t go into detail about these personality types, as that’s not the purpose of this article. If you’re considering taking the test, I encourage you not to research beforehand but to discover it through the course.
However, I would highlight here that the PCM model classifies human personality into six basic types, each with a distinct way of communicating, preferences for communication, motivations, and coping mechanisms under stress.
And I want to share with you the top 6 benefits of the model, as I perceive them, and why I believe it could be a #gamechanger tool for many people, not to mention companies.
1. First and foremost, I believe it’s about enhancing relationships and fostering deeper connections with those around you.
Because the model helps you better understand the behaviors and needs of those close to you (family, friends, etc.) and communicate in a way that respects their personal style.
And this also includes helping to resolve personal conflicts (or in business), as it provides tools to better understand how different personality types react to stress and how to approach personal conflicts in a way that meets the psychological needs of each party involved.
2. Self-awareness and Personal Development
Process Communication Model offers insights into your behaviors, strengths, weaknesses, and communication styles, facilitating a more conscious and results-oriented personal and professional development process.
It also contributes to increasing emotional intelligence. Identifying your personality type and those of people around you helps develop self-awareness and empathy, thereby enhancing your ability to manage emotions healthily.
And let’s be honest, this is something we really need today.
3. Marketing
I have started to integrate the model into my work as a strategist and business developer, and I believe I could write a series of articles just on PCM’s applicability in marketing.
From more effective market segmentation to improving marketing campaigns or creating highly personalized messages.
It allows you to segment your audience according to communication preferences and personality styles, giving you the advantage of creating much more targeted and effective marketing strategies based on real consumer behavior.
You can also take message personalization to a whole new level, resonating with various audience segments.
Take me as an example: my personality type will always respond better to messages based on facts and statistics, while one of my colleagues, with a different personality foundation, responds best to direct, dynamic, and action-oriented messages.
Or, you could develop campaigns that appeal to the internal motivations of different personality types. This would increase the relevance of messages and, implicitly, the efficiency of campaigns by directly addressing the emotional and psychological needs of the audience.
For example, if I see a marketing message that promises entrepreneurial success in 3 easy steps vs. one that tells me about a project that contributes to and can improve people’s quality of life…
I’d classify the first one as BS and probably judge them a bit, while the second would grab my attention instantly.
You get the idea.
4. Sales
At the web development agency, we implemented the DISC model with Wiseleader’s help a few years ago.
In other words, whenever we had a new project, during the onboarding process, the sales consultant had to identify the client’s personality and communicate it to the Project Manager upon handover.
Based on this, the Project Manager would communicate in a certain way, provide specific types of information, use certain email templates, etc.
It helped us tremendously, both in client relationships and in increasing conversions in the upsell area.
Well, now imagine PCM as DISC on steroids. In fact, from my perspective, the two don’t even compare (without diminishing the utility DISC can have).
If you want to explore the comparison between PCM and other tools more deeply, a comparative study of behavioural and awareness approaches in English is available on the second screen of this page.
Identifying a client’s personality type quickly and tailoring your sales approach to match their preferred communication style facilitates building trust, which is crucial for closing a sale successfully.
Another major benefit is improving the conversion rate by adapting your sales messages and techniques to the communication styles of different clients, as well as efficiently managing objections. (PCM allows you to identify personality types and specific psychological needs that drive client objections. Thus, your sales consultants can handle objections in a way that directly addresses each client’s concerns, maximizing conversion.)
5. Leadership
We already know there is no single recipe for being a great leader.
There are hundreds of books, courses, podcasts, and seminars that tell you how to “lead” effectively. Personally, I’d say leadership isn’t just about giving orders or always being right.
I think it’s also about adapting to the people around you and creating an environment where everyone can give their best.
Speaking of putting the right person in the right role. 🙂
3 relevant benefits I want to highlight in this area:
There is no single leadership style that works for everyone. PCM helps you adjust your communication style depending on each person on your team rather than imposing a uniform approach.
For example, if you find out one of your people needs recognition to stay motivated, give them that recognition. If another responds better to clear and direct feedback, then be direct. Don’t expect everyone to adapt to you—you’re the one who should adapt.
It helps improve conflict management by providing tools to quickly detect the sources of conflict within the team. Instead of blaming people, we learn to observe how they behave under stress. When you know people’s psychological needs, you can prevent conflicts before they escalate.
Increases employee loyalty and retention: You’ve probably heard this before—nobody leaves a company; they leave their managers.
If your people feel understood and appreciated, if they see that you take the time to know them and help them grow, they’ll stay. And I think PCM helps us see beyond names on a performance report and understand them as human beings.
6. Human Resources (HR) or how PCM can help build a High-Performance Team
I love optimizing things.
Even though the recruitment process we use at Wiseleader has already been validated and tested on hundreds of hires, PCM brought nuances that helped us achieve an even higher level of performance.
By far, the most valuable benefit in this area is that the personality architecture allows you to recruit the right personality for the right role.
In other words, it helps you identify the behavioral characteristics necessary for each position and choose candidates who fit best. Something NASA understood as far back as the 70s.
Of course, there are many more benefits: you can tailor an onboarding process based on employees’ personalities to make integration easier, use PCM for the professional development of your team and adapt learning methods to maximize effectiveness, or leverage what you know about your employees to create an environment where people enjoy coming to work… and so on.
I think in human resources, PCM can play a crucial role in understanding people beyond their CVs and job descriptions.
Now, as you may already know, I like to look at things with both their pros and cons. Nothing is purely positive or purely negative.
And I believe the biggest downside of this model is that it’s quite complex. It requires a lot of practice to use it in daily life and get the most out of it.
But even so, in my opinion, it’s worth it.
And if you’re an entrepreneur, and even if you don’t want to dive deep into practicing it yourself and just find it helpful for self-awareness, there are trainers you can work with or hire to train your managers to implement it in your company.
And if you ever try it and implement it and feel it hasn’t helped you at all, feel free to come here on the site and call me out
Look for accredited trainers in your country—you’ll find them all over Europe, not to mention the U.S.
If you attend a Process Communication Model course, I’d love for you to write to me afterward and tell me how it went.
And if you’ve already taken it and know the model, I’d be delighted to hear about your experience and how it has helped you. Would you share it with me?
I hope you find this helpful.
Until next time.
David
#entrepreneur #strategicthinker #booklover
P.S. If the model piqued your interest, check out the video below summarizing the entire model (it’s in English, I don’t have it in Spanish).
