Guest post: A PCM-based analysis of the personality types of main Game of Thrones characters

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Magda is a Process Communication ModelĀ® (PCM) certified trainer with 12 years of experience in the business environment, in areas such as strategy, planning, marketing, employee engagement and team management. She discovered PCM in 2014 and fell in love with it and took on to become a certified PCM trainer and through it, to bring positive change in the life of others.

She now delivers PCM workshops for companies and individuals in the UK and other European countries and writes about PCM on her blog at www.magdatabac.com/blog.

Where to find her:

hello@magdatabac.com

+447500883954

linkedin.com/in/magdatabac

www.magdatabac.com

Ā 

A PCM-based analysis of the personality types of main Game of Thrones characters

Hello dear reader and thank you for dropping by to check my latest blog post, which focuses on the PCM personality types of the Game of Thrones main characters.

This new article has been written as a follow-up to some of my readersā€™ suggestions and the fact that many have underlined how useful (and fun! šŸ˜‰ ) my previous article on the Analysis of the PCM Personality Types of the Harry Potter CharactersĀ has been.

But, letā€™s start with the beginning. If you are new to the concept of Process Communication ModelĀ® (PCM) and the PCM personality types, let me just say that PCM is a behaviourally based communication model, used to individually tailor connection and motivation, build trust and rapport, and reduce stress levels. PCM personality profiles reveal how a person perceives the world, how they communicate, how they are motivated and how they behave in distress. It is based on the Transactional Analysis (TA) psychoanalytic theory and method of therapy, andā€¦ simply put: it can improve our relationships (and consequently, our lives) in amazing waysā€¦ and I donā€™t say that just because I am totally in love with it Jā€¦ NASA used it for almost 20 years, as did Bill and Hilary Clinton and many corporations and individuals around the world.

One fast way to get familiarized with PCM and the PCM Personality Types is to have a look at these articles: What is PCM and The 6 PCM Personality Types on my website.

In this new series of posts I am going to analyse some of the main characters in the Game of Thrones TV Series from the point of view of their base personality type according to PCM.

As you might remember, the base personality is the one that defines their perceptual frame of reference. It defines the ā€œcurrencyā€ they use in their communication, the most preferred communication channels, their character strengths and their management style. One can see what base personality someone has by simply seeing what words and expression that person uses most of the time. This is why, in PCM, we say ā€œIt’s notĀ WHAT you say, but THE WAY you sayĀ it!ā€

This is a short summary of the relevant information about the base personality types:

Also, remember, it is quite normal that book/movie characters wonā€™t show 100% consistency with the Process Communication Model. In the end, they are not real people living in the real world; they are the result of the authorā€™s imagination, mirroring some of the features he/she found most relevant for the storyline.

This is why, sometimes, we will not find an exact fit between the PCM personality types and a character. For example, they might have the respective perceptions, currency, communication channel, but maybe their strengths will not ā€œfitā€ the profile. In the end, they are ā€œcreatedā€ to express a focus on certain traits, but they would not be fully crayoned as a complete ā€œreal-lifeā€ personality).Ā But, you know what?ā€¦ it is still fun to try it šŸ™‚

So… let’s start with our analysis of theĀ PCM Personality Types of the Game of Thrones’ main characters.

And we begin with…

Jon Snow ā€“ Persister base

Jon Snow fits best the Persister personality type. The Persister experiences the world through the perception of opinions and prefers to take in and process information through their belief system. They are conscientious, dedicated and observant, and prefer a democratic communication style, using values as the currency in their conversations.

In the cinema world, persisters are seen in characters like Sherlock Holmes and Superman, while in history, the civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. is a good reference.

While Jon (just like any other person) is a mixture of all six personality types and in different moments and situations we see some of his other personality types being more active than that of the Persister, for simplicity and ease of understanding purposes, I will focus on his base only.

Jonā€™s features:

(summary based on the TV series andĀ these articles: Article 1, Article 2, Article 3):

Values, moral compass:

  • ā€œJon Snow of House Stark and the Night’s Watch is the secret son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, though raised as theĀ bastard son of Lyanna’s brother, Ned Stark. Because he was raised by Ned Stark at Winterfell, Jon has adopted a clear moral compass and a true sense of honour. He tries his hardest to abide by these even when he must make a difficult decision, especially after he becomes Lord Commander of the Night’s Watchā€ (Article 1) => values, moral compass
  • Ned Stark teaches all his children about leadership, selflessness, duty and honour. Following his father’s example becomes more difficult as Jon faces challenges to his identity as a man, a Stark, and a brother of theĀ Night’s Watch.Ā Benioff and Weiss note that “Jon Snow tries to live with honour, while knowing that honour often gets his family members murdered.”Ā Writing forĀ VarietyĀ about the season 6 episode “Battle of the Bastards”, Laura Prudom suggests that Jon “has the same shortcomings” as his father: “he fights with honor against opponents who are all too willing to use that predictable morality against him”. (Article 3) => values, morality, strong beliefs
  • His love for his family (even if he cannot fully call it his own) is also very important for him and he would do anything for them => values, dedication, principles

Sense of duty, does “what is right”

  • “At the end of the day, Jon is his fatherā€™s son, heā€™s a person whoā€™s honourable to a fault and does the right thing even when the right thing is extremely dangerous to him personally.” (Article 3) => strong values / do what is right / duty
  • He fights because itā€™s the right thing to do, for the greater good of everyone ā€“ not because of selfish interests. For the same ā€œgreater goodā€ he is also killing Daenerys in the end, though he loved her and this must have broken his heart (as Tyrion says at one time ā€œduty is the death of loveā€) => strong values, sense of duty, doing ā€œthe right thingā€
  • “You all crowned me your king. I never wanted it. I never asked for it. But I accepted it because the North is my home! It’s part of me, and I will never stop fighting for it, no matter the odds!” ā€•Jon to his subjects. (Article 2) ā€“ sense of duty

Observant; evaluates people/situations through a belief system

  • Heā€™s a good observer of characters and makes up his own opinions about people ā€“ letā€™s just think about how he also understands the side of the wildlings and decides to help them (yes, the fact that he fell in love with Ygritte must have helped also šŸ˜› ) => observant, just
  • “When enough people make false promises, words stop meaning anything. Then there are no more answers, only better and better lies.” ā€•Jon Snow at the Dragonpit Summit (Article 2) =>Ā  values/strong belief system

So…Ā  this is Jon Snow… the humble hero of the series. Check in next week for the next character analysis!

Until then… remember: ā€œIt’s notĀ WHAT you say, but THE WAY you sayĀ it!ā€

Magda.

Certified Trainer, Process Communication Model

“Nothing is impossible; the word itself says I’m possible!” – Audrey Hepburn

Disclaimers:

  1. One must be aware thatĀ not everything can be explained through PCM. As much as I love this training and I see its utility in everyday life, we humans are way too complex beings to be deciphered through a training that is thought in only three days. The way we were educated, the culture and the society we grew in, the events in our life (happy or traumatising) all leave marks on the way we think, react, talk, behave, on the stories we build about ourselves and the world around us. Hereā€™s to us!
  2. These thoughts and this analysis are my own and do not represent the view of Kahler Communications I wrote it in order to offer my readers and educational and fun analysis that might help them better understand PCM and its concepts, as it is based on widely known characters. I hope you will take it as such and enjoy it.
  3. Also, please note that, as these are fictional characters, they most probably wonā€™t act/think/feel/develop just as a ā€œnormalā€ person, in the real life, would. As such, sometimes, applying PCM to them might feel a little ā€œforcedā€. .
  4. None of the images of the Game of Thrones characters belong to me. They are property of the publishers/producers/HBO or the mentioned websites
  5. I am open to feedback and suggestions regarding my interpretations of the PCM Personality Types of the Game of Thrones characters, so please feel free to leave a comment if you have a different opinion :).

Sources:

Article 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_of_Thrones_characters

Article 2. https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki

Article 3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Snow_(character)

Featured image downloaded from: https://www.pcclean.io/game-of-thrones-hd-wallpapers-and-background-images-static-wallpaper-set/Ā  (free to download and use)

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