1. Part III: Active Constructive Responding

2. How do you respond to others?
When someone brings you “good news”, how do you tend to respond?
What if you aren’t interested in the content?
There are four dominant patterns of responding
Active Constructive Responding (ACR) is the ONLY style that strengthens relationships
The goal is to respond to others with authentic, active, and constructive interest to build strong(er) relationships
Better rapport, trust, intimacy, etc.
Effective “praise” has been shown to build mastery and “winning streaks” that involve processes and behaviors for successful outcomes

3. The four styles of responding
Constructive
Destructive
Active
Authentic interest, elaborates the experience
Squashing the event, negative focus
Passive
Distracted, understated support; conversation fizzles out
Ignoring the event; changing the conversation to another topic

4. ACR – Joy Multiplier Constructive Destructive Active JOY MULTIPLIER
Thief
Passive
Conversation
Killer
Hijacker

5. Reflection
What is your dominant way of responding to someone’s “good news”?
At work (i.e. a client or subordinate that you work with, a supervisor, etc.)
At home (i.e. spouse, significant other, family member, friend, child, etc.)
What distractors get in the way of using ACR (i.e. phone, stressors, etc.)?
How could you incorporate more ACR into your personal and professional interactions? What character strengths could you bring to these interactions?
In what ways does ACR help you professionally? Personally? What is in it for you? How does using ACR help your success in building and strengthening personal and professional relationships?
Are there certain times of day where you find it more challenging to use ACR (i.e. at the end of a long work day)? How could you better manage your energy so that you are more present with others?