Who is your favorite character on HBO’s Succession and why is it Roman? I don’t know if he’s my favorite. But I think the writers have created one of modern TV’s most interesting and fun to watch characters.
[Spoilers ahead!]
Think of all the wisecracking sidekicks in TV and cinema history. They are comic relief in dramas led by a heavy, dominant character. Or they are the class-clown archetype in sitcoms. But they are rarely given the full range of emotional and charismatic traits that we see in Roman Roy.
So why does Roman, the least serious in the batch of “not serious” siblings, according to Logan, ultimately get tapped by Logan to succeed him? And why does Roman break the sibling mutiny pact to go for it?
Our communication style dramatically affects the way others perceive us. Based on the research behind the Communication Comfort Zones model, when someone’s communication style is similar to ours, we generally trust that person more.
The Communication Comfort Zones model has two scales of measurement:
- “assertiveness” which measures whether you “ask” or “tell” when giving direction and
- “responsiveness” which measures whether you favor displaying emotions or controlling emotions in your communication.
The two parameters combine to form a matrix of four different zones: Driving, Expressive, Amiable and Analytical.
Let’s review Roman’s behavior to determine which zone he prefers.
We rarely wonder how Roman feels about something or someone. He doesn’t play it close to the vest. On the responsiveness scale, Roman favors displaying emotion versus controlling emotion.
On the assertiveness scale, typically we’d look at whether he asserts himself by telling people what to do rather than asking them. We definitely see this behavior in Logan, who favors the Driving Zone.
It’s not as easy to find this evidence with Roman, but there are other clues we can use. He speaks fast, which typically indicates a tell assertive zone like Driving or Expressive. To find another clue, let’s address the behavior he displays under stress.
As we feel tension arising from situations where we are uncomfortable, we tend to react differently depending on which zone we prefer. Since we know Roman favors displaying emotion and speaks quickly, he most likely favors the Expressive zone. But does he display Expressive stress reactions?
When people who favor the Expressive zone experience tension, the first reaction is to go on the attack verbally. This is Roman for sure.
So what does this have to do with how Logan sees Roman?
Logan sees Roman’s direct way of speaking and willingness to take action, and it reminds him of himself. His primary motivator is getting results, and he sees Kendall and Shiv’s hesitation on big decisions as a barrier to getting the results he wants. (More to come on Shiv and Kendall’s styles.) So Logan, with his tell-assertive driving style, feels most comfortable with Roman. Logan sees the wisecracking sidekick who laughs like he came from a “hyena farm”, but he also sees the Rock Star and the Matador.
Any then finally, why is Roman willing to move past Logan’s abuse and join him again at the beginning of Episode 3?
Each of the Communication Comfort Zones also has a primary motivator, or need that seeks satisfaction, that correlates with the form of expression. For people in the Expressive Zone, that need is social recognition. These are often the best networkers you know, because they seek connection and acknowledgement from others, and they give that back to others in equal or more amounts.
So when making connections across networks, they will use mentions of mutual friends or prominent, well-known people in order to build trust and credibility for themselves. Social capital is the main currency that people in the Expressive zone trade in.
Roman recognizes that he needs the social capital he gets from Logan’s approval for people take him more seriously.
Shiv and Kendall clearly crave Logan’s approval as much as Roman does. But Roman is willing to overlook and dismiss Logan’s abuse more than his siblings, because Shiv and Kendall have different primary motivators (which we will pick up in upcoming posts). In season 2’s “Argestes” episode, remember when Logan backhands Roman? Kendall immediately steps up to his father to let him know is behavior is wrong. But Roman later dismisses the event and says “did that really even happen?” Roman is seeking to get what he needs – the social capital that comes with Logan’s public anointing of Roman as COO. Because displaying emotion feels more natural to him than to Shiv and Kendall, Roman chooses to view Logan’s “I love you” as honest and paramount, while Shiv and Kendall choose to remain skeptical of Logan’s motives.
And so, at the beginning of Season 4’s Episode 3, the Rock Star picks up Logan’s sword and immediately cuts “mole-woman” Gerri* with it. I can’t wait to see what the writers do with Roman next.
For more on the Communication Comfort Zones model, visit https://www.communicationcomfortzones.com/
To determine your own zone, click here
*A coupling moniker so popular, someone made it into Christmas ornaments.