Have you been watching the final season of HBO’s Succession? Hoo-boy, it’s a doozy.
There’s a lot to be said about the writing, performances, and outstanding direction in last week’s episode 3 and about the whole series as a reflection on our perception of what leadership in business and dysfunction in families looks like today.
But when I re-watched the previous seasons, I was struck by how the characters present a fantastic vehicle to discuss the Communication Comfort Zones model of communication.
The Communication Comfort Zones model is one of the most effective tools I have learned as a leader.
The TL;DR version is this:
We communicate because we have needs and wants. Satisfying those needs and wants requires support from other people. Getting that support is easier when we communicate in a way that allows others to get their needs and wants met as well. The Communication Comfort Zone framework identifies four main quadrants: amiable, driving, expressive and analytical. The key to successful communication is understanding:
- which zone you favor and
- when/how to adapt your communication to get better results
If you’re curious about how the Roy family fits into the matrix and what it means for their relationships, read on!
Succession’s characters are all equally likable and loathable, which makes them especially useful to study the impact of their of communication.
The Communication Comfort Zone model helps you understand how your preferred communication style affects the way others perceive you. Measured on a statistical distribution across two main characteristics — how you display assertiveness and how you display your emotions — you fall somewhere on a matrix of four styles: Analytical, Driving, Expressive or Amiable.
Over the next few weeks, let’s explore how each of the Roy family members displays a preferred zone and how that zone impacts their success in getting what they want in the moment.
I’ll do some deep cut analysis from previous seasons. And I promise at the end we will wrap up with some of the best/worst moments in the series.
Let’s unpack the communication style of our patriarch Logan Roy.
Logan’s “catchphrase” is a NSFW two word verb-preposition combo telling you what to do and where to do it. We rarely hear what he’s thinking or feeling, but we often hear what he wants to see happen. Logan strongly favors the Driving zone.
The 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.
On the “assertiveness” scale, does Logan use imperative sentences rather than interrogative? Yes. In fact, I’m fairly sure most questions he poses are rhetorical (”I mean, what are people? People are economic units.”).
On the “responsiveness” scale: does Logan use words like “I feel” when he is giving an opinion? No. Logan is much more controlled about expressing emotion.
I know, I know, you Logan defenders will tell me that in this season’s Episode 2, Logan told the kids “I love you”, so clearly he uses feeling words and verbally expresses love, right? Except while he was saying it, he looked like he’d rather be getting a root canal. The real clue that he is on the “control” end of the spectrum? The kids see right through it and suspect he is working from a script. (Kendall: “Did Dad just say a feeling?!?”)
Adapting your preferred communication style is known in the model as versatility. When you are successful at being versatile, you can break down barriers and earn trust in relationships. But if you are not practiced in this versatility, or if you are masking bad intentions, you appear manipulative instead, which is exactly where Logan goes off the rails at the karaoke bar.
In the next post, we will get into why Roman is the kid who takes the “love” bait from Dad, and later, why Connor has the most extreme reaction.
For more on the Communication Comfort Zones model, visit https://www.communicationcomfortzones.com/
To determine your own zone, click here