LIFO® is a powerful tool that describes a person’s unique strengths-driven behavioural style in favourable and unfavourable conditions. We know that using our strengths more frequently creates higher motivation, engagement and performance

1. WHAT IS LIFO®?
And what can it do for us?
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CONSERVINGCONTROLLINGSUPPORTING ADAPTING

2. LIFO®
Confirming and capitalising on individual and team
strengths
Personal insight
LIFO® is a powerful tool that
describes a person’s unique
strengths-driven
behavioural style in
favourable and
unfavourable conditions.
We know that using our
strengths more frequently
creates higher motivation,
engagement and
performance
Organisational culture
Culture = behaviour driven
by values.
LIFO® measures how
employees experience the
culture and what culture
they would like. It also
helps leaders understand
which values they naturally
embody and which they
need to pay more attention
to in the way they lead
Team communications
Understanding each other
better and appreciating
similar and different
strengths bonds a team and
creates natural synergies,
whilst stimulating critical
conversations.
The team also understands
its collective strengths and
weaknesses so can plan
activities smartly
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3. IN A NUTSHELL
Bridget Biggar, agent for the LIFO® Method in the UK
and the Middle East, describes how different
organisations use LIFO® in their development
programmes
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4. LIFO® IS …
A POWERFUL MODEL AND METHODOLOGY
THAT HELPS UNCOVER OUR NATURAL STRENGTHS
AND PUT THEM TO WORK
It identifies four distinct behaviour
styles, each with different strengths,
drivers and motivations that generate
different behaviour patterns
It helps a person identify their unique
profile of strengths and gives them a
roadmap to develop further
It gives real-time feedback about
what’s going on for a person, team or
whole organisation
It helps people understand where
their impact on others does not
match their intentions
It provides a shared language to
enable productive conversations
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5. FOUR ORIENTATIONS
DEVELOPED FROM THE WORK OF ERICH FROMM
SUPPORTING CONSERVINGADAPTING CONTROLLING
EXCELLENCE HARMONY ACTION REASON
PERSONAL GOAL: To be a
responsive and good person
BASIC ORIENTATION: If I am
conscientious and prove my worth, I
will be appreciated and rewarded
without having to ask
VALUES: Fairness and responsibility
KEY NEED: A sense of mission and
purpose
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PERSONAL GOAL: To be seen as a
likeable and resourceful person
BASIC ORIENTATION: If I treat
people the way they want to be
treated, I will be accepted and fit in
VALUES: Flexibility and relationships
KEY NEED: Variety
PERSONAL GOAL: To be an
objective and careful person
BASIC ORIENTATION: I have to
preserve what I have and build the
future on the past in a careful and
rational way
VALUES: Clarity and structure
KEY NEED: Safety
PERSONAL GOAL: To be an active
and competent person
BASIC ORIENTATION: If I want
things to happen, I have to make
them happen, thus demonstrating my
competence
VALUES: Autonomy and speed
KEY NEED: The next challenge

6. STRUCTURE
The LIFO model has a strong underlying structure that
correlates with major personality and values instruments
Orientations are the ways an individual relates to the
world and constitute the core of character. Using a
circumplex model to demonstrate how the orientations
relate to each other helps give the flavour of the
combination of orientations.
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7. FAVOURABLE
We learn to behave toward each other in ways which
meet our different psychological and physiological
needs for self-fulfilment. Even though one personal goal
may drive much of our behaviour, we will use another,
or others, if we feel the situation requires it. The
orientation which dominates, or to which we gravitate
in most situations, is described as our "most preferred"
orientation and that which is least dominant, or to
which we gravitate in relatively few situations, as our
"least preferred" Our productivity comes from a reliance
on strengths that we acquire from our experience over
the years.
SUPPORTING
22
CONTROLLING 31
CONSERVING 16
ADAPTING 21
UNFAVOURABLE
When things are not going well, we use a defensive style
that we have learned over the years when facing
conflict or stress. It may or may not work for us now, in
our current role and situation. The objective of using
this Stress orientation is to enable us to cope with and
to remove the threat to our personal goals and to return
to our comfortable way of relating to others. This is our
personal defence mechanism and relates to the fight or
flight response.
SUPPORTING 15
CONTROLLING 29
CONSERVING
24
ADAPTING 22
PROFILES: unique combination of strengths in favourable and unfavourable times
Scores range from 9-36. Under 14 indicates an under-used and unfavoured
strength. Over 30 indicates a likelihood we will overplay some of the strengths of
that orientation and not achieve what we set out to.
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8. 68
THE LIFO METHOD
CAPITALISING
Seek out situations that bring out the best in you and
allow you to use your own special strengths to the fullest
MODERATING
Avoid overusing your most preferred strengths to the
point where you waste time and alienate others.
DOING LESS OF A GOOD THING!
EXTENDING
Use the perspectives and strengths of your least
preferred orientations for greater resourcefulness in your
approach to people and problems.
CONFIRMING
Understand and appreciate your unique values, goals,
and strengths to build confidence and self-esteem.
BRIDGING
Get agreement and action by matching your
requests, orders, and proposals to others’ most
preferred ways of communicating.
SUPPLEMENTING
Get help from people with different strengths and
viewpoints to fill in your blind spots and provide a
wider perspective for planning and solving problems.
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9. BECOMING MINDFUL OF OUR ACTIONS
All of us have different ways of achieving our goals. The way in which we mean to act
is not always what we do in practice. Sometimes we may feel that others do not see
us the way we see ourselves, or do not understand what we are trying to do
INTENTION
How I set out to be:
indicative of what’s
important to me
BEHAVIOUR
What I actually do:
influenced by habit,
perception of situation and
others
IMPACT
How I believe I come
across to others: based on
feedback and self-
awareness
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AND ACHIEVING THE IMPACT WE WANT

10. ENABLING PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATIONS
The toolkit of support materials help trainers and facilitators
deliver powerful, practical and memorable development
experiences. Individuals quickly adopt the LIFO® language
which enables them to give each other feedback in a positive
and constructive way.
With many specific applications such as change, leadership,
sales, LIFO® adds a different dimension to content-led
training by helping individuals understand why they do things
in certain ways, and how to optimise the way they operate in
favourable and unfavourable times.
As LIFO® is also a model, it helps individuals understand
people that aren’t like them which increases understanding,
improves communication and builds high-performing teams.
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11. 85
ONE MODEL, MANY APPLICATIONS
TEAM BUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT
Identifying and appreciating shared and
individual strengths, Matching strengths to
role and task.
SALES
Growing businesses by improving the
quality and depth of client relationships
NEGOTIATION
Understanding the Achilles heels of
opponents as well as their motivations
and needs
CULTURE
Aligning behaviour to values, leadership
style to the current objectives of the
organisation
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Increasing effective behaviour and
personal productivity and well-being
LEADERSHIP
Consistent and values-led leadership that
gets the best out of team and colleagues
CHANGE
Providing flexible and supportive
communication tailored to all needs
FACILITATION
Improved awareness of individual and
group needs and dynamics
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12. 106
30 countries, 26 languages
Americas
USA, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile,
Peru, Paraguay, Uruguay
Europe
UK, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg,
Germany, Australia, Switzerland, Spain,
France, Italy, Czech Republic, Romania,
Norway, Sweden
Africa and Middle East
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South
Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia,
Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda,
Zambia
Asia-Pacific
Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, New
Zealand, Australia, Philippines
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13. CONTACT US
We have 22 years of experience of designing individual and
team development experiences to deliver organisational
objectives
With over 1600 licensees across the world, Life Orientations Ltd
can find the right expertise for your requirements.
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+44 (0)1628 633101
www.lifeorientations.com
bridget@lifeorientations.com
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