Core quadrants

The core quadrants

In my practice, I frequently use Daniel Ofman’s Core Quadrants. This model shows how your qualities can be experienced both positively and negatively. It helps you gain clear insight into your core qualities and develop them intentionally.

Core qualities are specific strengths that a person naturally possesses and that are characteristic of who they are. These are traits that make someone unique and immediately bring them to mind.

Core qualities cannot be taught or learned; they belong to the essence (the core) of a person, unlike skills. However, you can develop them, and the core quadrants can help you do so.

In your work and life, it’s important to engage in activities that allow you to make the most of your core qualities. Then you are "in your power". That’s when you are truly “in your power.” Every person has a number of core qualities that they use - often unconsciously - in their daily life.Some examples of core qualities are decisiveness, diligence, courage, caring, empathy, independence, goal-orientation, flexibility, discipline, and dedication.

Every core quality has a bright and a shadow side. The shadow side is the pitfall. This is not the opposite of the core quality, just as active is the opposite of passive, but an exaggerated core quality, too much of a good thing. A pitfall is also called a distortion. The core quality then degenerates into what others perceive as an annoying trait. Decisiveness, for example, turns into pushiness, diligence into fussiness, and modesty into invisibility. The entrepreneur who dares to take risks can - if he falls into his pitfall - become an overconfident daredevil.

In addition to the associated pitfall, your core quality comes with a challenge as a gift. The challenge represents your learning point and ensures that your core quality remains a true strength rather than degenerating into a pitfall. Challenges keep your core quality in balance because they are always the positive opposite of the pitfall. For example, the pitfall ‘passive’ might have the challenge ‘initiative’, while ‘recklessness’ might have the challenge ‘caution’. This means that a courageous client must also learn to be cautious from time to time, to avoid becoming reckless. The core quality and the challenge complement each other. The goal is to find a balance between the two, not an ‘either-or’, but an ‘and-and’.

Your core quality also indicates where you might encounter conflicts with others. These are related to your challenge and your allergy. People often turn out to be 'allergic' to the excess of their own challenge, especially when they see it in others. An allergy is a trait in others that you strongly dislike — you are ‘allergic’ to it. Your allergy is the negative opposite of your own core quality. For example, for the core quality ‘modesty’, the allergy might be ‘arrogance’; for ‘flexibility’, it might be ‘rigidity’.

The core quadrants can serve as a tool for discovering core qualities and challenges in yourself and others. It also shows that you can learn a lot from the people you find most irritating — the people you are allergic to. See a worked-out example in the image below.