Have you had the experience of someone using their DISC style as an excuse? “Oh I can’t do that because I’m too…..” or “I can’t help it because I’m a high…..?”

One of the benefits of the DISC system compared to some other behavioural systems is that DISC is not a label. Your style is a mix of all 4 styles and you can change your behaviour at any time that you choose.

So if you need to be more assertive at work, raise your ‘D’ or if you want to be more friendly at a networking event, raise your ‘I’.

Similarly there maybe times when you need to lower your style. If you have lots of ‘S’ in your style, you would need to lower it to make decisions quicker. A high ‘C’ person might want to lower their ‘C’ to get a task completed by a deadline.

Next week I’ll give some suggestions as to how you can raise or lower a particular style of behaving.

regards

Beverly

One of the reasons this can happen is when the individual has two strong styles but you have only observed the higher one. Something happens that triggers the second highest style to rise higher.

My friend Sandra is a typical high ‘D’, making quick decisions and always moving forward on new challenges. Recently she had two offers involving substantial investment on her part and then out of the blue came a third offer. A week later Sandra told me that she was surprised as she had not made a decision on any of them and in fact had spent the week head down in some other paperwork. Why?

Faced with the difficult decision of three good offers, her other high style kicked in. The high ‘C’ makes cautious, considered decisions and when under a bit of pressure withdraws to the safety and comfort of attending to the detail.

Most people have two high styles and you will observe the higher of the two, most of the time…..but not always.

Two of my favourite TV programmes at the moment are “Mary Queen of Shops” with Mary Portas and “The Hotel Inspector” with Alex Polizzi.

The shows contain lots of tips on ways to improve businesses as well as an insight into how poorly some are run in the first place.

They’re interesting also from a DISC point of view. I continually learn more about behaviour by watching real people as opposed to characters. These two programmes for me highlight combination profiles.

The business owner that we meet initially is adopting the style of behaviour he/she feels necessary for meeting Mary or Alex and featuring on television. Sometimes they might be the somewhat aggressive high ‘D’, perhaps the over-the-top gregarious high ‘I’, seemingly reluctant high ‘S’ or the fussy high ‘C’.

As Mary and Alex probe deeper and ask more questions, the other high style of the business owner shows through and often as not, it is the characteristics of the high ‘S’. Things in the business are what they are because the business owner doesn’t like change or know how to. There is often a reluctance to change when Mary or Alex suggests improvements but these ladies usually win through by the end.

It would be interesting to visit all of the businesses in say 12 months time to see if the changes are still in place. It’s hard to change if you have lots of ‘S’ and old, comfortable ways can slip back in.

Several of my readers have asked for a quick overview of the main characteristics of each style.

D stands for Dominance – often called the Driver.
People who have lots of ‘D’ are ambitious, forceful, direct and very competitive. They love being in control, are results orientated, impatient and can get angry under certain conditions.

I stands for Influence – The Socialiser.
When ‘I’ is a high factor we have a warm, charismatic and persuasive personality with a strong need to be around people. They are fun to be with, the centre of attention, always optimistic but tend to be impulsive at times, and are often emotional.

S stands for Steadiness – The Peacemaker.
High ‘S’ individuals are compassionate people who are likeable, sincere and attentive listeners. They are very patient, steady and always ready to help others but they don’t like unexpected or sudden changes.

C stands for Compliance – The Analyst
People who have lots of ‘C’ are conscientious, logical and precise. They like structure and organisation and give lots of attention to detail as they always strive for perfection. Because they don’t like to be involved in confrontations they are often reluctant to speak out.

Wishing you lots of success
In everything you do…….
Beverly

VAK is another useful people-tool. The word is an acronym for Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic, our preferred means of learning and also the way we give and receive information. Like DISC, most people use one or two of these more strongly than the other.

One of the easiest ways to recognise this in others is to study their eye movements when they are recalling an answer to a question or thinking about some previous event. I’m not referring to the shifty eye movements of people who are not telling the truth but to the way most people gaze off eye contact with you when they are thinking.

Visuals tend to look upwards
Auditory people tend to look straight ahead or sideways
Kinaesthetics tend to look downwards

If you get into the habit of watching eye movements of people being interviewed on TV, it becomes quite noticeable and easy to pick. Sports people (very kinaesthetic) usually look down when interviewed, while political figures look up or to the side.

Until next week…..become an eye-watcher
Beverly

In the UK its holiday season again and the DISC styles behave differently going on vacation.

The high ‘D’ wants to get to the destination as quickly as possible. If they are driving there, they’ll want to do it in one day without stopping and they are not keen to stick to the speed limit either! This is because they are always in a hurry with a need to get the job done. And once there they will want to be doing something everyday.

The holiday season is exciting for the high ‘I’s. Away from work, it’s a time for fun, lots of socialising and plenty of activities involving participation with others. They are unlikely to want to go away by themselves so holidays will be taken with other couples or families.

For the high ‘S’ a family holiday is the ideal, the most important thing is being with the people they love. They probably go to the same place every year and meet up with the same people. The nature of the holiday will be a relaxing quiet one.

The high ‘C’ will have planned the vacation down to the tiniest detail. Flights, travel times, planned route, food & drinks for the trip and activities to keep children occupied will all have been thought through and organised. To unwind and recharge their batteries the high ‘C’ will want to spend time alone.

Wishing you a happy holiday season
Beverly
PS I’ve finished writing my book on DISC, just doing the final editing now.

Finally a little about the high ‘C’ leader or manager using the DISC system. The key factor to remember is that they find delegating very difficult. This is because they worry that you won’t do it to their very high standards. Expect your work to be checked until they are satisfied and trust you to do the job well. It’s nothing personal.

This desire for perfect products and results can get in the way, placing high demands on employees and consequently a higher staff turnover.

When I was teaching years back, before I knew about DISC profiles, I prepared a “pick up and go” type programme for teaching senior chemistry, containing outlines for all lessons and practical periods for a year.

A chemistry background means a natural high ‘C’ style focussing on results and accuracy. I remember when I presented the programme to my Head of Department, he said that he always had a tendency to correct, change and improve something that someone else had done. But he wouldn’t in this case.

I was so thrilled and appreciative of his trust in me. It gave me so much confidence in preparing more material and over the years we did improve the original programme. By letting go of some of his ‘C’, my HOD empowered me. And now I’m conscious of letting go some of my ‘C’ to do the same for others.

The high ‘S’ DISC characteristics produce managers that are kind and considerate, being very supportive of the people they manage. It’s a very relaxed place to work where everything stays calm and consistent.

This is going to be very frustrating for the faster paced folks like high ‘D’s and ‘I’s. So the high ‘S’ leader needs to be aware of this and up their pace with these employees.

High ‘S’s are great negotiators because they listen carefully, and genuinely want to help others. But be aware that they don’t like conflict so if you want to raise an issue with them it needs to be conversational rather than confrontational. Therefore the high ‘D’s need to think through their approach first.

Next week…what is the management style of a high ‘C’?

What are the advantages and limitations of the high ‘I’ leader?

Because they are always enthusiastic they create a happy, collaborative atmosphere and encourage others in the team.

There will be lots of meetings and conversations. However, although the high ‘I’s are great talkers, they are not particularly good at listening so may tend to dominate discussions. The best way to get a high ‘I’ to listen to your suggestions is for you to show that your proposal will have a positive result for other people.

The high ‘I’ also has a tendency to over-promise and under-deliver. Although they are innovators, they have trouble structuring an assignment to delegate to their team because they are not good planners. Team members can help here by writing a plan, with target dates for new projects.

Next week…can a high ‘S’ DISC style make a good leader?

A couple of years ago I watched the TV reality show Big Brother….these types of reality shows don’t usually appeal to me but I thought Big Brother might be interesting from a DISC point of view.

To create compelling viewing the participants would be chosen for certain characteristics. They need to be extroverts, be quite assertive (high ‘D’) and love being the centre of attention (high ‘I’).

Being calm and steady (high ‘S’) or adhering to rules and regulations (high ‘C’) wouldn’t make for a good TV show.

From an observation of DISC styles I found this quite interesting. To be selected, the participants would be, or adopt, high ‘D’ and ‘I’ behaviour, so you start the series with a group of talkative assertive extroverts.

However over time it becomes difficult to maintain this behaviour….the natural behaviour comes out. Leaders emerge and different groups form. Conflicts start. And there’s nowhere to go to get away from the styles that annoy you.

When a person changes their ‘people-focused characteristics’ like greatly increasing their ‘I’ or reducing their ‘S’, it creates tension or pressure for them. And over time it becomes very hard for them to cope. Sometimes a participant who has reverted back to their natural, Internal profile, just can’t cope and they “escape” or opt out of the show.

I watched that previous series a little bit most nights to observe the changes in behaviour as they unfolded. I said once was enough and I wouldn’t be bothered to watch it again.

That was until I found out a friend was in this year’s show……

Next week I’ll be starting a series looking at different leadership styles in business.