DISC – The Essentials

 

 

Rather than attempt the impossible and cover the DISC model in one article, I’ll create a short series for it.

My aim with these weekly models is to provide content that's valuable and useful, and to do this with a reasonable degree of depth we need to spread this one out.  I will give you an introduction and overview of the DISC model today, then over the next 4 weeks I’ll look at each section in turn, before wrapping up the series with some reflections and insights.

I’ve used the DISC model probably more than any other when I’ve been working with people and teams.  It’s flexible, portable and relevant to a whole variety of situations.  It gives us insights into both ourselves and others, and helps us to work and communicate effectively.

So what is it

DISC is the language of observable human behaviour.  It helps us understand our preferred way of doing things and gain insights into the preferences of others.  This covers how we prefer to work, how we like to interact, and our preferred style of communicating.  It’s not a personality profile or psychometric test (although our personality has an impact of our preferred style).  It’s not a model that speaks to intelligence, skills or values, and there is no DISC profile that is better than any other.  The DISC model simply helps us to identify preferred operating styles and understand behavioural preferences

How is it useful

If we understand ourselves, and how we prefer to do things, then we can determine the best way to approach certain tasks, situations or environments.  Some things are a great fit with our preferred style and we can deal with them effortlessly.  Other situations or tasks are not the best fit (but we still need to deal with them) so we need to identify how we can support and prepare ourselves to work effectively.  Likewise, when we understand how others prefer to operate, then we can identify the sweet spot that enables us to work together both effectively and productively.

When we work with others, the main factors that provide insights into their preferences, are the behaviours they exhibit, the language they use, and the manner they communicate in.  These observable behaviours are the clues and insights into their preferred style, and this is what makes the DISC model so useful, portable and applicable.

Caveats

The DISC model groups human behaviours into four quadrants, Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance (we will get into this in detail over the next few weeks), and these quadrants are overlaid with the colours Red, Yellow, Green and Blue respectively.

This isn’t a case of dumbing down.  Obviously human behaviour is far more complex than four quadrants, but this grouping gives us a way to understand and unpick behaviours and preferred operating styles.

The reality is that we are a unique mix of all four quadrants, and it’s the details of this mix that gives us a deep understanding of ourselves.  As we go through each quadrant over the next few weeks you will identify elements in each one that you identify with.  The challenge is to identify which quadrants you associate and identify with most strongly.  When we do a full DISC profile we create a bar chart like this (this is my profile).  I’ll talk more about this in the Review and Insights article.

 

Importantly, identifying your DISC profile isn’t a case of labelling.  Just because you have a high green profile, doesn’t mean you are a ‘green’ person.  It simply gives you information and insights into how you prefer to operate, which means you can understand how you might need to flex your style in a given situation.  Your DISC profile is an insight, not a diagnosis.

So the DISC model provides useful insights, and over the next four weeks I’ll look at each quadrant in turn.  The challenge for you is to identify which is your strongest quadrant, which is your second strongest, and which is your weakest.  This will give you the order of your profile.

Good luck with this process and please message me if you have any questions.

dave@lasting-impact.com

 

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