Are you the only “normal’ person at your office?
Ever wondered why you’re the only normal one at our office? Better understanding your behavioural profile, those of your colleagues and customers can help break sown communication barriers and help you achieve results. It also helps overcome that feeling that everyone else around you is obviously completely insane.
The DISC model looks at a person’s natural behavioural style and the way they approach the world around them. Using the psychological theories of Carl Jung, William Moulton-Marston defined the four dimensional behavioural map (or DISC)
Characteristics of ‘D’ people
Think Gordon Gekko from Wall Street. ‘D’ represents dominance. The characteristics of people with a heavy ‘D’ profile are likely to include:
- Hard & fast decision making
- Like to be in charge
- Results focused
- Often perceived as aggressive or assertive
- Appears to lack patience
- Risk takers
- Bold
This is a driven, results orientated person. You can often find ‘D’ profile people in management because it gives them the control they need to feel comfortable. They are also not generally known for worrying about everyone else’s point of view.
How to deal with a ‘D’
- Be prepared; have the facts ready to go
- Be assertive; you need to be able to back up your opinion or they are likely to dismiss it
- Be concise; ‘D’s’ don’t want you to take up their time getting your thoughts together
- Don’t be offended. It’s natural for this profile to be assertive.
When a ‘D’ profile gets stressed, they can be bullying, rude and aggressive.
Characteristics of ‘I’ people
These people who like to be the centre of attention and share their thoughts, energy and enthusiasm with everyone around them. ‘I’ represents influence and are often entrepreneurial. Think Richard Branson. You can often find ‘I’ profiles in the public domain as speakers, trainers, and sales people or entrepreneurs reaching for dizzying heights. Characteristics of the ‘I’ profile include:
- Talkative
- Motivated & persuasive
- Animated and energetic
- Upbeat and optimistic
- Receptive, open and agreeable
- Are not great listeners – they’re just waiting for you to be quiet so they can start to share their views with you
How to deal with an ‘I’
- Show interest
- Don’t ask for their feedback if you’re not prepared to acknowledge it
- Put details in writing and set goals
- Be constructive in your criticism
When an ‘I’ profile gets stressed, they complain, can lose focus and be dramatic.
Characteristics of ‘S’ people
The team players. ‘S’ represents steadiness or submissive. These are people who look out for everyone else around them. They are:
- Calm and stable
- Supportive
- Like to work with a structure and procedures where the rules are known
- Like to work through issues, plan and then implement
- Don’t like change or being put on the spot
How to deal with an ‘S’
- Make sure they have time to digest information and make decisions
- Don’t be confronting
- Be supportive and build trust
- Plan for change
When an ‘S’ profile gets stressed, they tend to internalise their problems, can be emotional, indecisive and lose confidence.
Characteristics of ‘C’ people
The specialists of the behavioural world, the ‘C’ profile is happy to be locked away and focus on the one thing until they reach a conclusion. Key characteristics include:
- Logical and questioning
- Sceptical and persistent
- Has high standards for themselves and expects everyone else to have these same standards
- Likes things to be right (regardless of how much time that takes)
Dealing with ‘C’ people
- Set time limits
- Be logical in your approach
- Show competence
- use a more formal approach
When a ‘C’ profile gets stressed, they stop communicating, become critical and over analytical, isolate themselves and get bogged down.
There are no wrong or right characteristics. It’s just that some profiles are better suited to some situations and roles than others. Most people are capable of adopting other characteristics when they need to; it’s just that most of us will always revert to what feels natural. Think about the jobs you avoid doing or have to force yourself to do – chances are these jobs are inconsistent with your behavioural type. You can do them, but they take a whole lot more energy than those jobs that are consistent with your natural behavioural style.
Jack Welsh, former CEO of General Electric once told a reporter that he spends 50% of his time on people issues. Looking at the different characteristics of the people you work with, you can see why it takes so much energy.
For you customers, understanding how they need to work with your company and your products can mean the difference between a successful and viable relationship and one that goes nowhere.
The material and contents provided in this publication are informative in nature only. It is not intended to be advice and you should not act specifically on the basis of this information alone. If expert assistance is required, professional advice should be obtained.