One of the benefits of the work that I do is that I get to do a lot of self-discovery. Most recently, I’ve been exploring just how far DiSC has come from the first time I took it at Disney over 20 years ago. Back then, we got a letter. Mine was ‘D’, and there was a brief group discussion about what each of the letters (styles) represented. It was interesting but didn’t go much beyond that.
More recently I was able to take a series of targeted assessments and was blown away by how far things have come! The first assessment that I took, Everything DiSC Workplace, is designed to help you build awareness about your own style to use in building more effective relationships. I wanted to share a few highlights that I learned.
No more letters or graphs, now I’m a dot! This was really helpful as the position of the dot within the circle tells you loads of information, particularly about how well you relate to other styles and why some things are more of a stretch for me than others.
Hello ‘C’! As I’ve transitioned in my work life, my natural style has come to the surface. Generally, DiSC styles tend not to change over time, but I can definitely understand how I focused on behaviors that I thought were required to be successful but were outside of my comfort zone.
No surprise, I relate well to the characteristics of a ‘C’ style. Cautious, reasoning, analytical and private all rang very true to me. It also didn't surprise me that of the 8 priorities, I often stretch to a few outside of what would be usual for a 'C' style. As represented by the cool shading graph below:
Next came motivators and stressors. Not surprising to me, creating efficient procedures, getting things done and initiating change were all motivators while things like having little private time, chaotic environments or dealing with argumentative people were all stressors.
After that, I learned how I related to each of the other styles and things I need to consider in how I come across with each. As one example, it was interesting to read the why behind my reaction to people with a high ‘I’ style. Their enthusiastic and expressive qualities can be a little overwhelming for me. On the flip side, opportunities for me when working with a high ‘I’ style could be things like not over-analyzing ideas and capitalizing on our shared energy.
Next were three key strategies that I can take action on to be more effective in my relationships – which was awesome! So often you take an assessment and then it’s done. This gave me a chance to build some follow up activities to learn and grown from.
Finally, was the personalized Index which gave me key things to consider about each of the 12 styles. This is going to be really helpful as something I can refer to not only when a relationship feels strained, but before we even get there to build a stronger foundation to begin with. As with many things, awareness is the key. With that, so much is possible.
So…20 pages later, I find that I have a wealth of information not only about me, but about how I can better work and be with the people around me. I’m finding it helpful not just in working situations, but in all areas of my life.
A far cry from the single letter D I was given so many years ago. If you haven't had a chance to explore your style lately, I'd definitely recommend giving it a try. You will learn a lot about yourself, no doubt about it. And if you have done any of the Everything DiSC assessments, connect with me on www.MyEverythingDiSC.com and let's run a comparison between our styles. Let the understanding and learning begin today!
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