As leaders, knowing ourselves is an important aspect of
leadership that is too often overlooked.
Do you have a good understand of what ‘type’ of person you are? Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Do you like working with people or with
things? Are you more a thinker or a
doer? Have you put any thought into the
fact that the people you often like to work with or be around have similar
traits to you, and that the people you don’t like to work with have different
traits? This is usually all lumped into
the broad concept of “personality types” or “interaction styles”, of which here
are many models. While many people may
get the chance to take a personality/interaction test at work or maybe school,
not everyone gets the chance.
In the next in this series of articles, we look at another
assessment tool, DISC.
DISC is a different set of personality tests (properly
behavioral/interaction styles) that was based on the work of William Moulton Marston (who happened
to be the creator of Wonder Woman). His
basic idea was similar to Jung, with 4 types:
• Dominance - relating to control, power
and assertiveness
• Influence - relating to social
situations and communication
• Steadiness - relating to patience,
persistence, and thoughtfulness
• Conscientious - relating to structure
and organization
This is usually put in a grid:
This is done because the top of the grid (D & I) are
extroverted aspects, and the bottom (C & S) are introverted aspects, along
an assertive-passive axis. Further, the
left side (D & C) are task-focused and the right side (I & S) are
social-focused, along a guarded-open axis.
In looking at the four types, they are explained this way:
Dominance- High
“D”s are very active in dealing with problems and challenges, while low “D”s
are people who want to do more research before committing to a decision. High
"D"s are described as demanding, forceful, egocentric, strong willed,
driving, determined, ambitious, aggressive, and pioneering. Low “D”s describe
those who are conservative, low keyed, cooperative, calculating, undemanding,
cautious, mild, agreeable, modest and peaceful.
Influence- High
“I”s influence others through talking and activity and tend to be emotional.
They are described as convincing, magnetic, political, enthusiastic,
persuasive, warm, demonstrative, trusting, and optimistic. Low “I”s influence
more by data and facts, and not with feelings. They are described as
reflective, factual, calculating, skeptical, logical, suspicious, matter of
fact, pessimistic, and critical.
Steadiness- High
“S”s want a steady pace, security, and don't like sudden change. Low S intensity
scores are those who like change and variety. High S persons are calm, relaxed,
patient, possessive, predictable, deliberate, stable, consistent, and tend to
be unemotional and poker faced. People with Low S scores are described as
restless, demonstrative, impatient, eager, or even impulsive.
Conscientious -
Persons with High C styles adhere to rules, regulations, and structure. They
like to do quality work and do it right the first time. High C people are
careful, cautious, exacting, neat, systematic, diplomatic, accurate, and
tactful. Those with Low C scores challenge the rules and want independence and
are described as self-willed, stubborn, opinionated, unsystematic, arbitrary,
and careless with details.
It doesn’t seem that any one group controls DISC, however
Inscape Publishing seems to be the largest provider
of materials, and they call it “DiSC” (yes, with a lower case “i” is their
trademarked version of the tests).
Inscape sells both an on-line version of the assessment, as well as a
self-scored version (surprisingly, the on-line version seems to cost more than
the paper version), but you will probably have to go to other providers to
obtain them. Now, with DiSC, it’s not
just a matter of being placed in one of four groups. You are tested and scored for each of the
four, and this places you in the two-dimensional grid. This was due to further research in the
topic, and Inscape calls this the DiSC Classic or DiSC Classical Profile.
I did come across a recent book by the people at Inscape
entitled The 8 Dimensions of Leadership: DiSC Strategies for Becoming a Better
Leader (2011) that includes a basic DiSC assessment. This is a pretty good book, and I would
recommend it for those wanting to look into this further.
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