This week I have been doing Management Systems Leadership Training and a day and a half of it was teaching us to use the DiSC method of personality profiling – Have you heard of it? I highly recommend it to anyone who is or who has to deal with another human being – particularly those of us in the veterinary field who deal with an array of people throughout our day.
As professional vets we constantly deal with bosses, employees, colleagues and clients or stakeholders of various sorts – and with each of them our personality interacts somehow with theirs. I remember from my practice days, on occasion, being totally stumped by someone’s responses to a situation – and now I know that I can use this tool to help give insight into the mystery that is “people”.
DiSC has 4 primary personality STYLES and every person is a mix of one to 4 of these, and knowing this about yourself and others can really help you to understand the drivers at play behind behaviors seen in different relationships. There are 2 DiSC profiles – one for the workplace and a slightly altered one for when you are the Manager – and the management one is the one I have done this week.
A quick rundown of the four primary personality STYLES in the Management DiSC :
1. Dominance: Direct, results-oriented, firm, strong-willed, forceful
2. Influence: Outgoing, enthusiastic, optimistic, high-spirited, lively
3. Steadiness: Even-tempered, accommodating, patient, humble, tactful
4. Conscientiousness: Analytical, reserved, precise, private, systematic.
Any of these sound like you? Any two of these sound like you?
Some more factors in the disc profiling are some of the drivers of a personality, these help locate your primary STYLE, and are:
a. A high need for control OR A low need for control
b. A low need for affiliation OR A high need for affiliation (interaction with others)
c. Someone sees the environment as unfavorable OR Someone seeing the environment as highly favorable
d. Sees them Self as more powerful than the environment OR Sees them Self as less powerful than the environment.
How did you go? The general guide is for the 4 factors above:
a. D/i v C/S
b. D/C v i/S
c. D/C v i/S
d. D/i v C/S
I am a high iD which makes me now understand why my husband calls me a whirlwind and sometimes struggles to keep up (sorry darlin’).
All the enthusiasm of the i has me constantly dreaming up new big (sometimes wacky) ideas, talking him or others into it like its the best thing in the world – as I see the environment is favorable and I believe I can exert influence on the environment and often then I getting distracted with the next new bright shiny idea and a little bored in nutting out all the detail. The D in me has a need for control – and now I understand this I can hear hubby saying ‘just do it your way then…. (sigh)’ and now I can understand more of why this has happened more than once.
However being an iD does not stop me from functioning in the other 2 spaces, I work in Government for goodness sake – not exactly a Google-like-environment! My ‘i’ and a lot of my ‘D’ is parked each day before I enter the huge grey building, as I like to call it, and although my smile is never dampened (or rarely – and that is another blog!) my behavior is in accordance with the big grey building rules. Steady and thorough, I work systematically through things and limit my exuberant ideas to what might help make my boss look good and progress the work of our Division.
So what is DiSC then you might say? If someone can be all four – does it matter and is it real? The difference between living in the D or i or S or C space is that one or two of these come naturally to a person. One or two of them energize a person (my i and my D) – and the others take effort and energy to fulfil. So parking my iD at the lift of the big grey building is when i put on my ‘game face’ for the day and check that all is in order to present well and get on with it – it takes energy and is draining. Whereas meeting people, networking and sharing ideas is what invigorates and energises me (maybe Government could create me a new networking role??).
So do you work with or manage others (or have family for that matter – its relevant in ALL relationships)? Do you clash heads with some and wonder why – as they seem nice people (are you two D-styles vying for power?). Does it upset you if people are angry with you or if you let someone down? – both S traits; Do you just like to sit in your space and work thoroughly through the detail and get an accurate and factual breakdown of the issue? perhaps you are a C type; Do you sometimes bounce off walls and have pie in the sky ideas and love to share it with others? maybe you and I are ‘i’s?.
Knowing how you tick and how people of your STYLE might best work with others of different personality styles immediately provides helpful insight into every work situation.
I recommend it….. – in fact I might bounce right into the big grey building later this week and (Dominantly) announce that all my (bosses) team should undertake this training – dang it! And oh – now – HERE’s an idea – WHY don’t we do it at a resort…. in the pool with cocktail in hand – surely someone has made a waterproof tablet for exactly this haven’t they!?! ……