Author: Christina Bowser

Managing people stuff is hard. I gave it my all as a new manager, but it wasn’t working effectively. Then one day, I learned what could improve my performance.

Just another day in the office

Managing people stuff is hard. Some days I survived better than others as a new bank manager. This day was not one of them and life moved in slow motion. I was slumped at my desk with my office with door closed. Suddenly, I sensed I was being watched and looked up to find Katie standing outside my window. She stared directly at me and she was furious.

Just a few minutes ago I had the unpleasant task of firing Katie. She yelled and called me names. Even the bank customers were getting as uncomfortable as I already felt, but they were still curious. They were watching a train wreck. I hated this part of my job and today’s task was especially horrible, but at least it was over. I was wrong.

Katie’s parting statement

Katie was not done. She was dangling her office keys in a taunting manner and staring directly at me. After making sure she had my attention, she slowly turned around and hurled the keys towards the busy street. Through my window I watched the keys fly across the parking lot in slow motion. Many cars drove by each day. I remember thinking, “please don’t hit any cars!” I visualized irate drivers, accidents, lawsuits, and more headaches.

Finally, the keys bounced and landed safely in the left lane. Relief! No cars were damaged. The stoplight had just turned red so cars were not moving yet. I could hear Katie screaming, “you want them back…you go get them”! With that, she stormed off and that was the last I saw of her. I scrambled out of my chair and out of my office. I was hoping, as I walked through the bank lobby to avoid any eye contact with people who had just witnessed the firing. Once out the front door I checked around to make sure Katie had really left and was not lurking around to create another scene. I stopped and wondered what I should do next.

My manager’s duties include…what?

I do remember walking out and feeling the full blast of the New Orleans heat and humidity. Thankfully, it was almost 3:00 pm. The bank lobby would close soon and only the drive-up windows would remain open. First, I walked across the drive-up lanes, which were lined with customer cars. I skirted between the cars as quickly and unnoticeably as I could. I had to get those keys! If I had to replace them it would mean rekeying many locks and making new keys for everyone. Another headache. My drive-up tellers watched me scramble between cars with curious fascination. I’m sure they were thinking, “why is our boss running across the drive up lanes”? Customers peered out from their cars, but their stares were more suspicious. They were watching a frantic man in a suit crisscrossing their cars.

I stopped at the curb and looked at the now congested traffic. School had probably just let out and carpool moms were out in force. The big trucks, regulars on this busy thoroughfare, were packing the street too. After the light turned red again, I went to grab the keys. I hurried back, eager to get away from my unwanted audience. Although no one was probably looking at me, except my employees, customers, and everyone else driving by…who was I kidding? I went back to my office to cool down. How could I have gotten this one so wrong?

Bullet holes and bus crashes

It was September 1995 in New Orleans, Louisiana. I worked at a bank located at the outskirts of Uptown. The famous New Orleans streetcar line ended right outside the bank. Tourists were our customers too. The rest were Tulane University students, small business owners, and locals. Frankly, the neighborhood was going downhill. I got to know New Orleans’s finest and the FBI because I dealt with fraud, robbery attempts, and even a drive-by shooting. My staff saw bullets holes in the windows, simply caulked with silicone, as a daily and unnerving reminder of the dangers we faced.

On the upside, there never was a dull moment. One evening a driver had a few too many Hurricanes, a popular local drink, and drove through our storage room wall. He was passed out drunk and never realized he destroyed our entire supply of checking and savings account brochures. Another time, a city bus crashed into the telephone pole just outside my office. I was thankful for the pole. Better the telephone pole than me! Plus, getting hit by a bus at work is not my idea of a glorious way to go.

Training to manage people

Despite the everyday dangers, I loved my job. Okay, that’s an exaggeration. I really liked my job. However, managing people was frustrating at times. I found this to be the one part of my job I couldn’t grasp yet, but I was at a loss on how to be more effective. I crunched the numbers and managed the operations. Anything I wasn’t trained in I learned easily and managed, but managing people was a different story. I easily spent a third of my time just dealing with various people issues. The hiring, mentoring, training, evaluating, disciplining, firing, and mediating never ended. I wanted to focus on my real goals of increasing deposits and loans. Why do the people issues keep getting in the way?

I was a 24-year-old college graduate and ready to take on the world. After completing a year long management-training program I was now a branch manager. I also happened to be the youngest branch manager the bank had ever hired. I felt important. However, this management program did not truly prepare me for being a manager. I was basically shipped around to various departments to observe day-to-day operations. I found it fascinating, but not very helpful.

My first big break

Finally, I had the chance to do a two-week stint at our new grocery store branch. I know in store banking is everywhere now, but back then it was revolutionary stuff. The company was proud of the many banking services offered in a tiny location. We were between the pharmacy and the fresh fruit section. I had the honor to been chosen to experience it first hand.

The in-store concept was new and slow to reach new customers. Supermarket PA announcements on low home equity rates were the highlight of my day. Shoppers were obviously not impressed since they didn’t rush to sign up. I generated three loans the entire time. One for a bathroom remodel, another for a new pool and even one loan to fund a trip to see Mickey Mouse. On the bright side, I did get nice comments about my Finnish accent from the grocery cashiers. At this point, between standing around watching bank operations and my PA announcements, I was “clearly ready” for management duties.

Managing people stuff takes time away from my real duties

Unfortunately, I soon discovered my training did not help in managing people or dealing with customers. My business degree didn’t seem to help much either. I was trained to handle the operational and financial issues thanks to my education and limited work experience. However, I was not prepared for the many challenges of managing people stuff. Motivating employees, assigning tasks, scheduling lunch breaks, hiring and firing, and dealing with conflicts turned out to be amazingly difficult. On top of that, try adding customers and prospects to the mix. My business professors and textbooks must have accidentally skipped those topics. I needed those skills and would’ve remembered managing people stuff at those times!

What was worse, I felt ineffective and at a loss on how to become better. Meanwhile, I was distracted from the aggressive goals I needed to meet. I needed to open more loans, more deposits, and more fees. I was frustrated because managing people stuff took up so much of my time.

Managing people stuff with my three groups

I grouped my employees into three categories. The first, and luckily the majority, were great employees. They were reliable, customer focused, and got their job done. I shared my expectations. They got it and executed. It was beautiful. We were in sync.

The second group was more challenging. In my novice opinion, they were not interested in reaching their full potential. They did not understand my goals and my management style. They did their job, but not up to my standards. As a result, their performance was only adequate. This group was like a bar of soap. I couldn’t get a good handle on them. What was wrong with these people?

The last group was the toughest. Thankfully, it was so small that I couldn’t really call it a group. These 1-3 employees never got my vision at all or even tried to. When all I got were poor performances so I tried what any other creative manager would do. I encouraged them to ask for a transfer to another location. I asked questions like, “did you know there is another branch closer to your home?” or “your commute must be a real pain” worked quite well. My problem was temporarily solved. There was always another one to replace the one that left.

The real problem with managing people stuff

Then one morning I realized the real problem. How did I not see it when it was so obvious? The problem was ME! How could this be? I worked hard, had a college degree and even completed the management training. What more could I do? I found my answer the day before.

My friend Dave could make everyone laugh. Some did not appreciate his crude humor, but his delivery made up for his lack of tack. His laughter was contagious and he always had a great story to tell.

Dave was an avid fisherman. His email address started with “redfishdave@”. He invited me to go fishing almost every week. I declined every time because my idea of a great weekend was not getting up before dawn, but sleeping in. However, since Dave and I were good friends, I finally caved and went fishing with him.

Why fishing is a great sport

I groggily opened my door Sunday morning at 4:30 a.m. to see my way too cheery friend. He handed me a big cup of coffee and off we went. I was still sleepy so our conversation was one-sided. Dave had enough to talk about for both of us. We arrived at the bayou 45 minutes later. I was now awake thanks to the coffee. As I looked over the bayou and saw the sun coming up, I felt even better. It was very beautiful and peaceful. I realized that this experience could be enjoyable.

We launched the boat and headed out. About 30 minutes later he threw out the anchor, looked at me with a big smile and asked, “so, what fish do you want to catch today?”

“Wait, was this a trick question? Um…fish?”

What does redfish have to do with managing people stuff?

Dave laughed at my confusion and said, “how about redfish?”

He proudly opened his large and shiny tackle box. I could almost hear the heavenly trumpets blaring and the bright lights come down from the heavens. He had told me how much time and money he spent his tackle and lure collection.

Dave reached for a specific lure and skillfully attached it to the end of the fishing line. He then handed me the fishing rod and told me to start fishing. Surprisingly, since it was six in the morning, Dave also handed me a cold beer. I was beginning to see why fishing was such a popular sport.

What do you know? After 10 minutes of fishing and out of all the different kinds of fish in the bayou, we were pulling in good-sized redfish. Ninety minutes and three beers later we had a cooler full of redfish.

When we reached the limit for redfish Dave suggested we catch a few speckled trout before heading home. Dave took the fishing rod from me, changed the lure, and handed the rod back to me. Amazingly, we were now catching speckled trout! Fishing trip success. Three hours later Dave dropped me off at home. Ten minutes later I was asleep on the couch. Rising before the sun and early morning beers can take their toll.

Managing people stuff suddenly became clear

Monday came too soon. I was sitting in my office and thinking about the fishing trip and my job. My pay raises, promotions, and performance depended on how I led and motivated my employees to perform well. I felt I was doing okay, but I also knew I could be better.

Then I thought back to the fishing trip with Dave. How did he catch the exact fish he wanted? Then it hit me! It was so simple! We gave the fishes what they wanted! This whole time, as a new manager, I was giving my employees what I thought they needed and should get. I communicated in my preferred style. I used motivators that worked on me. Basically, I used a leadership style that I would follow. Suddenly, it was so clear.

The difficult person is me

There was no escaping it. The real problem with the managing people stuff was me. I realized where my leadership style wasn’t working. If I did not give my employees what they wanted and needed then they would not be motivated or understand what I wanted from them. If I wanted to achieve better results, I needed to change my behaviors.

The problem was fairly simple. I was repeating the same behaviors daily with everyone and without any adjustments. I was just lucky those behaviors worked so well with most of my employees. They worked because the majority of my employees were a lot like me. They “got me” because had shared the same behavioral styles. We saw the world through the same filters.

My next smaller group was not that different from me. However, they were different enough that they must have been thinking on my worst days: “Do you really get paid for this?” Fair enough.

The last few must have not been so kind to me behind my back. I’m sure they were frustrated. Looking back now, if it were me, I would have asked for a transfer. They probably were thinking that a location and commuting change was not a bad idea.

There’s a better way to managing people stuff

In my defense, I was not alone in my management style. In fact, I was pretty much like everyone else throughout the organization. Managers were focused on their own, comfortable behaviors and what worked for them. None of us knew how to effectively modify our style to better manage our employees. The same applied to prospects and customers. We repeated with the same way of doing things with mixed results.

We were managers so we must have been doing a good job, right? However, even the most successful managers can improve. There had to be a better way to managing people stuff. Being successful doesn’t mean you can’t benefit from change. However, changing behavior is difficult. It takes energy to change, but now I was open and ready for it.

What I’ve learned in managing people stuff

Over the years I became personally interested in what makes people successful and happy. I looked for similarities in behavioral styles and backgrounds. Was there a key ingredient? I discovered that successful and happy people come from all kinds of backgrounds. They had different behavioral styles, but, they had three main things in common.

First, all successful people are keenly and confidently self-aware. They are honest with themselves about their strengths and development areas. They accept who they are, but do not use their style as an excuse. Second, successful people make conscious decisions about how to modify their behavior. They do not simply repeat behaviors that are the most comfortable. They are not only self-aware, they are also aware of what they are doing.

Finally, I learned successful and happy people are very aware of what they can and cannot control. I believe all of us know the same, but fewer really accept it. We are distracted, frustrated, upset and even depressed about things in life we have no control over. We need to pay more attention to what we can control. Successful and happy people know they can only control themselves.

You decide if you need to modify your behavior. You are in control.

 

The Analytical Personality Type, also known as the C-style, is logical, quiet, and focused on doing tasks correctly. Learn some tips for being more successful as a C-style.

Meet Melanie, an Analytical Personality Type

Melanie is a great example of the Analytical Personality Type. She has worked for a small accounting firm for 25 years and plans to retire in 8 years. She has been systematically working towards retirement with a clearly outlined plan. Melanie knows exactly how much she needs to save to retire. Hence, she has been saving carefully. She is constantly checking on her investment portfolio and is on track despite the stock market downturn. She worries quite a lot even though she’s on schedule. Two years ago she was ahead of the game, but now she thinks about her market losses. Melanie knows she’s still well off since she tracks her portfolio on Excel worksheets daily.

Melanie likes her accounting job reasonably well. Accounting is a comfortable career. She likes the exactness and clear rules of the profession. The downside to accounting is the constant deadlines and chasing after clients for paperwork. Melanie wonders how they can sleep at night when their accounting books are such a mess. She’s truly amazed that they are so successful in their businesses despite their accounting chaos. Melanie finds it perplexing that her clients wouldn’t want to get more organized and thus, be even more successful.

Melanie does her job well, but she feels stressed often. She has slowly learned how to efficiently manage each client’s accounting and tax returns. Some clients exhaust Melanie. She really wants to fire some clients, but once she calculates her billing rate to clean up the mess, she changes her mind. Each hour would bring her closer to her goal.

Melanie’s Daily Routine

Melanie has no free time during tax season, but she accepts it as part of her job. She makes time to exercise and never misses her 5:45 a.m. run while listening to financial freedom podcasts. Melanie feels a sense of calming and comfort in her routine. She arrives at the office promptly at 8:00 am ready to start on the first tax return.

During the tax season, Melanie eats lunch at her desk while checking her investments. Everyday she has a turkey and Swiss cheese sandwich, an apple, and a vanilla yogurt. While enjoying her sandwich, Melanie updates her investment spreadsheets and decides whether or not to adjust her investment portfolio.

Melanie arrives home at 7:30. She heats up leftovers that she’d prepared over the weekend. She reads financial articles on her iPad while eating. After dinner she catches up on the news or reads a book while sipping a glass of Merlot. Then it’s off to bed at 10:30 to get ready to start the next day. Melanie finds the disciplined routine helps her survive tax season.

How Melanie relaxes

After tax season, Melanie can relax. She’s always home by 5:00 pm and keeps work life and home life separate. Melanie likes to focus on small home improvement projects and pamper her 2007 white Corvette. Melanie surprised everyone, including herself, by buying it a little over two years ago. One of her clients had told her to relax and to enjoy life more now. Melanie always thought her client was a bit reckless with his own spending, but he did make a good point. After researching used sport cars, Melanie came across this Corvette. The Corvette only had 3,700 miles on it and was immaculate. Melanie intended to keep it that way. She only took it out on weekends for the usual local drive and carefully parked it far away from other cars to avoid possible dings.

After a long day of work or on the weekends Melanie likes to be in her study. The room is fully equipped with a TV, books, computer tablet, finance magazines, and her wine collection. She really could spend all day closeted in her study. Melanie has a small circle of friends. A few go back all the way to high school. She likes to get together with them for dinner, a glass of wine, or to discuss current events and financial markets. Though she is busy focusing on her work and retirement, Melanie feels fortunate to have such good friends.

Introducing the Analytical Personality Type

The Analytical Personality Type is the most logical and systematic of the 4 DISC profiles. She is reserved, detail-oriented and prefers to focus on facts and data. She’s also comfortable working alone. The Analytical Personality Type can focus on a specific task for long periods of time and doesn’t mind if there’s no contact with others. Actually, she sees a phone call or an unannounced visit by a colleague as a distraction from the task. She likes working on one thing at a time so the task can be completed well and correctly. As a result, the C-style is excels at doing thorough analyses and quality work.

The Analytical Personality Type tends to believe there is only one right way to do things and that way is to avoid mistakes. She is logical and methodical in her approach. She believes rushing through tasks will result in unnecessary and costly errors.

The Analytical Personality Type is cautious and compliant to her own high standards. Her emphasis is to work with the existing circumstances to ensure the quality of the product or service. She wants everything to work the way it should and this may cause the C-style be critical of others. She expects everyone to follow her standards. Her attention to detail and correctness can be seen as nit-picky. She doesn’t want to criticize, but she just wants it is done right. The C-style wants you to know it’s nothing personal.

Analytical Personality Type’s guide to decision making

The Analytical Personality Type is most natural when making decisions where information is analyzed. The Analytical Personality Type’s natural tendency to analyze the data and to carefully evaluate the different alternatives is very valuable in certain fields like engineering. She can patiently and thoroughly look at issues from many angles and not rush ahead. We all hope when we are flying that the airline’s mechanics have C-style tendencies.

The C-style is so focused on getting it right, she still thinks about past projects she completed. There’s one retired executive who keeps grieving over the “bad decisions” she has made. She keeps bringing up a decision she feels responsible for that cost the company over $50,000. She still dwells on whether or not it was the right decision and she retired about 15 years ago! The Analytical Personality Type finds letting go of mistakes a challenge.

On the other hand, the C-style’s desire to do things correctly can slow down her decision-making. She can over-analyze issues and information. The C-style often does extensive research . She likes to organize and review the data. Spreadsheets are fun! However, she can get bogged down by data and end up without a decision. Do you know people who can’t stop talking about their major purchase, such as buying a car or laptop, for months after months? The C-style may even delay purchases on products that come out with new models often like cell phones. When it comes to decision making, the C-style is most comfortable when she has time to review and analyze data to make the best informed choice.

The social Analytical Personality Type

Socially, the Analytical Personality Type is the most reserved of the four DISC profiles. She tends to be quiet and doesn’t easily express her emotions. She comes across as reserved, matter-of-fact, and formal. If she doesn’t know the people well then this is especially true. The C-style opens up more with the people she’s close to, but even then, are more reserved and animated than the other styles. Others find it harder to know what the C-style is thinking since she’s quieter and more reserved.

She prefers to focus on one topic at a time. Her communication style is more deliberate and thoughtful. The Analytical Personality Type finds settings where many people excitedly interject their views to be challenging. She prefers when others stick to the topic. People who embellish or stray from the topic can frustrate her. She is more comfortable in one-on-one situations or in forums where everyone is given equal and ample time to clearly make her point.

Careers and demographics

We find more C-styles in the stereotypical careers such as accounting and engineering. These fields offer the Analytical Personality type the ability to specialize and primarily work alone or small groups. She can focus on detailed work that requires accuracy and analyzes a lot of data and information. In addition, the C-style can often be working as CFOs, financial analysts, information specialists, programmers, and quality control directors. She prefers to work for organizations that offer a more formal structure, clearly provided policies and procedures. Hence, the C-style finds that security in established companies are predictable and organized. She finds fast-paced, free-wheeling, unproven organizations uncomfortable. The Analytical Personality Type is the best style for the job if something needs to done correctly and there is little or no room for mistakes.

The Analytical Personality Type makes up 30% of the global population. In the USA, 29% of the population are C-styles.

The Analytical Personality Type asks the “why” questions

Obviously, as successful people we ask all questions, but we find that the Analytical Personality Type prefers to ask questions focusing on tasks and things. The C-style tends to ask many “Why?” questions. She may ask, “why is this important?” or “why does it cost more?”. In addition, she may ask, “why should I believe this data?” or “why is this the correct way to do this?”. She wants to know why.

Challenges for the Analytical Personality Type

For the C-style it’s important to be correct, like doing things right or working on the right things. In addition, one of the worst things that can happen for the C-style is being criticized by others. This is naturally related to her desire to do things correctly. She takes it hard if someone finds an error in her work or discovers a better way of doing her task. However, she is often her own toughest critic. She rates her job performance on being correct and doing tasks the right way.

The Analytical Personality Type wants to prepare and understand the process before taking action. This style can be especially challenging to D- and I-styles. They are willing to risk some mistakes in order to move quickly. On the flip-side the C-style can get frustrated with their fast-paced and riskier approach.

Understanding mistakes happen and it’s okay

Since the C-style has a keen eye for doing things correctly, finding mistakes seems to be easy. You notice when a “t” is not crossed and the “i” is not dotted. It’s a natural strength. Grant yourself permission to make mistakes. While striving for improvement is great, know that mistakes are a part of life. Give yourself permission to make some, learn from them and then move on without dwelling on them. You cannot change the past. Let it go. Also, “perfection” is an elusive goal as very few things in this world. No one individual is perfect. Finally, it may be good for you to remember that often “perfection”, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

As a C-style, what can you do to improve your performance? Just like the other DISC-styles, your areas of improvements are strongly correlated with your strengths. Focusing on doing things correctly tends to make you overly critical of others and yourself. You beat yourself up over every mistake. Even your definition of a mistake may be critical. What is fine for others may not be good enough for you. Hence, when you see something as not perfect then you may consider it a “failure”. Others may not ever notice the mistake you see. Often going for “good” instead of “perfect” is enough. The additional work required to achieve any marginal improvements may not be worth your effort. Try focusing your time and efforts to other matters that yield better overall results.

Criticizing Others

Quality control is important but, pointing out others’ errors can be annoying. Remember, you don’t like being criticized for mistakes. Others are the same. Have you ever overheard a parent go off on her kid about missing an “easy” shot or correcting their technique? Even when you didn’t see anything noticeably in need of critique. Instead all of the right things the kid did during the game, the parent was focused on the one moment they’d “messed up”. You remember the kid’s disheartened demeanor.

I share this quick story because the Analytical Personality Type tends to point out the errors of others. This is one of the most important development areas for the C-style. Learn to focus more on the things that are right rather than things that are wrong. You will find others around you will respond and do better. Of course, people need to be accountable and teach our kids. Try a way that motivates and encourages for better performance rather than demoralize and dejects. What if the parent had just celebrated his kid’s great game and then later practiced field goals? How motivated would his son be to continue to play well and improve?

Remember what is really important in the long-run and keep the big picture in mind. Practice this by trying to always first focus on what is right and positive. When you consciously begin to shift your focus on what is right and positive, you will gradually see what is actually “right” and “correct”. You’ll be amazed how positive of an impact it will have on you and people around you.

Why step outside your comfort zone?

I am fully aware you are skeptical now. You may think all of this will result in sloppy performance, lack of discipline, mistakes, and chaos. It’s just permission to slack off. If you do not aim for and or demand perfection, quality will drop. However, at the big picture level things will actually improve.

You will get more done. Others will get more done. You and others will be more positive. Others will be happier. You will also be happier if you can let go of some of the small stuff. Yes, the office supplies will not be perfectly organized. Kids will still miss shots or forget their technique. You’ll find some typos. There will be many small mistakes. Learn to accept that there will always be a level of clutter and mistakes. Make peace with it. Once you do you can step back and redirect focus on improving, you can start enjoying your work and life as a whole.

Looking at the big picture for the Analytical Personality Type

Learn to keep the big picture in mind when making decisions. Your decision making will speed up! As you make decisions, consider what is more important: accuracy or speed? Recognize that speed is more important in some decisions. First, practice making quicker decisions in low-risk situations. Try it when you make a minor purchase. Decide without comparing every product detail and competing pricing. Make a decision and move on. Do not go back and research if you made the right decision. Trust yourself and leave your past decisions in the past. It allows you to focus on decisions and actions you need to make now. It also allows you to focus more on the present. As a result, you will be able be present, waste extra energy, and enjoy it more.

Finally, give yourself permission to enjoy your life more. Do not set unattainable standards. Do not let others do the same for you. Just because someone in a position of authority or expertise says so doesn’t mean it has to be so. The world, life, other people and you are imperfect. Continue to use your strengths, but learn ways to keep improving. Once you look past every imperfection and focus on the big picture instead, you may find how perfect everything really is.

 

The Steady Personality Type, also known as the S-style, is amiable and friendly. He likes to focus on building relationships and being a team player. Learn some tips for being more successful as an S-style.

Meet Alex: our Steady Personality Type

Alex is a great example of a Steady Personality Type. He has worked as a bank branch manager for 12 years. Alex was just promoted because the previous manager suddenly left for a job at a competitor bank. Alex was the Relationship Manager and also Darren’s “unofficial” assistant manager. Darren delegated many of his routine responsibilities to Alex so he could focus on more interesting tasks. Darren thrived on business development.

Alex and Darren worked well with the division of duties.  Their bank consistently ranked as one of the top in the region even though it was located in an poorer neighborhood. More customers came in on a daily basis than any other branch location. Their branch was thriving.

Balancing his manager’s D-style

The branch employees accepted Alex’s unofficial assistant manager role. Alex was calm, patient and supportive whereas Darren was easily frustrated and impatient. Darren intimidated employees. New employees were warned that silly mistakes or too many questions could set him off. Alex was the manager employees went to for questions and support. Darren was the actual boss, but Alex effectively ran the daily operations. Darren trusted Alex and called him his “right arm”.

Darren’s boss, Jack, knew of the arrangement so Alex quickly emerged as the best candidate when Darren left. Quite honestly, there was no other realistic option to fill the vacancy. The management ranks were already thinned since the bank had gone through fast growth and acquisitions. A few employees applied, but they didn’t have experience to fill the job. Alex was a safe decision.

A Steady Personality Type fears change

Alex found his first day as the branch manager exciting, but daunting. His future goal was always to become a bank manager, but now the dream was real. There was no time to plan or prepare since Darren left so suddenly. He had to start now.

The frightening feelings faded quickly since everyone seemed happy to see Alex in his new role. The branch employees were clearly happy as their mood was one of relief. Many of the customers appeared to be pleased as well. Alex was familiar to them and he was always eager to help. The first day was long, but not so bad. Even though he didn’t leave work until his last teller left, he went ahead and ordered new official business cards. The Steady Personality Type survived the transition and became a Branch Manager.

Alex settles in

Soon Alex realized his job was essentially the same. He had the same jobs and his employees and customers treated him the same way. However, even though Alex realized he was doing a lot of the same things, he felt different. At nights he did not always sleep well. He laid awake thinking about what he needed to do. He felt a little overwhelmed before the day even started. Alex was the first one to arrive and often last to head home. The extra office time made him feel more prepared. He got everything done without overly rushing or pressured by the many deadlines. After a few months Alex finally began to feel calmer inside as there was no evidence he was not doing well. In fact, Jack kept calling him weekly assuring he was doing well. Slowly, Alex believed him.

Almost twelve years have passed. Jack has left for a new job. Both Jack and Darren are in top management positions. Alex is comfortable in his role and likes his job. He especially likes working with his employees and has gotten to know them very well. Yes, many of them have moved on to bigger and better things, but Alex feels there is reassuring stability to his team.

Alex is content and settled. He feels he is able to be in charge of his daily work without feeling overly pressured by others. He is also getting the support he needs from his boss, other departments and his employees. A  few trusted employees have become his “right arms”. Alex’s fairness as a boss has made many of his employees very loyal to him.

Challenges for Alex

There are only a few parts of his job that Alex does not really care for. The business development aspect of his job is just not for him. Making phone calls and visits to prospects to get their business takes a lot of energy from Alex. Usually, he ends up calling on his existing customers to see how things are going and hoping they need to borrow money to expand their businesses. Alex tries to set aside time for business development activities, but frequently gets “distracted” by other administrative tasks.

Deep down Alex knows it’s his way of procrastinating. Picking up the phone or knocking on doors to generate business is just not natural for him. “I am just not good in sales”, he tells friends. Thankfully, existing customers and walk-ins have provided enough business to keep Alex out of trouble. However, the branch is no longer a top performer. Alex blames the declining neighborhood as the main culprit.

Changes and tough talk are stressors

Alex prefers staying at the bank versus attending the monthly regional meetings. While he likes seeing colleagues, the meetings make him a little anxious. He wants to hear how others deal with issues because he needs the help, but management puts more and more demands on him. They want more products sold and better control over costs. Also, they are always coming up with new plans and “better ways of doing things”. Alex wants to do well, but views the changes as unnecessary. Besides, many of the new ideas don’t last very long anyways and Alex has learned to take his time before actually applying them. He believes that taking care of the daily customers is all he needs to focus on.

Alex thinks he’s very fortunate. He has a wonderful family and a job he likes. While his job and responsibilities create stress at times, he feels in control and steady. He also can enjoy personal time with his wife and children. Alex always looks forward to the slower paced weekends and family time. However, pressure from his bosses to try new ways to bank is starting to cut into his steady and managed routine.

Intro to the Steady Personality Type

The Steady Personality Type is just that, steady. He’s also reserved, calm, and modest. While he likes people, the S-style is different from the social and outgoing I-style. He prefers interactions with familiar people. The Steady Personality Type prefers things to remain the same because changes and surprises threaten his sense of stability and security. As a result, he prefers environments that are safe and familiar. Often the S-style has a certain routine at work and home that he likes to follow. This provides a comfortable feeling of familiarity and security for the S-style.

While all of us like to do things a certain way, the S-style tends to get the most upset when plans and routines are disrupted. We may not notice this however, since he will hide behind his calm and composed demeanor well, while on the inside he can feel distressed and anxious that things did not turn out how they had planned.

The S-style wants to be accepted by others. He is very conscious about not disappointing others. If he makes a commitment to do something, he will do everything in his power to follow through. S-styles are eager to help others. He does not expect others to reciprocate, but would like sincere appreciation. If the S-style feels the appreciation is not sincere, it is worse than not getting a “thank you” at all. Remember to mean what you say when interacting with an S-style. Fairness, sincerity, and justice are very important to the Steady Personality Type.

Relationships are key

Family and friends are very important to Steady Personality Type. Obviously, the other three DISC styles also care about friends and family. However, the Steady Personality Style finds stable and secure relationships especially important. He finds personal time with family and friends to be almost sacred. When work interferes with this time, he may become inwardly stressed or upset. He may be fuming inside while outwardly appear fairly calm.

The steady profile type also finds stability in his coworkers. He enjoys being a part of team or a group because the other members can provide help and support. The S-style is eager to be there for his team members and will go to great lengths to help them. He’s very loyal and often defends his group or team with strong emotions. Confrontations are very daunting for the S-style. He doesn’t want to disappoint others and aims to treat everyone equally.

The Steady Personality Type and technology

Living in an age of smartphones and computers creates new challenges for the S-style. Since the S-style is highly aware of his responsibilities, he tends to check emails and voicemails often. At times, he overacts to the urgency of the message and feels the need to take immediate action. He is always thinking about what needs to be done instead of truly enjoying his personal time. He may also feel resentful about the added responsibility generated from the email or voicemail. In reality, the sender may not expect an immediate response to their texts, emails, or voicemails.

If you happen to be an S-style, you may want to read the last few sentences again. If it rings true for you then how could you deal with this issue differently? Are you allowing others to invade your personal time even when they have no intent to do so? In perspective, you may enjoy your personal time more without feeling like you are slacking off.

Your “Emotional Bank Account”

Imagine an “emotional bank account” where you make emotional “deposits” and “withdrawals” with others. In other words, we help others and expect them to do the same. The concept applies to the S-style as well, except he provides others with an additional benefit. He offers an “overdraft protection” when it comes to the emotional bank account. Hence, if you forget to make a deposit, don’t worry, your overdraft protection will kick in.

Do not exceed your credit limit! The other DISC styles need to be aware of this. You will lose your overdraft protection, and worse, your account is closed! The S-style may never want to have anything to do with you again. The S-style will become suddenly and briefly assertive if he feels he has been wronged or taken an advantage of. He will let the other person know all of the built up mistakes she has made and then ignore her completely. Game over. So, do not forget to make those emotional deposits with S-styles.

As an S-style, remember that others may not be aware that they exceeded their credit limit. The S-style is always so willing to help and may not let others know when they have had enough. If you are an S-style, consider being more assertive and giving others an advance notice to stop asking more of you right now. That way everyone wins.

Guidance and Direction

The Steady Personality Type is reliable with an emphasis on cooperation and guidance to carry out tasks. As a result, the S-style likes to be provided with guidance and direction to complete the tasks correctly. When the S-style is not provided with adequate directions, he feels uncomfortable and hesitant to take action. He may seek out his trusted co-workers for help. Often the S-style doesn’t really need the co-worker’s guidance, but just their support. Frequently, the S-style can overestimate the amount of work involved and hence, become overwhelmed. He may hesitate to start. However, once an S-style starts, he is almost unstoppable. The S-style is amazingly persistent and in many ways are the “doers” of the DISC profiles. Once they decide to do something, they’re single-minded in achieving their goal.

The S-style will work steadily and patiently. This can be a significant strength in many situations, unless you are working toward the wrong goal. Occasionally, S-styles should stop and give up, but will stubbornly follow through. The S-style, out of all DISC profiles, finds change to be the most challenging. He can change and can even initiate change. However, since the S-style prefers stability and security, he tends to resist change and needs support with it. He wants to know how the change will affect his life.

Decision-making for the Steady Personality Type

The S-style is prone to hesitation in his actions and decision-making. He considers others in his decision-making and actions. He wants consensus and prefers for everyone to get along. Being concerned about disappointing others slows him down. It’s hard, if not impossible, to quickly please everyone. As a result, he can hesitate in taking action and making decisions. How often do you second guess your decisions or procrastinated going forward? Changes can be positive, but do you need to hold off and wait? Think about a staff meeting where you had a great suggestion for a problem. Deep down you knew what you should do, but held back. Instead you continued to get ready to speak up, but…. Practice assertiveness in trusting your gut and making the decision or taking action.

Take a stand, make a decision and do it now! Everyone will not agree with you but, so what? You’re thinking “easy for you to say”. Change isn’t easy and it takes practice. Start in safer environments and situations that involve smaller risks. For example, next time you’re out to a work lunch, try taking charge and deciding the restaurant. You will be pleasantly surprised how good it feels. When you get to the restaurant, don’t order your usual, but quickly decide on something new. By quickly, I mean 10 seconds to make a choice and then put the menu on the table. Do not pick it up again! Stick your initial choice. Again, you will be surprised how relatively easy it was. Keep practicing with opportunities like this. I promise it will get easier.

S-styles ask the “How?” questions

We ask all forms of questions. We wouldn’t be successful or effective if we didn’t. However, we do find the S-styles often ask the “how” questions. Not only does the Steady Personality Type ask the “how” questions, but often asks them in the plural form. For example, “how are we going to handle this?” or “how can we help?” They might also ask a question like “how does this affect us?”

Steady Personality Type demographics

The S-style accounts for 31% of the world population according to the 2015 Extended DISC Validation Study. In the United States there are 28% primary S-styles. Canadian S-styles make up 34%, the UK has 29% S-styles in the population, and Singapore 39%. Interestingly, S-styles used to be the largest group in the workforce, but that seems to be changing. Millennials now make up the largest group in the workforce and they are more I-style.

S-style’s preferred work environment

The Steady Personality Type prefers stable work environments that provide predictable, clearly defined responsibilities. He wants to be able to work at a steady, comfortable pace. The S-style clearly prefers to focus on one person and one task at a time. If the job involves overlapping and rushed projects, he can get uncomfortable and even stressed. When he feels pulled too many directions at one time, the S-style feels overwhelmed. This doesn’t mean he can’t perform well in these situations, but it demands a lot more energy from him. In addition, he wants to do well and complete tasks on time. When he is forced to divide attention among many people and tasks, the S-style feels he is not able to perform at the optimal level.

His ideal job would allow him to focus on a few things at a time without being pressured and interrupted. Routine work is comfortable for him and adds to his sense of security. However, when the routines get interrupted, the S-style becomes uncomfortable and stressed.

Many S-styles find themselves working as administrators, teachers, general accountants and managers. He finds environments where he gets to work in a team or a small group motivating. Having to go at it alone is typically not comfortable for an S-style. You often find many S-styles in larger organizations and governmental agencies.

Be assertive!

If you are an S-style, you’re probably thinking, “Tell me how I can improve. Give me more specific direction as to what I should do.” There are a couple of things you should focus on. First, practice being more assertive. Don’t be so modest. You have many wonderful qualities that can make you more successful. Believe in yourself and simply be more confident in what you want to accomplish. Remind yourself that it is impossible to make everyone happy. People around you have conflicting demands and viewpoints. When you please or agree with one person, then someone else will be disappointed. Learn to accept this. Take a stand and stick to your gut. It’s okay to get what you want too. You don’t always have to sacrifice for others.

Are you easily overwhelmed with the amount of work you have? Have you ever noticed you check your emails, voicemails, and to-do-list as soon as you get to work? Then you get stressed by all the work that needs to be done. Do you often over-estimate the amount of effort and time needed to get your work done? Don’t feel bad. This is common for the S-style.

When you feel overwhelmed, take a few calming breaths. Break down the project into smaller tasks and then start working. For example, focus on replying to your emails one at the time. Soon you’ll realize it all can be done, even faster than you thought. Once you are self-aware of your tendency to get overwhelmed, it will be easier for you to handle it. Also, if you let pressure mount, you will revert to your natural style even more, resulting in a vicious cycle. Instead, step back for a moment, calm down, prioritize, and then get to work.

Speak up if you’re a Steady Personality Type!

Also, practice being more assertive in your communication. Speak up, and do it now. Every S-style should be able to relate to the following scenario. You’re in a meeting and people are discussing a problem and trying to figure out a solution. You’ve thought a lot about it and came up with a solution. You think it’s a good one, but not 100% sure others will agree. You’ve decided to share it in today’s meeting. You keep waiting for good timing, but there just doesn’t seem to be a good opening. You keep working up your courage, but then someone else in the room (probably an I-style) basically offers your solution. Everyone loves the idea and your colleague gets all the credit. You want to kick yourself for not speaking up. Have you ever experienced a situation similar to this? Next time, be more assertive and just go for it.

Disappointing others is not always what you think!

The Steady Personality Type spends a lot of energy trying not to disappoint others, especially those closest to him. Sometimes it’s about small things like being a few minutes late. Other times, it’s bigger like not meeting a work goal and letting the boss down. Things just happen that can prevent us from doing our task. Are you overly worried about being a few minutes late? Are people noticing or truly upset with you? Chances are the only person who was upset was you! Just like you may overestimate the amount of work you must do, you may also be overestimating the negative reactions by others. Learn not to worry about others and be a little easier on yourself. The others are not as hard on you as you think. Other S-styles will give you break! Aren’t you happy to give others a break all the time?

Succeeding as a Steady Personality Type

You’ve probably noticed a common theme here. In essence, learn to believe in yourself more and become more comfortable in assertively and quickly taking action. In the beginning you will find it uncomfortable and challenging. However, with practice it becomes easier and you will find it gratifying. You will also find others respond well to your adjusted behaviors. Remember, you do not need to change who you are. That should never be the goal. Continue to use your natural strengths. Just do it more assertively now.

 

The social personality type, also known as an I-style, loves attention and interactions with people. They use people and communication skills to achieve success. Learn how the I-style can become more successful.

Meet Jake, the social personality type

Jake is an ideal social personality type and a very high I-style. He loves meeting, talking, socializing, and just being around people. Everyone clearly sees Jake is energized whenever he’s interacting with people. Does he even spend time alone? Every morning Jake has his breakfast at the local coffee shop. He always reads his newspaper, but quickly glances up every time the door opens. As soon as a familiar face walks in he’d wave them over. He smiles at everyone to encourage interaction. Breakfast can take a long time since different people spend time with him.

Jake has probably never had a meal alone. His lunch always includes his co-workers, clients, or friends. He hosts frequent dinner parties. Other times, he’ll simply invite himself over to friends’ homes. Jake is usually a very welcomed guest who arrives with a bottle of fine wine and lots of great conversation. Jake really loves telling stories. Everyone knows his stories are over the top. No one seems to mind however since they are almost always funny. Jake can deliver a punch line with perfect timing. He actually enjoys his stories the most and laughs the loudest. Jake tells entertaining stories and his laughter is contagious. Simply put, it’s fun to be around Jake.

How Jake’s social personality type gets him in trouble

All of the socializing takes up a lot of Jake’s time so he’s always behind on his projects and commitments. Typically, Jake has an explanation for each “unexpected” delay. When taking a quick glance at his office, you’ll question his reasons. His desk and all surfaces are covered with piles of papers, unopened mail, magazines, books, files and binders. Desk drawers and file cabinets are even worse. They are overly stuffed with papers and files. He is constantly fumbling through them to find things he needs at that moment.

He is the one who has to call his cell phone to try to locate it. The ring tone of ‘Celebration’ by the Kool and the Gang announces its presence under the “receipt stack”. There are dozens of pens everywhere as Jake often walks away with colleagues’ writing instruments. Jake’s ability to accomplish anything seems like nothing short of a small miracle.

Jake is always overly optimistic about how long it will take him to be ready or how long it will take to drive somewhere. Hence, he is often late. His co-workers and even prospects and clients become frustrated and irritated. Showing up late was one thing, but add in his lack of being prepared and it was a recipe for trouble.

What Jake does well

What Jake lacks in organizational skills, he makes up with his ability to work with people. His genuine enthusiasm gets people excited about whatever Jake is working on or trying to promote. He makes even mundane things more stimulating and interesting. He excels at recruiting people to his projects so in the end he gets the support he needs to get it done. Jake is the worst about being on time. He is always moving on to the next “big” project. The next project always seems more exciting. In fact, most of his projects probably would never be completed without his ability to recruit efficient people to get it done.

Who is the social personality type?

You probably know at least one social personality type. They are I-styles. You know how fun they are to be around. They’re outgoing, social, and talkative, and enjoy being the center of attention. I-styles like interacting and meeting new people. I-styles are energetic individuals who are animated, expressive and usually appear to be in a good, positive mood.

They are optimistic and tend to see the positive side of things. The glass is not just half-full, but overflowing! The social personality type gets a lot of energy and motivation from the opportunities to work and play with others. They are people magnets. I-styles attract and are attracted to people.

Fears of the social personality type

Fear of rejection often plays a big part of social personality type’s behavior. I-styles want acceptance and to be liked by others. I-styles can react emotionally when ignored or people don’t amply respond. They try solving the issue by finding ways to make the people like them. I-styles will try to engage the person by talking even more! Usually, the underlying reason for this is that I-styles’, like all of the four DISC-styles’, natural tendency is to expect the same kind of behavior from others as they would exhibit in a similar situation.

I-styles are genuinely happy and excited when meeting people. To them, it is a wonderful opportunity to make a new friend! But, when an individual meets an I-style and he does not demonstrate the same kind of excitement and eagerness, the I-style assumes that something must be wrong. A social personality type tries to fix this by increasing and over using his I-style behaviors. He believes he can make it “impossible” for the other person to not like him. Have you ever seen an introvert literally trapped into a corner by an excited I-style? The I-style gets more and more animated. He’s trying his best to get more reaction from the introvert. Both are equally uncomfortable, but show it very differently.

Challenges to the social personality type

Details can be very painful for I-styles. I-styles feel drained of energy when it comes to detailed work. Detailed work typically means working alone for extended periods of time. Sometimes this results in careless mistakes or oversights. On other occasions, it results in creative procrastination to postpone the pain. Suddenly, other tasks take on an unexpected urgency or there are more important priorities requiring immediate attention. Coffee breaks may become more frequent and lunch breaks just a little longer. I-styles are eternal optimists: “It will all get done.”

Under pressure, this lack of focus on details is likely to become even more pronounced for I-styles. In situations when an I-style is under the gun, feeling pressure and stress, other people around him often perceive him as being disorganized and even frantic. The I-style transforms from his usual energetic self into a frenzied panic. Soon, however, it passes and we will see the familiar, big smile on his face.

Follow-up can also be a challenge for I-styles. I-styles are adverse to details and tend to get more excited about new tasks, projects and opportunities. The previous ones may have lost some of the initial appeal and the new one is, well, new. It grabs more of the mindshare some of the things may simply be forgotten. Successful I-styles frequently have created and use some type of follow-up system to help them keep on track. They have recognized without such system that they are continually starting new initiatives without completing the previous ones.

Social personality type career preferences

I-styles prefer to work in environments where there is a lot of variety and many chances to interact with others. I-styles become exhausted if they have to spend a lot of time working alone or on detailed tasks. They want to be involved with others and thrive on flexibility. Not surprisingly, many I-styles can be found in sales, marketing, public relations, and various customer service roles. Also, many trainers and facilitators are I-styles. I styles are comfortable blending personal time with work time. They value flexibility in rules and schedules. Hence, I-styles thrive in companies that offer flexibility and variety.

Social personality type asks the “Who?” questions

Obviously, as successful people we ask all questions, but we find that the social personality type prefers to ask questions focusing on people and relationship. I-styles find relationships and working with others highly motivating. Hence, I-styles ask the “who?” questions. Who is going to be at the meeting? Who is in this with me or who should I talk to about it?

Social personality type workplace impact

If you are a social personality type, we have some good news for you. The percentage of the I-style population is growing. The I-style is 26% of the global population. In the United States, 32% of the population is I-style. In Canada, the percentage is even higher at 33%. One reasons the number of I-styles is growing is that more and more of the younger generation are I-styles.

The increase of the  I-style population is already having a significant impact on organizations and how they need to attract, motivate and engage, and keep I-style employees. Managing Millennials and Millennials managing is a topic that companies must address. Check out our article and webinar on Managing Millennials. I-styles are not looking for 30+ year careers at one company, and they demand a different type of work environment. Organizations that are analyzing their employees’ styles data are making a lot smarter and successful decisions with their most valuable asset: their employees.

Social personality type career choices

Predictably, I-styles tend to make career choices that increases opportunities to interact with people. Also, I-styles prefer job environments that offer a lot of variety. I-styles aren’t interested in a lot of detailed tasks or doing things alone. As a result, I-styles find themselves attracted to fields like marketing, public relations, sales, and training. Industries such as hospitality and tourism and retails sales are popular with I-styles as well.

A social personality type can make changes to be even more successful

If you are an I-style, you may be thinking: “What can you do to further your success?” Again, the most general advice is to learn to understand all of the DISC-styles, identify your own style and create a keen self-awareness, learn to identify styles’ of others and to adjust your style to the other person(s) or situation. That is fine and well but what about the specifics?

Don’t overuse your strengths!

You need to pay close attention to not overusing your strengths. When you find new projects and opportunities, remember to complete the existing ones first. Learn to follow-up. This may sound too basic and simple, but this is critical. Let me say this again: learn to follow-up! If you complete your tasks and projects, then you’ll find much better success. This does not mean you have to do everything by yourself. Use your strengths to motivate others about issues and ideas. Use those skills to get help. Delegate. Do not be afraid to ask for help. Do not hesitate to tell others what you want them to do. When you complete what you started, people respect and like you more.

I-styles becoming more organized

Use technology to help you to follow-up. There is no shortage of software programs and devices to organize your calendar, get reminders, and synchronize it all with your smart phone. Most importantly, actually use the technology when you need to. Have you ever spent an afternoon or even an entire day organizing your calendar, to-do-list, and office? Does it leave you feeling great after what you just accomplished? Then only a few days later you realized you were not really using your calendar and to-do-list and even your office looked a bit disorganized again? The thrill of feeling organized soon fades, doesn’t it? It is easy to revert to old habits.

Discipline takes practice!

Practice discipline. Trust me, you will really reap the benefits with this one! Learn to focus more on one thing, and on one person, at a time. This is especially true when you are interacting with S- and C-styles. They prefer to focus on one issue at a time. When you do not, they get uncomfortable. Also, they may perceive you as “flaky” and may even incorrectly associate your behavior as incompetence. When others see you concentrate, they correlate it with higher ability and competence. The same applies to your interactions with others. When you focus more on one person at a time, the connection you create is more significant and meaningful. Also, you come across as more sincere and genuine.

Since you are fairly talkative, focus on really listening to others. Don’t think about what you’re going to say next, but hear what they are saying. When you actively listen, you let the other person know you think what they say – and who they are – is important. There is no better way to make other people like you and trust you. We do not like to be ignored when we have something to say!

Learn to say no!

Finally, learn when to say “no” to people and new commitments. The end result is you tend to over-commit and not be able to follow through. Focus more on making the right decisions rather than on being liked and not rejecting others. When you hear the word “no” don’t feel rejected. Remember to mirror the same behavior with others.  When you do not follow through, people may learn not to be able to count on you and their trust in you wavers. It is OK to tell others “no”. Saying “no” is better than saying “yes” especially when it comes to something you can’t finish. Others respect it and, as an social personality type, you can say “no” with a smile better than anyone.

The D-style personality type is one of the four main DISC styles. What makes this style unique from the other styles? How does a D-style become more successful?

Meet Maxine: A D-style personality type

If you were to ever meet Maxine, it wouldn’t take you long to recognize he ultra competitiveness. She’s a D-style personality type. Although Maxine usually greets people she meets with a smile, there’s an intense energy to her. Simply put, Maxine wants to win in everything and anything she participates in. She always wants to finish first. Maxine thrives when there are many things happening at the same time. She loves directing chaotic settings. Maxine seems to want to push people and things to the very edge of being out of control. The thrill of activity, speed and moving forward clearly provides Maxine with energy and motivation.

Maxine is on the fast track to success

Maxine is in her mid-forties. She is part of the executive team of an organization with about 8,000 employees where almost 5,000 fall under her division. She is the youngest of the executives, but is also widely considered to be one of the most talented. Since starting her career at the company, she has produced the kind of financial results that do not go unnoticed. Maxine got promoted quickly and with each move grew hungrier, more driven and motivated.

Maxine was known for her intelligence. She also is one of those rare few who have an almost perfect photographic memory. Maxine could quickly glance at a spreadsheet and repeat all the numbers to the awe of others. She could also remember everyone’s name. For example, she could just meet a prospect or a customer once and very briefly. Then months later, she’s able to call the person by name if she unexpectedly ran into that person on the street. Maxine very quickly stood out from the rest. Most of the 5,000 people who work for Maxine respect her. A couple of her direct reports appear to want to be exactly like Maxine. One of them is even nicknamed “Little-Maxine” because it is so obvious though she cannot pull it off and it is apparent to everyone.

What is derailing Maxine?

While Maxine’s incredible memory is legendary throughout the organization, so is her short-temper and inability to not to speak hier mind. No one wants to upset Maxine. No one wants to correct, object or disagree with her. Even so, Maxine loses her temper frequently. She gets easily frustrated when she has to repeat herself, focus on details, or slow down her pace. She rants and intimidates. Sometimes she has been know to even throw objects within her reach.

However, Maxine is more tactful with the other key executives. She realizes he needs to hold back in order to achieve her ultimate goal of CEO. Not surprisingly, most of the other executives have the same goal and the usual power plays and politics abound. Maxine is seen as a threat by many because she is so talented and her division is doing well. She is getting more attention by the board and Maxine is becoming more powerful. Maxine loves the situation and thrives; she is working longer hours than ever, demands more from her direct reports and pushes them to expect more from their employees. Her energy and intensity to achieve the set goals is palatable and contagious.

Why does Maxine need to change?

Maxine has always been considered a workaholic. Now, her work is all consuming. She leaves her house at 6 a.m., makes phone calls to her direct reports on her way to work, and continues her day non-stop until she gets home late in the evening. She continues her work at her home office until she goes to sleep at around midnight. Maxine sees her husband and two young sons only in passing at the house. They all know that this is a critical time in her career. Although this is not a new situation for her family, Maxine has made it clear this time that the stakes are higher than ever. Her health has been set aside as well. She’s lost weight, stopped exercising, and forgets to eat.

You probably know people who are similar to Maxine. She’s driving hard toward her goal, but at a big cost to her personal life and health. Can she continue at this fast pace doing the same things over and over or does something need to change before it all can go wrong?

Who is the D-Style personality type?

The D-style personality type is very results-oriented, competitive and direct. D-styles are the most aggressive and assertive of the four DISC styles. They want to achieve results and they want them now – better yet, yesterday. As a result, others may perceive the D-style as being too aggressive, blunt and even rude. Under pressure the D-style may appear to have a lack of concern for others. It is not that the D-style doesn’t care about others. It is simply that he or she wants to achieve results now.

The D-style prefers to move fast, take risks and get things done now. Change and challenges are motivating even to where change is purposely created. The D-style can be impatient and overbearing. He or she are often not good listeners and can be prone to make snap decisions.

The D-style wants to be in charge, have power and to control what is happening. As a result the D-style often has a difficult time work productively with others. Instead of cooperating, the D-style will often spend focus, effort and energy into making sure that he or she is in charge. Obviously this can lead to destructive situations. In addition to gaining control, the D-style also does not ever want to lose control.

The D-style personality type in teams

Not surprisingly, teamwork can be quite challenging for the D-style personality type. The D-style wants to be in charge and be the team leader. If not, he or she gets frustrated when other team members are discussing various issues and making decisions at a rate that is painfully slow for her. “Teamwork is a waste of time”, she may think to herself. If you are a D-style, you may very well have had this thought yourself.

D-style personality type career preferences

All of the DISC-styles tend to gravitate toward careers, jobs, and employers that fit their behavioral preferences. The very simple reason for this is that certain types of situations are more comfortable to different styles and require less behavioral adjustment. Modifying your behavior takes energy. Have you ever had a job that just was not “for you”? At the end of the day you were drained and not looking forward to the next day. The chances are it required you to make constant and significant adjustment to your DISC-style.

The D-style tends to look for job environments that offer a lot of variety, independence and risky and challenging situations. Jobs that have clear and quantifiable goals are preferred among D-styles. You will find many D-styles among sales managers, sales people on full commission and operations managers. The more multi-dimensional and comprehensive the job is the better. Routines are boring. As a result, we often find the D-style personality type in fast-paced environments. Entrepreneurs are often D-styles. This is a role that requires independence, being in charge, ability to make own decisions and risk-taking. It is exciting and even addictive to the D-style.

The D-style personality type asks “What?” questions

If you know a D-style, you probably have noticed he or she will ask many “what?” questions. “What’s this all about?” or “what are you going to do about it? In addition, there’s, “what’s the bottom line?” and “what’s in for me?”

These questions are a quick way to get to the bottom line and see the big picture. “What?” questions usually reveal it the quickest. At times, the other DISC-styles may feel as if they are being interrogated by the overbearing D-style. The D-style is looking for quick answers and will ask them at rapid fire pace. There’s little time or no time to answer between being questions. In fact, the D-style may start asking another question while the other person is still answering the first one.

Uniqueness of the D-style personality type

The D-style is unique in one aspect from the other three DISC-styles. While the other styles get along well with their own styles, the D-style tends not to. D-styles do not “play well” with other D-styles. This goes back to the desire to be in charge and in control for every D-style.

There have been many business partnerships that end due to this D-style behavioral trait. In one such case, two high-school buddies who had built a successful roofing supply company. However, over six years neither were able to let go of any of the control. Both of them wanted to be ultimately in control of everything. Both of them wanted to make the final decisions. Of course, this wasn’t possible. Here were two talented and successful guys who had known each other for over 20 years. In the end, the friendship ended and the company closed down. All of this was over not being able to let go of any of the control or even try to work out a solution.

Sure enough, the partnership, the company, and the friendship were destroyed painfully. Toward the end, both of these intelligent bosses focused on attacking each other even when both of them knew it was self-destructive. It was a great, albeit sad, example of overusing your strength.

D-style personality type demographics

Not all that surprisingly, the D-style personality type is the least common of the four DISC-styles. 12% of all primary styles globally come out as D-style. In the United States, 11% of the population is D-style and United Kingdom is higher at 15%. In Canada, the number is only 8%! Over time these numbers slowly change. In our research and the ongoing validation of the tools, we keep a close eye on the changes all over the world. These figures are from 2015 Extended DISC Validation Study.

D-style personality types can make changes to be even more successful

If you are a D-style, you may be wondering what you can do to become even more successful. At the most general level, my advice is the same for all four DISC-styles. First you need to understand all of the DISC Styles then be able to know your own style. Next, learn to identify the style of others so you can make changes to your style.

More specifically, as a D-style you need to learn two things: patience and humility. This may sound counterintuitive since one of the main reasons you are successful is your ability to move quickly and with a determined sense of urgency. Why slow down?! Not only that, you achieve results because you demand others to deliver their best performance. If you begin to go soft on them, they will get lazy and performance suffers. By constantly setting more aggressive goals and strongly holding everyone accountable, you ensure success. In your mind, it is all about business. It is not personal.

Why does a D-style personality type need to change?

There is a main reason a D-style personality type needs t0 change. In order for you to achieve your goals, you need to support efforts and ideas of others. This may not come naturally. Realize that other people (unless they are high D-styles and you now know they are a minority) will take things more personally. While you may think it is “silly” or “stupid” to do so, they think otherwise. This is especially true working with the “People-oriented” I- and S-styles. The C-styles do not get as emotionally involved, unless you criticize them. Being perceived as arrogant, self-centered or uncaring causes others to feel demoralized, unmotivated and uninspired. Some will leave for other jobs. Others will find ways to avoid you. Obviously, you know the resulting bottom line: poor results.

Also, it is not uncommon for D-styles to feel superior to others. “Just look at the results I am able to deliver!” a D-style may think to himself. This feeling of superiority can manifest in many destructive behaviors that may eventually lead to poor end results. When you combine this with a lack of patience, you clearly communicate to others their ideas and contributions are not as significant and are inferior to yours.

Others perceive that you do not care or value what they have to say and contribute. People start to think, “why bother? I get shot down no matter what I do or say.” Over time others become dejected. You will not be getting the best efforts and ideas of others around you. Everyone loses, including you. Don’t think of it as letting go of your strengths. Instead, remind yourself to not overuse them and mix in patience and humility. You will achieve even better results faster.

Humility…look it up

For the D-style personality type this may all sound a bit silly and even childish. A D-styles intent is not to demoralize or come across across as uncaring. There simply are high demands the D-style wants to achieve. How can others expect you to take the time to cater to everyone’s feelings and to constantly encourage them? I am getting the job done!  You make very good points. However, the reality is that other people do respond to your behavior that is different from how you would react. Feelings of hurt and personal attack can occur from others.

If you do not accept this and just dismiss it, you will hinder your success. Learn to pause for a moment and really think how your behavior affects others. Also, learn to not to judge the reaction of others; simply accept it and modify your behavior accordingly. Lastly, you may want to read the above again and think if you need to make some adjustments to you behavior at home as well.

Patience takes practice

Finally, often your lack patience reveals itself in other, more subtle ways. Sometimes you give up too soon or do not give your ideas enough time to materialize into concrete results. You want results now and if they are not quick to appear, you move on. Some things just take more time and will require more patience. I know, it is hard to do.

Keep the focus on your goals and what it will take to achieve them. Sometimes the answer is simple: more time. Other times your lack of patience and humility may cause you to win a battle but lose a war. Think of a time you have won an argument with a co-worker or client. Who ended up winning in the long-run? Do you still have cooperation of the colleague or the business of the client you beat? Be careful you do not focus too much on “winning” in the short-run only to end up losing in the long-run.

Final thoughts for the D-style personality type

Maxine is already successful, but she needs to make changes to continue her path to success or she will derail or burn out. Maxine uses her strengths of her style to achieve her goals, but it comes at a cost. She needs to continue to use her strengths to move ahead, but she also needs to become more aware of when she is overusing them. In addition, recognizing her areas that need to be developed and the areas she needs to make adjustments will ultimately work more effectively for her.

Just one more important takeaway about careers, preferred job environments, adjusting styles, and DISC-styles. Remember, no matter what style you are, you can be as successful as you decide to be. Don’t worry if your “hard-wired” DISC-style does not seem to match the job role. There are many examples of different styles thriving in any role or job. Use your D-style strengths, but just remember to make adjustments when needed. Your DISC-style does not limit what you can achieve in this world.

I did it my way.

– Frank Sinatra

Black Friday sales, gift return lines, extended family get-togethers, work parties…stressing you out yet? Remember your holiday communication tips to get the most out of these busy times.

A brief moment to look at the downside

Enjoying the best of the holidays at work and outside of work is the ideal goal, but can also end up with its challenges. Times like these can bring stress and higher levels of emotions, which can result in amplifying our style. Our behavioral strengths can help carry us through challenging situations, but strong emotions can also cause us to forget to modify. We don’t need to be overwhelmed, but a few useful holiday communication tips can help you survive and thrive through these busy times!

In addition, stress and emotions may cause us to overuse our strengths to the point they become a negative behavior. For example, you’re in charge of planning the holiday party at work, but it’s your first time and you don’t know where to start. As an S-style you excel at being responsible, working hard and considering the needs of everyone. However, under pressure you may take on too much and not ask for help. Do you feel yourself getting stuck when making decisions because you want to please everyone? Have you ever tried to do it all and delegate? See where this can go?

What can we do to ensure that work and family are both being taken care of this holiday season, and reduce work-life holiday stress? Here are a few simple holiday communication tips for enjoying the holidays!

Communication tip #1: Remembering we have different ways to communicate

Think back on a time you were frustrated trying to return a gift or getting help on the phone or in person. We’ve all been there. You know what you are talking about, but the person doesn’t seem to get it. Then we tend to become more emotional and things start to spiral down. We don’t communicate the same way. We are unique and we have different styles. Self-awareness is one step towards better communication, but it is just as important to identify styles of others. Remember the simple OAR acronym that stands for observe, assess, and recognize. This is a skill that takes practice, but is easy to learn.

When you meet people, observe body language, words they use, tone of voice, and what they tend to talk about. Next, assess if they are more of an active style (D-styles or I-styles) versus reserved (S-styles or C-styles). Active styles are more future focused, louder, more animated and assertive, and maintain strong eye contact. Reserved styles tend to speak with a calmer or quieter voice, have less direct eye contact, and talk more about how things are now. You need to decide if they are more people (I-styles and S-styles) or task focused (D-styles and C-styles). Do they prefer to focus on things and tasks or do they prefer to focus on people and relationships? Once you have a better idea of how a person prefers to interact then you can begin to modify your style.

Communication tip #2: Knowing when you are stressed

Pressures and demands create stress for all people. During the holidays we have the joy of seeing family, wonderful meals, and even exchanging cards and gifts. However, we are often working through the holidays which can be a lot. We need to find the balance between the pressures and the joy of this time. One way is to recognize our signs of stress. While it is nearly impossible to eliminate stress, we can manage it by understanding our own unique causes and signs of stress, as well as how best to alleviate it. The causes of stress are different from one person to another. Look at your DISC report to see what typically causes you stress and how you tend to react to stress. Your DISC report can tell you how you show signs of stress and how someone with your style prefers to manage stress.

Can you think if a recent situation where you showed one or more stress behaviors? What happened? What could you have done differently and better? Are you the difficult one in the interaction? You can learn more holiday communication tips on how DISC styles manage stress in our past webinar.

Communication tip #3: Breathe between interactions

Holiday communication tips can be simple. Beyond breathing’s survival function it easily overlooked how vital it is to slow down and breathe. It help us focus on what is present and what comes next. Just like with challenging people and those with styles different from our own. Take a moment to reset yourself between all the people you are with. This can be just a few seconds. Then you are more prepared to interact with a different style. Adjustment takes energy and during the holidays there may be many times you need to adjust. It’s okay to take a breather and regroup. We re-energize differently so find a simple method that works for you. For example, it’s okay to focus on one person versus large groups if you feel more at ease.

It’s okay to step away from the social scene for a minute. For the active styles, group settings may be the perfect element for you to be the center of attention, but make sure the exchanges aren’t only one sided. Listen because many people may have something to share.

Communication tip #4: Be careful not to overuse your style

Think of those holiday dinners when there are too many generals trying to direct the cooking. We all have preferred ways of doing things and can do them easily and efficiently. In times where we are emotional we tend to rely on our natural style even more because we don’t have to focus on it. In addition, stress and strong emotions make us less likely to modify our behavior. We need to be aware that when the stress level becomes high, we tend to overuse our strengths and the worst of us may come out. Think about the last time you were angry. Do you remember making conscious decisions about how to best adjust your style? Think about the last fight you had with a friend, family member or a co-worker. Did you remember to adjust your communication style?

Sometimes we just do not feel like doing it. Our energy is low or we are not motivated. When this happens, focus on the big picture. Ask yourself: “What is the cost of not adjusting my behavior?” This often helps put everything into perspective. Modifying behavior takes energy. When you are tired, this gets even harder. Take a break or postpone an important interaction. Physical health and rest actually improve our ability to modify behavior.

Strong emotions are the enemy of behavioral modification. Don’t forget this to maintain your awareness and not allow your strengths to become liabilities. Slow down, be present and aware of your style. Remember that strong emotions can prevent us from making the best adjustments. Keep the end goal in mind when modifying your behavior. You can learn more holiday communication tips about not overusing your style in our past webinar.

Communication tip #5: Have a plan whenever possible

One of the main reasons we focus on DISC is to help us build a strategic and proactive communication response. If you know how you tend to behave under pressure and in different settings then you can also think of ways to better adjust to those settings. When you feel yourself getting stressed give yourself permission to re-energize. For different DISC styles it may mean being around certain people, working out, being alone, or stepping away for a while.

Let the fun begin

So hang out with the family, friends, and co-workers! Know that this time can be full of cheer and fun, but also stressful. By using these holiday communication tips and having a plan in place before the full holiday season is upon us helps us make the best of it! Practice and use these simple techniques and you will be ready to enjoy all that holidays have to offer!

Happy Holidays from all of us here at Extended DISC!