The S-style profile views promises differently than the other DISC profiles.

Do you know an S-style profile? Has someone ever mistaken your intention to do something as a promise? Have you ever had an interaction where you got in trouble for breaking a promise? Did you even think it was a promise?

Meet the S-style profile

The S-style profile is steady, friendly, and calm. S-style profiles are modest and more reserved. They prefer for things to stay the same. Why change if it’s already working? The S-style profile values security and building relationships. In addition, S-styles do not like to be pressured into making quick decisions. They seek acceptance. The S-style profile wants detailed information and time to make decisions. They are focused on being a team player and are most comfortable when given clear directions.

Since the S-style profile is reliable and sincere, they can expect others to be the same. They find it difficult to move forward when they believe others have failed to keep their word.

Meet the I-style profile

I-style profiles are friendly, social and talkative. They seek attention. The I-style thrives on interactions with others and values being liked. I-style profiles are energetic, spontaneous, and optimistic. Many of us see the glass as half full, but the I-style profile sees the glass as overflowing! Their optimism can lead to over-promising and over-selling.

The I-style profile prefers not to focus on details. When they are under pressure, they want to focus more on people and less on the tasks; leading to disorganization. Hence, they may need to develop more self-discipline.

When the DISC profiles collide

Irene and Sam work together at ABC Inc., but they don’t see each other often. They both started working at ABC Inc. around the same time and even went through orientation training together. However, they now work in different departments so they rarely get to see each other.

One morning, Irene and Sam just happen to run into each other on their way to the elevator. After a brief happy greeting, Irene exclaims how great it is to run into Sam. Immediately she wants to set a time to have coffee and catch up. Since she’s already running late for her meeting, she tells Sam that she’s going to call him so they can get together for coffee tomorrow. The elevator doors open and she runs onto the elevator reminding Sam once more. Sam never actually got a word out other than the initial greeting, but he is happy and looking forward to having coffee with Irene.

Well, tomorrow comes and Irene didn’t call. They did not meet up for coffee. So, the next time Irene and Sam run each other again, Irene launches into the exact same conversation as before. Irene is so excited running into Sam again and wants to have coffee, but this time Sam cuts her off. He greets her, but coolly, and then walks off. Irene is confused. She is wondering what just happened?

DISC profiles view the world differently

What happened was Sam is an S-style profile whereas, Irene is an I-style profile. The two individuals went into the interaction with different perceptions. Irene was happy to run into Sam. She had quickly set up a time for coffee and catching up. Sam was happy too. Irene had every intention of having coffee with Sam, but she got slammed at work and simply forgot. However, Sam heard Irene specifically tell him that she was going to call him so they could meet up next day, but she didn’t.

Sam took Irene’s words as a promise. He heard that she was going to “call him” and they were “going to have coffee tomorrow”. Irene looked forward to coffee with Sam, but she didn’t not see it as a promise. She saw it as an intention. Irene had every intention to have coffee with Sam.

The more we can understand the differences and similarities of DISC profiles the better chance we have of successful interactions. If Irene understood how the S-styles views promises and Sam understood how I-styles differ then the misunderstanding could’ve been avoided. The good news is that Sam, as an S-style profile, is people-oriented and forgiving. Later Irene remembered the first exchange, recognized what happened, and apologized to Sam. Irene and Sam had coffee and caught up!

Opposite DISC personality types can create challenging interactions.

Are you someone who lives and breaths superlatives, but your boss uses words like “fine” and “good”? As a DISC facilitator I often hear, from the people I train, how they can get so frustrated when receiving feedback. Typically, they find it comes from interacting with their opposite DISC personality types.

Frustrating opposite DISC personality types

One person sees herself as a go-getter and passionate about her work. She described her boss as very reserved and calm. So, every time she’d finish a project or close a deal she’d run excitedly to tell her boss. After she enthusiastically highlighted her recent accomplishments, she eagerly waited for glowing response. What she didn’t expect, after she breathlessly finished, was to hear, “Okay. Sounds good”. Then she waited for the additional feedback she knew should be forthcoming, but that was it. That was it? All she was getting was “sounds good” and “okay”? Hence, she walked away confused and extremely frustrated.

Every time she went for approval for all her hard work she only heard words like “good” and “fine”. The same consistent and cautious feedback from her boss wore on her. She literally felt like “pulling her hair out” and “banging her head against the wall”. She truly didn’t understand what “good” or “fine” really meant. Was that all right or was it not all right? She just wasn’t clear.

Recognizing our differences diminishes frustrations

As we went through the DISC training she began to learn more about the DISC styles.  Not surprisingly, when she took the DISC test her DISC profile came out to be the energetic, talkative, and people-focused I personality type. Then we moved on from learning DISC personality types to how to identify the main DISC profiles of others. At this point, she recognized that her boss was definitely a C personality type and the “a-ha” moments started to happen.

She lived in a world of superlatives where positive feedback meant using words like “fantastic,” “amazing” and “absolutely the best”. Her boss lived in a world where he used economic words to express feedback. He truly felt he was giving positive feedback when he said “fine” or “good”. Hence, the two people in this interaction needed to be aware that each communicates differently. She realized that he really was giving positive feedback. Now it would be perfect for the boss to recognize that his employee naturally prefers to hear feedback differently.

The words we use can convey different meaning to different DISC profiles. Think about that the next time you give or receive feedback. Remember, “fine” really can be good.

 

Understanding DISC profiles can be challenging without DISC training. However, we can present different ways to explain them to make sure our clients have a clear understanding of their DISC profiles.

Understanding DISC profiles gives us information about our natural behavioral style. First and foremost, we need to recognize that we have all four DISC styles in us. What the Extended DISC assessments simply show are which behavioral styles are natural and comfortable to us and which styles take energy and focus. The DISC report does not categorize people into better or worse, nor measure attitudes, skills or abilities.

Understanding DISC Profiles

When looking at DISC profiles, remember that the graph line represents a person’s DISC style (see graph representation below). The graph line intersects at all four of the DISC axes. You want to see where the line intersects in the top half of the graph. Anywhere it intersects one of those 4 D, I, S, and C axes in the top half of the graph is your natural DISC profile. Anywhere the line intersects in the bottom half of the graph are those styles which do not come naturally to you. Your DISC profile is not about your attitudes, skills, or ability. Your DISC profile shows the behaviors which come naturally and comfortably and the behaviors that you need to focus on. Another way is to think in terms of energy. Which behaviors don’t require energy and which behaviors do require energy?

Above and below the surface: a different way of understanding DISC profiles

Another way to understand your DISC profile is to visualize the surface of a lake. Anything above the surface of the water, like ducks, rocks, and plants are clearly visible to us. Anything below the surface of the water, like fishes, are not clearly visible to us, but we know they’re there. So, unless the fish uses energy to jump out of the water and above the surface then we don’t see it.

The same idea applies to DISC profiles. See the example DISC profile graph above. The two DISC styles that are above the middle line or above the surface are the DISC profile behaviors that will be clearly observed in this person by others. For this example, we see the D profile and the I profile are the 2 styles above the middle line and therefore, we’d typically see D-style and I-style behaviors in this person. The two C and S styles, from the above example, that are below the line are the DISC profile behaviors that are not likely to be observed in this person.

Understanding DISC profiles is a step to improving communication

Our DISC reports are behavioral assessments. Behaviors are something we can adjust and modify in order to improve communication and interactions. If you know your DISC profile then you can begin to understand how you prefer to do things. Your DISC profile also gives insight into how you show up under pressure. When we feel stressed or pressured we don’t have the same focus and energy to adjust. We can become more of who we really are.

Learning the surface water analogy can help you better explain our DISC profile. In addition, now that you have a better understanding of DISC profiles, you also have a starting point in which to make effective and appropriate behavior modifications.

Millennials are constantly labeled as unproductive, stressed out and anxious. Why single out millennial’s for having the same common qualities as everyone else?

I am a stressed out, unproductive and anxious millennial

First, I want to start this all off by introducing myself. Hi, I’m Halle, and I am the Client Loyalty and Marketing Manager at Extended DISC. I also happen to be a millennial. The other day I was scrolling through LinkedIn, and I came across a Forbes article: ‘8 Habits That Make Millennials Stressed, Anxious And Unproductive’. Of course, as a millennial, I was intrigued. I read the article to learn what it had to say.

The article stated some of the obvious reasons for anxiety. The reasons included a tough job market and student debt. Owing money and trying to find a job is an obvious stressor for anyone, right?

However, I found myself rolling my eyes at two of the reasons they said caused millennial’s stress and anxiety. They cited poor sleeping habits and skipping meals. Why are these two reasons being singled out to only cause stress for the millennial generation? Yes, if I’m tired, then I feel unproductive. Again, wouldn’t that cause stress for all generations? Also, when I don’t have enough to eat, I can get ‘hangry’ (a combination of angry and hungry). I may appear stressed, grumpy, or anxious. Stating these two reasons as the main causes for stress in millennials only makes us look bad. We stay up all night and skip our breakfast so we are more stressed than others. Read the sarcasm.

Self-awareness helps me avoid being stressed and helps me manage my time

When I am feeling stressed, there are usually are a number of factors that cause me to feel the way I do. Sometimes, I even have trouble pinpointing the exact cause of my stress and anxiety. Since working with Extended DISC, I find identifying my stressors became easier after I discovered our ‘Stress & Time Management’ report. One of the many perks of using DISC reports is that they can be customized and tailored to your needs. DISC reports can be relevant to specific job roles like healthcare or sales, and lifestyle like stress, time management.

Other generations, such as the baby boomers, may think ‘adulting’ is a major cause of stress for millennials. However, there are many common causes of stress across all generations. DISC tools offer content that can impact your daily life and how you choose to go about behaving in certain situations. Not only does DISC initiate effective communication and teamwork, but it also can do more. It helps people understand what their signs of stress are, what works to alleviate stress, and how to better manage their time. (See image for Extended DISC analysis of stress).

I keep finding article topics that pigeonhole the millennial generation as unmotivated, unproductive and other negative adjectives. DISC reports can help pinpoint how millennials manage their time, what causes them stress, or what methods work best in alleviating that stress. Using DISC reports can help transform behavior and understanding of others, regardless of the generation. It’s time to stop boxing in millennials and to see individual’s as unique, no matter the generation.

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.