You can normally spot these people as soon as you walk into a room or feel their presence before you see or hear them. They will ooze confidence which may border on arrogance. They will not shy away from expressing how they feel and typically have a large ego that needs to be stroked. They will want to be in charge, even if they don’t know what they want to be in charge of, so it wouldn’t be unusual to see them in a leadership role.

These individuals would display the following characteristics

• Outgoing
• Task orientated
• Determined to succeed
• Dominant
• Action takers
• Problem solvers
• Respond to challenges aggressively
• Forceable characters
• Direct communication style

 
Imagine you are stood waiting for a lift and the person in front of you consistently pushes the button believing that the more they push the button, the quicker the lift will arrive! There in front of your eyes is a dominant D person. 
 
Failure is their biggest fear so it wouldn’t be an option for them to fail & you may hear them say “this is what I’ve learnt” or “let’s move on and try something else”. They will never stop trying to achieve their hopes, dreams, aspirations or goals and would always want to be the best, encouraging others to do the same. They would want to lead high performing teams and failure for the team would also not be an option for consideration. 
 
When under pressure the dominant D leader and coach may not be sensitive to others feelings and are motivated by results, power and authority.
 
Questions you may ask yourself when interacting with a dominant D leader and coach are: -

• How do these people make you feel?
• How might these people be a great member and asset to your team?
• What value will they add to your team?
• How might you have to adapt your communication style to get the best out of these people?

 
In every team, you need a mix of people so please do not shy away from employing a dominant D or interacting with a dominant D. As I have found out from my client’s, opposites attract and they may be the missing ingredient that you need to build a winning team.
 
My top tip for engaging with a dominant D leader and coach –BE BRIEF, BE BRIGHT, BE GONE. Don’t use 500 words if 5 will do because they don’t need that level of detail to make effective decisions and have valuable conversations. 
 
Thank you to Bev James, CEO of The Coaching Academy for teaching me all I know about DISC. If you want to learn more, you can do so by reading “Do it or ditch it” By Bev James or “Empowering Employee Engagement – How to ignite your team for peak performance” By Claire Cahill. Both books are available on Amazon. 

One of the benefits of coaching is the ability to hold an effective conversation. Knowing what question to ask at the right time and respectfully listening so that rapport can be built and maintained throughout the coaching relationship.

During the first coaching session, I like my clients to complete a DISC personality profile so that I can get to know them in minutes rather than months, tailoring my language to theirs. 

During International Coaching Week 2019 I’ll share information about each personality type.
 

• How would you feel if you could get to know people in minutes rather than months?
• What difference would it make to your business if you could find your ideal client or next employee by observing what they say and noticing how they behave?
• What positive impact would effective communication have on your relationships whether at home or work?

 
Imagine you had this knowledge to answer these questions through identification of personality types.
 
Your core values influence the way you think, act and communicate with other people and enable you to make decisions. DISC is a personality profiling tool, also known as a psychometric test. There are several types of psychometric tests that you may have heard of or experienced
 

• Myers Briggs - I'm ENFP
• Insights - Colours, no surprise I am yellow/red
• Tetra Map - elements - Earth, Air, Fire, Water
• Belbin - Self Perception Inventory and Team Role Inventory
• DISC - I'm ID - The Persuader

 
The modern day DISC methodology was founded on years of research undertaken by American psychologist and inventor Dr William M Marston (1893-1947). Dr Marston also invented the lie detector machine (the polygraph).
 
DISC is an acronym based on four core personality groupings. Everyone will fall into one or more of the following categories.
 

• Dominant
• Influencing
• Steady
• Compliant

 
Marston’s DISC behavioural model classifies people primarily as either TASK ORIENTATED or PEOPLE ORIENTATED, and then as either OUTGOING or RESERVED.
 
Which are you?
There are no correct or incorrect answers, however each will tell you something about your predominant business style and your preferred decision making style.
 
Thank you to Bev James, CEO The Coaching Academy for teaching me all I know about DISC. If you want to learn more read “Do it or Ditch it” by Bev James or “Empowering Employee Engagement – How to ignite your team for peak performance” by Claire Cahill. Both books are available on Amazon