DISC

The terms "personality" and "temperament" are synonymous to most people. When we use these terms, we are referring to the predictable patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. There are many theories about personality types. The DISC Model is simple to understand, easy to remember, and practical to apply.

Understanding our active or passive roles (extroverts and introverts) helps us identify our specific temperament styles. By combining these two different categories of influences, along with our task and people-orientations, we end up with four specific types.

What is DISC?

You have a predictable pattern of behavior because you have a specific personality. There are four basic personality types. These types, also known as temperaments, blend together to determine your unique personality. They help you understand why you often feel, think, and act the way you do.

Understanding the four-quadrant model of basic human behavior often explains why people do what they do. These insights can make the difference between right and wrong responses, and the best or worst behavior in any situation.


Discovering your behavioral blend

There are four basic personality types known as D, I, S, and C behavior. Everyone is a blend or combination of these four temperaments. No type is better than the other. No one has a bad personality. The most important factor is what you do with your personality. Don't let your personality control you; instead learn how to control your personality.

Controlling yout Behavioral Blend/s

When we discover our personality types, we can recognize the specific areas in which we need to improve. The following are admo- nitions and challenges to help you focus on becoming more balanced. These points apply to all of us, but they are especially pertinent in our areas of weakness and need.

"It can make the difference in happiness and sorrow . . . success and failure in life."

Are you a Transactional or Transformational Leader?

According to many authorities on leadership there are "two fundamental types of leaders; the transactional and the transformational leader.

Transactional leaders engage in an exchange process with followers; 'If you do this, I'll give you that'. Transformational leadership, by contrast, gets people to do far more than they themselves expect they can do."

Transactional leadership is more contingent upon rewards. There's a contract exchange of rewards for tasks. There are promises of rewards for good performance. Accomplishments are recognized. There's a transaction between the leader and the follower.

Most people believe —
"Leaders are not born. They are made!"

But it is probably more accurate to say —
"Everyone is born with the innate ability to become a leader!"


DISC Learning Styles

According to Cynthia Tobias' book, THE WAY THEY LEARN, there are four basic learning styles: Concrete, Abstract, Sequential, and Random. There are also three ways we remember. She adds, "Learning styles researchers Walter Barbe and Raymond Swassing present three modes of sensory perception (ways of remembering) that we all use in varying degrees." These "modalities" (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic) affect everyone's learning styles.

Every leader should discover their auditory, visual, or kines- thetic / feeling styles in order to help communicate better with their followers and fellow leaders. It is not always their follower's fault when things are misunderstood. It is every leader's responsibility to work with others to know how they learn best.

Neurolinguistic Programing

Neurolinguistic Programing (NLP) is the unique way our minds often process what we say and hear. The following in- sights are simple observations of how people verbally share their thoughts, plus how people perceive what they hear.

Everyone processes what they experience through their unique senses. There is no normal right or wrong way of processing what we hear. Some leaders can intuitively “read between the lines” of those who are silently hurting, while other leaders are better able to say just the right words at the right time.

The problem is that we tend to lean toward and be controlled by our specific NLP. Under pressure and stress we lean toward our strengths, because that’s where we are most comfortable and confident. But the overuse of a strength can become an abuse and the best thing about us can become the worst.


How To Handle Conflicts

Often, the greatest hindrances to healthy relationships are personality conflicts. Positive individuals, desiring to build good relationships, are often discouraged because of misunderstandings and clashes with others.

This section is designed to help you discover why people do what they do under pressure and why you may conflict with others. Life's success principles on how to handle clashes are clear. The problem is many people are not aware of their "sensitive spots." Everyone needs to learn more about avoiding and resolving conflicts.

"Most problems today are not technical — they're relational — personality conflicts and clashes with others."


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