Let me tell you a tell you a story. Imagine for people working together: Danielle, Isabelle, Stephanie, Carrie. In the morning Carrie likes to arrive early and head straight to her desk and start researching for the upcoming project. Isabelle loves to stop by each person's desk and chit chat for a little bit. Danielle, likes to come straight in and see if her sales have improved. Stephanie is like the mother hen and loves to check in to see how everyone is doing.
An email from the boss comes in a little later asking all 4 of them for help on a project, where they have to go to a networking event. When the email comes in Danielle sees it first and thinks “ Well I guess I can go. I can connect with a few key people who will help drive my sales.” When Isabelle reads the email, she quickly replies “ Yep, can’t wait to go, there are tons of people I would love to get in front of. When Stephanie sees the email she’s a little upset but says to herself “Well I really don’t have time, but I guess I’ll try to squeeze it in if it will help the team.” As Carrie reads the email she huffs and says “ I mean I guess I have to go because I don’t want to make waves by telling my boss I don’t want to go.”
At 10am the four of them need work on a project together. A heated discussion starts to bubble up. Danielle feels like she should be in charge because she has a lot of knowledge and no one seems to be getting to the point. Carrie is annoyed because she has brought so much great data to the meeting but no one is listening so she starts to get critical of her team. Isabelle doesn’t want things to spiral so she tries to keep things light by making jokes. Stephanie sees her teammates in distress and wants to help them and not let this discussion get any angrier.
As the day is drawing to a close the boss calls them all together to talk about a policy change he wants to put into effect. He asks Stephanie if she could get this information out to the rest of the team by tomorrow. Stephanie is very concerned by the quickness of the change and hasn’t had time to adjust. Isabelle steps up and says “She’ll talk with the team and help them understand why this policy is a good idea.” Carrie isn’t very happy about this change but has analyzed a lot of the information and thinks over time it could probably work. Danielle can see that the new policy is good for the big picture and can help the team get some tangible results.
When you were reading that story, did you align with any one individual or did a few characteristics stick with you? Maybe you were thinking " Yea, I wouldn't do it like that and that's ok. But, everyone is different, we all have different thoughts, we all have a different perspective on the same topic. Some people may have a more dominant personality & are more results driven. Other individuals may be more of an influencer and love interacting with others. Some people could be more of a steady person who like harmony and peace with people. Others could be more cautious and want to analyze and research before jumping in. We all are a mix of the 4 personalities of the DiSC, Dominance, Cautions, Influencer, and Steadiness.
Not one style is wrong or right. But understanding how these styles mix and interact will make you a more cohesive teammate. You will start being more understanding with your colleagues and your workplace will be more productive.
Are you interested in learning more about your DiSC personality and becoming a better colleague or enjoying your workplace more? Email me to set up a consultation.
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