DISC Personality Profile: Putting It All Together

By Chris Hammond

You have completed the tests and have a better understanding of yourself through the DISC personality profile having gained new insights as to your strengths and weaknesses. But how does your profile fit with others?  How does it relate to your spouse’s profile, your co-worker’s profile or your child’s?  How can the pieces fit together to form a functioning group dynamic?

Each personality profile in DISC: dominating, influential, steadfast, and conscientious, are different pieces of a whole package.  The goal is not to become all things rather it is to recognize the value in each part, utilize your strengths to achieve results, and supplement your weaknesses by working with people who are strong where you are weak.  When you do this you will discover how much more enjoyable life can be, how much less anxiety you will have, and a huge reduction in everyday stress as you will no longer be trying to be something that you are not.  Setting boundaries in your life based on your strengths will now become easier and you will no longer be as tempted to take on tasks that are outside your strengths.

Positive attitude.  If you are a dominating or influential person then seeing the glass as half full will come more naturally.  Having fun and getting things done now are all about the positive possibilities in the moment and what can happen in the future.  This of course does not mean that a person in either of these profiles will not be negative on occasion because when a dominating or influential person is stressed, they tend to become almost aggressively negative and angry.  However it does mean that their natural tendency is to have a positive attitude.

Negative attitude.  If you are a steadfast or conscientious person then seeing the glass as half empty will come more naturally.  This is because no one else in the room cares to do things as right as you do or cares as much about keeping the peace.  Both of these tendencies are isolating in nature as more people just want to get things over and done with instead of being careful and more people stir up conflict then try to keep the peace.  Of course you can train your brain to think more positively however, this will not come naturally and will require more effort on your part then for a dominating or influential person.

Task-oriented.  Both a dominating and conscientious persons are task oriented as opposed to people oriented.  For them, people are a means to an end or a necessary evil to accomplish a goal.  A person in either of these groups will usually prefer to get the job done alone as other people tend to muddy the waters and require too much precious energy that is better served accomplishing the task at hand.  However lacking their people skills might naturally be, they can learn to incorporate others into the task at hand to help elevate some stress.

People-oriented.  Both an influential and steadfast persons are people oriented as opposed to task oriented.  For them the whole purpose of work is to do it together and their relationships at work are more important than their tasks.  If a person is struggling with a personal problem, they will forgo a deadline in order to help the other person out because the relationship matter more than the work.  However difficult it may be to keep an influential or steadfast person on track, they can learn to see completing tasks as a way to preserve relationships which will matter far more than a deadline.

By looking at how all of the pieces fit together you can begin to see the value in each group.  For instance, if your spouse is relational and you are task oriented, then they should be in charge of setting the social calendar with limitations on the frequency of outings.  Or if your co-worker is constantly seeing how things are falling apart, then having them work together with a person who looks on the brighter side of work is a healthy balance.   Opposites attract and complement each other making all the pieces work together is a cohesive manner.

  Reprint Permission- If this article helps you, please share it with your own list at work or church, forward it to friends and family or post it on your own site or blog. Just leave it intact and do not alter it in any way. Any links must remain in the article. Please include the following paragraph in your reprint.

"Reprinted with permission from the LifeWorks Group weekly eNews, (Copyright, 2004-2012), To subscribe to this valuable counseling and coaching resource visit www.LifeWorksGroup.org or call 407-647-7005"

About the author- Chris Hammond is a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern at LifeWorks Group w/ over 15 years of experience as a counselor, mentor & teacher for children, teenagers & adults.