Change the Direction of Your Connection – Understanding DISC Behavior Styles

By Marianne Renner, Leadership Coach, Author, Keynote Speaker

Last week, I delivered a game-changing workshop to help 30 healthcare leaders improve communication and work better as a team.

Why was it game-changing?

Because the team made a commitment to show up differently in every meeting and conversation in the workplace.

The workshop focused on understanding DISC behavior styles. DISC is an acronym representing 4 dominant motivations, strengths and communication preferences.

The feedback from this team was consistent with feedback I receive at least 90% of the time I deliver this training.

Why?

At our best, we aspire to live and work according to the golden rule. The golden rule refers to the idea of treating others the way we want to be treated.

In the workplace, we communicate in the way we want to receive communication. We lead people in the way we prefer to be led.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The only problem with this strategy is you’re assuming the other person wants what you want. You assume they are wired like you.

That’s not always the case.

You only need to look at two of your children to realize the significant differences. What works for one child does not work for the other.

When it comes to our differences, our lack of understanding contributes to more chaos and conflict than we realize.

Have you ever been stuck in a game of “email ping-pong?” You know the email you responded to, but for some reason keeps coming back to you? You thought you were clear. You thought it was a simple matter. But now you can’t figure out why it has become a complicated mess. When you lack understanding of DISC behavior styles, communication goes sideways, frustration increases, and you have no idea what went wrong.

One of the reasons a DISC workshop is so powerful, is because one small shift in awareness can change the direction of your communication and connection with your teams, peers and clients. To help you out, I’ve created a 1-page cheat sheet with everything you need to know about DISC behavior styles. This cheat sheet provides a high-level description of characteristics, dominant motivations, strengths and communication tips for each style.

You can download it here as my gift to you.