We live in a society today of instant gratification. There’s the drive-thru takeaway’s, instant Internet downloads, and medicines that relieve symptoms fast. We have so many things at our fingertips that our choice and ease of fulfilling our needs quickly, is very easy.

And that’s not such a bad thing. We are lucky to be living in this day and age with all the advances in technology and medicine. It has certainly made life a lot easier for most people. Although have you noticed when something goes wrong with this technology, how frustrating it can be? Or if we can’t get what we want how annoying that is?

As a coach, one of the biggest challenges I see people face constantly is being blocked by frustration.  Frustration is something that we experience when we feel our needs haven’t been met or we hit an obstacle that stops us from getting what we want. What is not so well known is how frustration can have a sinister side effect that can ripple through your entire emotional health.

Out of frustrating situations can grow anger, anxiety, depression, and overwhelm, to name a few.

A few examples in action –

• One client who came to me was constantly frustrated dealing with customers that came into his shop whom he considered were constantly going to be rude, demanding, and stupid. As a result he hated going to work everyday and this lead into anger and eventually depression.

• Another client found herself being totally frustrated over her inability to get everything done in a day that she wanted. With the amount of work and commitments she had on, she felt extremely stressed trying to constantly juggle everything and felt totally overwhelmed.

• Another client, a father, was constantly frustrated with being unable to communicate effectively with his daughter about her behaviour, and it was causing a lot of tension within the home.

All of these examples show how out of a frustrating situation can flow a whole host of other un-resourceful behaviours and thinking habits if it’s left unchecked.

How do you stop frustration ruling your life?

Everyone is different, and to discover the real underlying source where your frustration stems from may call for different strategies and professional guidance,  as a general guide you might like to try these few techniques –

1. Become self-aware. By that I mean you have to be aware of your feelings and emotions and what levels they are at during the day. Without awareness of yourself you cannot begin to handle challenging situations with control.
2. When confronted with a frustrating situation, pause for a moment and use your self-awareness to try to identify exactly what emotion you are feeling. Is it anger, nervousness, annoyance, anxiety? Once you know what it really is, then you can acknowledge it and work from a more resourceful place by looking for a solution to what is really bothering you by trying to understand the other person or task at hand better.
3. Lastly, work on building a higher frustration tolerance level. Albert Ellis, one of the pioneers of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in psychology, coined the term Low Frustration Tolerance, or LFT for short. What he noticed is that some people have a tendency to become frustrated quite easily and were often observed frequently complaining and generally being cranky at how the world has done them wrong. On the other hand, people who had a high tolerance to frustration were used to being adaptable and more resourceful when their needs weren’t met and as a result had a higher degree of happiness. If you find you are in the former group and have a low LFT, then perhaps it may be good to try this little exercise.

Deliberately put yourself into situations that would normally set your frustration levels rising, but this time do it with total self-control and self-awareness.

Start off doing small things like standing in the slow line at the supermarket checkout and observe how, by not letting frustration creep in, you can remain in total control of your emotions. As you’re doing it start to really relax and enjoy being present in the moment. By exposing yourself to these types of situations on a regular basis you’ll discover that in actual fact the situation is not that bad after all and it’s only your LFT thinking that makes them bad. Ironically, once you stop trying to avoid frustration you’ll be able to get more done because you’re no longer worried about being upset by inconveniences.

Remember to be easy on yourself if you don’t get it straight away because changing behaviours learnt over a lifetime can take time and practice. Keep working on your self-awareness and raising your frustration tolerance levels and you will soon be living a life that will not only be more productive, but incredibly enjoyable too!

September 2010 – by Y. Thomas

In the late 1980’s two psychologists named David Myers and Ed Diener analysed the results of a world wide study looking into people’s ratings of happiness and came up with some very interesting findings.

The study itself was conducted across 16 different countries and involved over 170,000 people!  What was truly surprising was that they found that the factors associated with being happy were very similar for everyone, no matter where they lived in the world!

According to their research the main lifestyle factors that contributed to a happy life were –

Money – Money is our basic form of exchange for goods, but interestingly it was found that people on high incomes were not much happier than people on low incomes. However, those living in extreme poverty were found (understandably) to be least happy of all. The happiest people of all were those who had enough money to pay for the necessities in life plus a few creature comforts. I guess the old saying is true “Money can’t buy you happiness!”

Work – Because the majority of most people’s days are generally spent at work it is no surprise to find that if you are in a job that provides you with a real sense of purpose and satisfaction then it plays an important role in your overall happiness.

Interests – hobbies or sports were also found to play a role in peoples happiness. Having a passion for something that both challenges you and that you look forward to doing on a regular basis increases your chances of leading a happier life.

Goals – having something that is important to us to work towards also contributes greatly to an ongoing sense of purpose and meaning.

Relationships – having close and committed relationships was one of the biggest predictors of happiness in our lives. People with close and intimate relationships tended to be happier than those who had lots of friendships but little intimacy.

Religion – It was found that people who had a religious or spiritual connection with something were also more likely to be happier than those who didn’t. This could be because they feel connected to an entity larger than themselves, which adds meaning to their lives.

Active Lifestyle – happy people were found to be more active and regularly pursued more activities than unhappy people. Happy people were also less focussed on themselves than unhappy people.

What was also interesting was that people’s age, race, culture, gender, or level of education proved to play no part in the level of people’s happiness. It was also found that there were equal amounts of happy and unhappy people across all age groups, sexes, and cultures.

Apart from these lifestyle factors, Myers and Diener found that there were also personal attributes that happy people tended to have in common -

• Good Self-esteem – People who feel good about themselves were more likely to be happier than those who had low self-esteem
• In Control – People who felt they had control over their lives and what they did were often more happier
• Optimism – Being up beat about the future also played a big part in personal happiness
• Extrovert – People who associated and related easily to others reported greater levels of happiness.

So there you have it. It doesn’t matter where you come from or what your gender, race or culture is, there are certain human needs that are common to all of us when it comes to leading a happy life. As this research shows, when it comes to leading a happy life it really stems from a mix of lifestyle factors (work, goals, relationships etc.) and personal characteristics (self-esteem, sense of control, optimism, extrovert).

Have a look at your own life and see how many of the areas above are contributing to your own happiness and discover what you can do today to start bringing more happiness into your life!

October 2009 – by Y. Thomas

Remember nothing changes, if nothing changes

How would you like an effective way to …

• Enhance your staff training and develop your employees skills from the inside out
• Give an immediate boost to any under-performing personnel
• Identify how a person will handle their new job title … before you even give it to them!
• Improve the communication skills between team members and reduce workplace conflicts
• Increase productivity, efficiency, and sales by becoming aware of your natural strengths and weaknesses … and using them to your advantage!

If you would, then our Extended DISC® Personal Analysis package could just be the solution you’re searching for!

What is the Extended DISC® Personal Analysis?

The Extended Disc® Personal Analysis is by far the most popular program we provide. It’s success comes down to its ability to provide individuals and businesses with incredibly accurate information with which to make better decisions.

It is designed to provide instantly usable information that makes an immediate impact. It offers specific action steps people can implement straight away to create visible improvements in personal performance. Not only does this help individuals in their chosen career but it has also been proven to help create greater job satisfaction, improved employee self-confidence, and increased personal motivation.

How does the Personal Analysis work?

Personal analysis is a self-assessment tool that identifies the strengths and areas of development of an individual. What makes the Extended DISC Personal Analysis different from other assessments is that it is able to measure at a deeper, sub-conscious level of a person’s natural style, and not just how they perform in their work role.

What this means is that the results show who the individual actually is and not just what the person believes they need to be in their existing environment. As a result, the report identifies the true natural strengths and development areas of the individual.

For this reason, the Extended DISC Personal Analysis is also excellent for recruitment, career progression and staff development.

If you need a tool that will tell you how a person will fit into a role and where they may struggle, then the Extended DISC Personal Analysis is the perfect choice.

Plus you can even have the option to go into greater detail to find a person’s natural behavioural characteristics behind their management style, leadership style, customer service and sales style and more!

What are some of the applications?

Some of the most common applications for Personal Analysis used in organizations worldwide are:

• Recruitment- find the right person, for the right job … first time, every time!
• Leadership Development- Develop your key employees into confident and competent team leaders
• Organizational Development- a complete Human Resource management tool, from top to bottom!
• Communication and people interaction skills training
• Sales training- being able to identify and adapt to the four main behavioural and communication styles of others will help send sales through the roof!
• Customer service training- reduce conflict and improve communication with the most important people in your business – customers!
• Coaching- as a staff development tool it can help increase productivity, performance and job satisfaction of your people.

How does the process work?

Extended DISC® Personal Analysis is very easy to use. All that is required is to complete a simple 10-minute questionnaire, done entirely online. This means that it’s quick enough to fit into almost anyone’s busy schedule and can be done from anywhere there is an internet connection. Paper versions are also available if needed.

To add to its ease of use, the questionnaire is also available in 50 different languages so it can easily meet the needs of today’s diverse workforce.

One System – Multiple Solutions

One of the unquestionable strengths of the Personal Analysis is that it integrates with other Extended DISC® tools. Once a person has completed the questionnaire, the users can also create

• Work Pair Analysis
• Team Analysis
• 360° Feedback
• Job Analysis

As a result, users do not have to learn new models, terminology and concepts to have access to a wide range of powerful applications. Imagine the savings in time, money and frustration that can bring to your HR problems.

How do I find out more?

All our Extended DISC Personal Analysis reports come with a complimentary one-hour debrief session where we take you personally through all the intricate details that this powerful report reveals.

If you would like to know more how the Extended Disc® Personal Analysis system can help you or your organization to improve performance, productivity, and efficiency, or want to go ahead and book an assessment, contact us here …

To read our brochure on the Extended Disc Personal Analysis for more information click here …

The careful process of weeding out the poor performers, slackers, and time wasters, and keeping the best is a task that can only be done over time and through close observation and constant assessment.

But just because your employees have been with your company for years and you know them well doesn’t mean that you have a high performing team.

How to know what your team is really like:

Just like it is on the sports field, if a team doesn’t know how to co-operate effectively to reach their goals, then they are destined to produce mediocre results at best. Any persistent in-fighting and bickering is like poison to any teams success.

Likewise for teams that actually get along too well. A close knit “chummy” team can often create apathy in the workplace, and severely limit team performance because everyone is worried about what the others would think.

To really kick-start your teams productivity, efficiency, and performance improvement, what is needed is to find out what your true team dynamics are like below the surface. And the best way to do that is through conducting an Extended Disc Team Analysis.

What is the Extended DISC® Team Analysis?

The Extended DISC® Team Analysis provides you with a unique look into how your individual team members personal behaviours and sub-conscious natural abilities combine together to show you why they are currently getting the kind of results they do. It will identify what your team is currently doing well and where they struggle.

Armed with this knowledge of the teams natural force you are then better prepared to make decisions on how to stack your teams for even greater efficiency and productivity. You can use it for …

• Team development- see which areas are lacking in your team for future training’s or recruitment
• Strategic decision making- organise your team according to project requirements
• Leadership developments- identify the effective behaviours of your most successful leaders
• Organisational development- stack your teams to cover the behavioural requirements needed to fast-track company growth
• Turnover reduction- put team members in positions that best suit their natural abilities
• Conflict resolution- give individuals more clarity about their roles
• Succession planning- identify who would be the best choice for new project leader, manager, or team leader

With this type of knowledge you will know what needs to be done and be in more control rather than merely reacting to external forces.

A team who has this unique insight into who is most suited to what position, where their weaknesses lay and how to develop them, and who know how to effectively communicate to each other (and customers), is a team that is poised to hit many home runs.

To discover the internal dynamics of your team we delve into such questions as:

Where are your teams strengths?

• Is there an area where there are more individuals with similar behavioural styles?
• What does this mean for the team as a whole? How can you stack it for better performance?
• Are there individuals who have special strengths but are under utilized in their current position?
• What does your team do well and where do they struggle?

Where are your weaknesses?

• Is there an area where there are no individuals with a particular natural behavioural style?
• Is there a behavioural area that has less individuals than on average there should be?
• Should you consider this in your future recruitment?
• How can the negative aspects of similar individuals working together be avoided?

Communication Needs

• What are the team communication and cooperation needs for the members of your team?
• How can you avoid errors in communication between different individuals?
• Should responsibilities be reassigned?
• Is there conflict between different groups?

How the Extended DISC® Team Analysis works:

Extended DISC® Team Analysis is extremely easy to use. Once the participating individuals have completed the Extended DISC® Personal Analysis questionnaire, we can combine any or all of the participants into a single team analysis.

That’s it! No additional questionnaires to complete.

The reports are customizable – just choose the information that you need. If you want additional information later, you can access the information anytime. Options include:

• Maps to identify team makeup
• Maps to identify style adjustments
• Team Scorecard
• Team Roles

Discovering the answers to these types of questions puts you firmly in the drivers seat to building a team that will help grow your organization. Making a profit in business is as much about people management as it is about the technical side of things, so when you know how to create a highly efficient, productive, and cohesive team it can be like a shot of adrenaline to your bottom line profits.

The other upside to effective team building is that employee motivation remains high. Because your team members know just what their role is within the larger group and know exactly how to utilize their strengths and develop their weaknesses, it leads to greater job satisfaction and less staff turnover.

The benefits of creating a workplace that is a well oiled machine are limitless. You owe it to yourself, your team, and your organization to get the maximum productivity output you can, whilst still taking into consideration the specific needs of each member of your team. And the Extended DISC® Team Analysis is the best way for you to achieve that.

To find out more how an Extended Disc Team Analysis package can benefit your organization, contact us today …

To read our brochure on the Extended Disc Team Analysis for more effective team building click here …

How would you like an effective way to …

• Enhance your staff training and develop your employees skills from the inside out
• Give an immediate boost to any under-performing personnel
• Identify how a person will handle their new job title … before you even give it to them!
• Improve the communication skills between team members and reduce workplace conflicts
• Increase productivity, efficiency, and sales by becoming aware of your natural strengths and weaknesses … and using them to your advantage!

If you would, then our Extended DISC® Personal Analysis package could just be the solution you’re searching for!

What is the Extended DISC® Personal Analysis?

The Extended Disc® Personal Analysis is by far the most popular program we provide. It’s success comes down to its ability to provide individuals and businesses with incredibly accurate information with which to make better decisions.

It is designed to provide instantly usable information that makes an immediate impact. It offers specific action steps people can implement straight away to create visible improvements in personal performance. Not only does this help individuals in their chosen career but it has also been proven to help create greater job satisfaction, improved employee self-confidence, and increased personal motivation.

How does the Personal Analysis work?

Personal analysis is a self-assessment tool that identifies the strengths and areas of development of an individual. What makes the Extended DISC Personal Analysis different from other assessments is that it is able to measure at a deeper, sub-conscious level of a person’s natural style, and not just how they perform in their work role.

What this means is that the results show who the individual actually is and not just what the person believes they need to be in their existing environment. As a result, the report identifies the true natural strengths and development areas of the individual.

For this reason, the Extended DISC Personal Analysis is also excellent for recruitment, career progression and staff development.

If you need a tool that will tell you how a person will fit into a role and where they may struggle, then the Extended DISC Personal Analysis is the perfect choice.

Plus you can even have the option to go into greater detail to find a person’s natural behavioural characteristics behind their management style, leadership style, customer service and sales style and more!

What are some of the applications?

Some of the most common applications for Personal Analysis used in organizations worldwide are:

• Recruitment- find the right person, for the right job … first time, every time!
• Leadership Development- Develop your key employees into confident and competent team leaders
• Organizational Development- a complete Human Resource management tool, from top to bottom!
• Communication and people interaction skills training
• Sales training- being able to identify and adapt to the four main behavioural and communication styles of others will help send sales through the roof!
• Customer service training- reduce conflict and improve communication with the most important people in your business – customers!
• Coaching- as a staff development tool it can help increase productivity, performance and job satisfaction of your people.

How does the process work?

Extended DISC® Personal Analysis is very easy to use. All that is required is to complete a simple 10-minute questionnaire, done entirely online. This means that it’s quick enough to fit into almost anyone’s busy schedule and can be done from anywhere there is an internet connection. Paper versions are also available if needed.

To add to its ease of use, the questionnaire is also available in 50 different languages so it can easily meet the needs of today’s diverse workforce.

One System – Multiple Solutions

One of the unquestionable strengths of the Personal Analysis is that it integrates with other Extended DISC® tools. Once a person has completed the questionnaire, the users can also create

• Work Pair Analysis
• Team Analysis
• 360° Feedback
• Job Analysis

As a result, users do not have to learn new models, terminology and concepts to have access to a wide range of powerful applications. Imagine the savings in time, money and frustration that can bring to your HR problems.

How do I find out more?

All our Extended DISC Personal Analysis reports come with a complimentary one-hour debrief session where we take you personally through all the intricate details that this powerful report reveals.

If you would like to know more how the Extended Disc® Personal Analysis system can help you or your organization to improve performance, productivity, and efficiency, or want to go ahead and book an assessment, contact us here …

To read our brochure on the Extended Disc Personal Analysis for more information click here …

Let’s face it … hiring the right employees can be a real pain in the butt!

If you’ve hired people before you’ll realize that …

• Each resume or CV you look at is nothing more than a carefully crafted document … designed especially to impress you!
• The interview process is often a time consuming task of listening to clever interviewees who are on their best behaviour and know exactly what to tell you to get the job
• At the end of it all you are either left scratching your head, going with gut feel, or flipping a coin. Either way you’re never quite certain you’ve made the right choice until months down the track.

Sure, it’s important to do your background checks and ring referees and past employers, but even if the candidate does have sufficient qualifications and experience, it doesn’t necessarily mean they will be great at their job.

If you want to make sure that the person you hire will be the best choice, then you need to know how they’ll behave in that role … before they start!

Just imagine how much time and money it would save if you knew:

• How the candidate is likely to behave in the job?
• How does the candidate fit not only the job profile but the culture of the organization as a whole?
• What motivates the candidate in his/her job?
• What tasks is the candidate likely to try and avoid?
• Who is the ideal manager for this candidate?
• Do they have the reasoning capacity equal to the job requirements?
• What are the behaviours required in this position?
• What is an appropriate behavioural profile for the position?
• What individuals profile best fits the team building requirements?
• How do the final candidates match the team requirements?

These are just some of the crucial questions that need to be answered if you are seeking to hire the best person for your company.

The sad fact is that the main reason why most people fail in their job is not because of a lack of professional or technical skills of the employee … but because of a poor job fit and lack of people and communication skills. Most employers, however, are not trained nor equipped to assess these more important behavioural requirements of a job.

That’s where the Extended DISC® Job Analysis recruitment tool comes in.

The Extended DISC® Job Analysis tool can help employers answer the question “What are the specific behavioural requirements for this job that will produce the desired results?”

Typically our clients know what skills and competencies are needed from employees to achieve success. However, when it comes to the behaviours, the issues become unclear and challenging.

What is Extended DISC® Job Analysis?

Job Analysis allows you to identify and to prioritise the behaviours for specific jobs that will produce the best results. The results are specific to your organisation. Job Analysis is designed to ensure that reasonable and realistic expectations are created and that all the different requirements of the job are clearly defined.

The Extended DISC® Job Analysis outcomes are then compared to Extended DISC® Personal Analysis results of any candidates being considered for the position. This is what many clients feel is the most valuable part of the recruitment package, because the Job Analysis then forms the framework to which Personal Analysis results are compared. This clearly identifies the development needs and best behavioural job fit for potential recruits.

How does the process work?

Extended DISC® Job Analysis is easy to use. As the employer you only have to answer a Job Analysis questionnaire. Typically, it takes only about 30 minutes to complete. The questionnaires are available for the following job categories:

• Leadership
• Sales style
• Customer service
• Management
• Information technology
• Project
• Administrative
• Training
• Team
• Entrepreneurial

Once the questionnaires are completed, Job Analysis will take care of the rest. It scores the report immediately. The behavioural requirements are stored in the system’s database to allow for an unlimited number of job requirement comparisons to individuals’ results.

What are some of the applications?

Some of the applications for Job Analysis in organizations around the world are:

• Creating job descriptions
• Leadership development
• Recruiting
• Management development
• Organization development
• Conflict resolution
• Coaching
• Restructuring job contents

Take charge of your organizations growth

Using this information we can filter candidates down for you and give you a sneak peek into how that person will handle the requirements of their job role into the future. Being pre-armed with this type of information puts the control of your organizations growth and direction firmly back in your hands.

But it doesn’t end there. For a little extra we can also sit down with the new employee and fully de-brief them on their own report! The benefit to you is that they will then know exactly what they can do to excel in their new job; how to best utilize their strengths and develop areas they find challenging; and how to communicate effectively to all types of people.

It really is powerful stuff that can get your new recruit hitting the ground and running, and minimize delay’s to your teams productivity. Not only does this save you time and money, but it also boosts employee job satisfaction and reduces staff turnover. To find out more on this invaluable report check out our Staff Development page …

If you want to know more of the incredible benefits the Extended DISC® Job Analysis can offer you, view and download our recruitment brochure here …

With the Diamond Blue Solutions recruitment package you now have at your finger tips an incredibly powerful tool that will allow you to gain greater insight and provide crucial information into how to structure your organization for maximum efficiency.

Contact us today to find out how we can tailor a package to suit your needs.

Listed below are just some of the many benefits the Extended DISC® suite of tools can provide to help any business, no matter how big or small. In this highly competitive business world it pays to have confidence in the tools you use when managing your most important resource – your people. And here’s 15 reasons why the Extended DISC® will set your mind at ease -

1. The Extended DISC® cannot be tricked! Other behavioural analysis programs and questionnaires can be (and often are) answered by people in the way they believe the employer would like them to answer. With Extended DISC® profiles we know when someone has tried to beat the system. The fail-proof measures built into the system means that if someone does try to manipulate the answers, the reports will come back invalid. With other profiling systems there is no way of knowing when they are inaccurate.
2. The reports are simple to administer – all that you need to do is complete a quick and easy 10-15 minute questionnaire. This ensures there is minimal disruption to your working day.
3. The questionnaire is done completely online, so it can be done anywhere in the world regardless of location.
4. Its sophisticated database can differentiate between 228,383,696 different text pages! That means it is more than capable of describing all the unique characteristics we have as human beings. Competitors at best can only create around 200 different texts.
5. You can be assured of accurate practical reports that describe a person’s true unconscious natural behavioural style – the real person!
6. Reports can be used for multiple applications – as a stand alone recruitment and selection tool; integrated into staff development strategies; or used in team building and team dynamics solutions.
7. Its based on the internationally recognised and respected four-quadrant model of DISC.
8. Cost effective – a complete system of tools for the development and recruitment of personnel available at a competitive price.
9. Available in over 50 languages – tested worldwide for over 15 years it has consistently provided accurate assessment for individuals regardless of race/background, so it can easily meet the demands of today’s diverse work force.
10. It can differentiate between 160 unique behavioural styles. If you consider the famous Myers-Briggs personality test differentiates between only 16 personality types, then that’s pretty impressive!
11. Extended DISC profiles, unlike other assessments, measures both the subconscious or ‘natural style’ and the conscious or ‘adjusted style’. This tells us both the preferred (and therefore normal behaviour of the applicant) plus the adjusted work behaviour brought about by the needs of the current environment.
12. You can be assured of precise and accurate reports over a very significant range of behavioural styles.
13. Can determine emotions communicated by a candidate at the time of completion of the questionnaire and determine whether he/she is working outside their comfort zone – essential in discovering people who are under stress in their work role.
14. Personality types can be assessed during the recruitment process, thereby limiting errors by interviewers making “gut feel” decisions.
15. Extended DISC® is not just a profile but also a complete system of tools for the development and recruitment of personnel.

15th February, 2010 – by P.Thomas

As human beings we are all different. We all like to do things in our own certain way and behave differently when in certain situations.

But even though we are different, there are still certain characteristics and behavioral traits that are common to all of us. Psychologists have found that no matter what race, culture, or background you come from, there are certain characteristics that can be commonly associated to specific types of people.

The DISC Evolution

Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychologist, first popularised the idea of psychological types back in the early 1900’s. At the time he based his ideas on defining two behavioural axes – sensation/intuition and thinking/feeling.

William Moulton-Marston, an American psychologist, further developed Jung’s theories by publishing a book in 1928 in which he identified four “primary emotions” and the associated behavioural responses emanating from those emotions. His book was called “Emotions of Normal People”, primarily because up until that time there had been much research done on the mentally ill but very little work on the emotions of normal people.

He called his four-quadrant model “DISC”, which he used as an acronym to describe the four main behavioural types – Dominance, Influence, Steadiness (formerly submission) and Concise (formerly compliance).

Over the years there have been many advancements of his original DISC theory and today DISC assessments are used widely in business, sales, and leadership training to help people understand behavioural types – both their own and of others. It is both a very effective and easy model to use.

The main characteristic traits of each style

D styles:

Words that describe this style of person – Direct, decisive, competitive, demanding, high ego, vocal, adventurous, risk taker, initiating, innovator, reorganizer, project leader, idea creator, pioneer

Identifying people with this style -

Often interrupts you, speaks on the telephone at the same time
Often in a hurry and has many projects
Do not always appear polite
May be blunt and perceived as arrogant
Is to the point, says what they think
Direct, bold, assertive, argumentative
Good in discipline situations
Is the leader
Formal

I styles:

Words that describe this style of person- talkative, social, communicative performer, merrymaker, idea generator, quick-witted, optimistic, persuasive

Identifying people with this style -

Loves to talk
Is open and friendly
Jumps from subject to subject
Does not focus on the details
Enjoys being with people
Open, willing and friendly
Very social
Motivates others easily
Not good with paperwork

S styles:

Words that describe this person: deliberate, careful, stable, systematic worker with a steady trend, does not get in your face, does not envy others, feet on the ground, balancing force

Identifying people with this style:

Appears calm
Is easy going
Listens carefully
Does not get excited easily
Team player
Supportive, warm & accepting
Better one on one than groups
Doesn’t like change, prefers safety and security

C styles:

Words that describe this person: precise, accurate, perfectionist, logical, fears to be wrong, follows the rules, high standards, loner

Identifying people with this style:

Focuses on details
Asks many questions
Loves to know how things work
Proceeds cautiously
Prefers to work alone
Likes things in order, systemised
Follows rules
Appears reserved
Gets bogged down in the details
Gathers, disseminates, and criticizes information

This is just a brief introduction to the DISC styles and the theory becomes a lot more complex than this.

Each person has all these traits within them to some degree but there is always one or two dominant characteristics that points to a persons true, natural behaviour. For most people there is one style that describes them the most and one the least. The other two fall somewhere in between.

In a work setting, however, we tend to adjust our natural styles to suit what the job demands. For example, a naturally “C” type personality may try to adjust their style to more of a “D” if they were put in a leadership position. There is nothing wrong with that and indeed the person can well pull it off. All it means is that for a natural “C” type person it will be a bit of a stretch and cause them some ongoing anxiety while performing that role, especially if it calls for fast decisions to be made on the spot. A natural “D” style person on the other hand, would likely have no anxiety at all with leadership and making quick decisions. However, a high “D” may come across as arrogant and dictatorial if they don’t know how to adjust their communication style.

The point to understand here though, is that there are no good or bad styles or personalities – all it means is that we are all unique and we all bring different qualities to the table. Understanding your natural and adjusted behaviour is the first step to being aware of how you can develop those areas of weakness and play to your strengths. And once you discover this … life becomes just that little bit easier.

15th February, 2010 – by P.Thomas

Find out what Extended DISC is all about.

A Brief History of DISC

The Extended DISC® is based on the original four quadrant DISC behavioural model developed by psychologist William Moulton-Marston, who in turn had based his work on another renown psychologist – Carl G Jung.

Jukka Sappinen, a recruitment and organisational development consultant from Finland, further refined the original DISC model into the Extended DISC® system it is today between 1991 – 1994. His work enabled the development of a fool-proof system that ensured the accuracy of the resulting reports, and went on to develop a range of Extended DISC® tools that an entire organisation could use to solve all their HR problems.

How Extended DISC® is used

The Extended DISC® suite of tools have been used extensively in business for many years as a psychometric assessment aid to determine a persons true behavioural type. Understanding a persons behavioural type is particularly handy information to know, because if you can determine an individuals natural behaviour then you can know in advance how that person will fit in with their role in the business.

Consider this simple example – if a particular person who had a natural affinity to being around people, socializing, and generally loves to talk, then finding a position in a company that encourages those abilities would suit their needs quite well. As a consequence they would likely thrive in their role.

On the other hand if that same person where required to do the same role but be in an environment where they were also required to spend large amounts of time on their own doing paper work and organising finer details, then they may struggle and possibly perform sub-standard work. As a consequence they wouldn’t enjoy their job very much.

In such a case it would be better to employ someone who had the natural abilities to handle both roles. But finding out if they could do that during a normal interview process may be challenging to get a totally truthful response. It may even be that the person themselves don’t know if they could handle such a dual role until they tried it.

But employing them and waiting for 3-6 months to find out is a waste of time, money, and resources. The Extended DISC® reports can give you a quicker, more accurate way to find out, through the use of its sophisticated psychometric questionnaire.

This is handy knowledge to have not only for businesses but individuals as well, because knowing what a persons personality type is allows for better job matching, faster career development, and lower staff turnover.

For the individual, discovering your true personal profile offers the opportunity for personal development and growth, both in the workplace and life in general. Individuals develop a deeper sense of self-confidence and certainty through knowing what their real strengths are and how they can develop strategies to overcome and improve on specific challenges they face daily in their job. This in turn not only benefits the person but the business as well.

For the company, the Extended Disc® assessments can be used as a stand alone HR performance management system for individuals, teams, or the organisation as a whole. It stands to reason that if people are the backbone of your business, then helping them to improve their understanding of themselves and how they interact with the world around them will lead directly to greater productivity, higher job satisfaction, and ultimately, increased profits for the company.

To find out further about the DISC and its benefits click on any of the links below or contact us for a no-obligation chat about how Extended DISC® can help you, your business, and your employees.

15th February, 2010 – by P.Thomas

It would be difficult to guess just how many times we have been told of situations where an efficient employee has been promoted and failed to perform to expectations in his/her new role.

It is a common mistake made by management and can so easily be avoided by the use of behavioural style analysis reports. One of our affiliates has told us of a recent example of just how painful such an outcome can be for the employee and for the employer and we thought that it is worth sharing the experience in this month’s newsletter.

Last month we took a look at some interesting research completed by Extended DISC International on stress in various countries. It is perhaps timely that we repeat an article we wrote some years ago on identifying the signs of stress in behavioural styles. One must be careful when evaluating the level of stress, because different behavioural profiles have different tendencies to recognise, react and reveal stress. Similarly, people’s understanding and definition of stress is often very different. The profiles detailed in this newsletter are taken from actual reports.

Why promoted Team Members sometimes do not perform to expectation

There have been books written on the subject of dealing with poor performing staff members but sometimes the reasons are so obvious that one wonders how the situation was allowed to develop in the first place!

We were told of a recent experience by one of our consultants which could well have been avoided. Joe (not his real name) was a very conscientious staff member working in a large retail chain as an assistant branch manager. He was a typical “IS” behavioural mix and he was popular with his fellow employees. The “S” characteristics meant that he was a good team player and his “I” traits gave him that touch of outgoing personality that endeared him to his immediate manager. He was the type of person who was always punctual, responsible and trustworthy, – an altogether ideal employee.

His immediate manager identified him as a prospective middle manager, and considered him capable of leap-froging a branch manager position to take on a role as a regional manager. The position meant that branch managers would be reporting to him and he would need to report to the general manager.

Relying on the judgement of the branch manager, the general manager promoted Joe to regional manager. There were no psychometric reports or behavioural style analysis reports on Joe’s file but he had been with the company for some three years and had an impeccable record.

It was only a matter of some three months that it became obvious that Joe was out of his depth. The company had not been using behavioural style analysis reports but had they done so, it would have been glaringly obvious that Joe was not a hard nosed competitive, demanding, controlling person. He was always going to find it difficult to change his behavioural style to demand results from his branch managers or handle situations that demanded tough discipline.

When he accepted the position, the firm had been trading well and sales were at a consistently high level.

This all changed with the downturn in the economy and Joe had to start becoming more decisive, goal-oriented, demanding and sometimes blunt to get his message across to poorly performing branch managers.

This caused him huge stress. It was completely foreign to his natural behavioural style and he would leave his office late at night feeling completely exhausted. Worse still, he struggled to take a tough line with his branch managers and avoided making tough decisions. This simply meant that his failure to act on pressing matters compounded an already difficult situation.

The general manager became frustrated with Joe’s apparent reluctance to deal with tough issues and this was when our consultant became involved.

The very first thing the consultant did was to obtain Personal Analysis Reports from each of the management team as he was initially told that there appeared to be a breakdown in communication between the executives. In fact, as he subsequently found, it was not really a communication problem between the management but simply a poor performing regional manager.

As in so many similar cases, the general manager was looking for a way of relieving Joe of his role but because he recognised Joe’s strengths he did not want the firm to lose him. To some extent the general manager himself lacked the courage to demand results from Joe. Joe’s natural personable style made this difficult for the GM.

Regrettably it was all too late. The Profiles taken from Joe’s report are shown opposite and the huge adjustment in the diamond taken from the report is obvious. Soon after the consultant was appointed and Joe received his Personal Analysis Report, Joe recognized himself that the role did not suit his style and he resigned. He probably hadn’t thought about his behavioural style while grappling with his daily challenges but when he received his Personal Analysis Report he quickly realised that he simply was not suited to the demands of his current role.

The outcome was that the firm lost a valuable employee and the general manager and his team spent a good deal of time agonising over a problem that was never going to be solved. The cost of hiring and training a new regional manager was only a fraction of the real cost to the company.

We have not been told what happened to Joe and can only guess that he and his family have gone through a very difficult time in view of the job market at the time he resigned. The loss of self-esteem and self-confidence must have been devastating for him and of course the company lost a valuable employee.

Too often good performers are promoted into a role that does not suit their behavioural style. Joe was stressed to the max as is so often the case and this impacted heavily on his performance. It is essential that the candidate’s behavioural style is understood before appointing him/her to a new role.

Signs of stress in different Behavioural Styles

One must be careful when evaluating the level of stress, because different profiles have different tendencies to recognise, react, and reveal stress. Similarly, people’s understanding and definition of stress is often very different. The phenomenon can nevertheless be studied as a defence mechanism to a change in the environment. It is therefore more a reflection of a change in the environment and the adjustment process it causes than anything to do with the psychological effects or “stress”.

Let’s look at the main behavioural styles, remembering however, that Extended DISC recognises that most of us have two or more basic traits in our behavioural style.

For people with major “D” traits in their unconscious behavioural style:

Stress sources are

• Inability to achieve goals
• Losing the decision making power
• Losing power of authority
• Not being able to influence what happens
• Losing position
• Inability to make independent decisions

Signs of stress are

• Becoming aggressive and pressuring
• Pressuring people
• Focusing on immediate results and action
• Becoming impatient
• Changing things hastily, becoming irritating, blunt stubborn, inflexible and demanding

Relieving the stress for “D” behavioural styles

• Let them function independently
• Let them contribute
• Give them responsibility

For people with major “I” traits in their unconscious behavioural style:

Stress sources are

• Losing people’s attention
• Becoming non-interesting
• Being not involved
• Strict rules, inflexibility
• Silence

Signs of stress are

• Becoming overly concerned with relationships
• Talking a lot
• Seeking attention from everywhere
• Being too interested in other people’s attention
• Having strong opiniated views that they defend emotionally

Relieving the stress for “I” behavioural styles

• Give them the opportunity to move, travel, meet people
• Do not force them to lose face
• Get closer to them
• Praise them

For people with major “S” traits in their unconscious behavioural style:

• Stress sources are
• Sudden changes
• Insecurity
• Unstable environment
• Possible future problems
• Injustice

Signs of stress are

• Becoming overly cautious
• Wanting to retain current situation
• Objecting aggressively to any attempt to change things
• Basing everything on justice and avoiding risks
• Distancing themselves and opposes everything
• Becoming difficult to approach and stubborn

Relieving the stress for “S” behavioural styles

• Create a predictable environment
• Involve them in planning
• Create a familiar and safe environment
• Talk to them and explain everything
• Show that you care

For people with major “C” traits in their unconscious behavioural style:

Stress sources are

• Lack of information
• Uncertainty about their own role and position
• Conflict
• Chaos
• Not being able to control what one is meant to control
• Having to show weakness in emotions

Signs of stress are

• Questioning everything
• Becoming overly considerate
• Becoming interested in cause-effect relationships
• Trusting only facts, and doubts even them
• Being afraid of the worst
• Witrhdrawing oneself, becoming aloof

Relieving the stress for “C” behavioural styles

• Give them information
• Avoid public loss of face
• Make the instructions and rules as clear as possible
• Don’t force them to make decisions

The profiles shown in this edition of FactSheet are taken from actual reports. Those who have completed Extended DISC training will recognise the indicators, but the Present Situation page together with the Interview Questions, which form part of the Extended DISC Personal Analysis Report, identify stress indicators as well as insecurity, uncertainty and provide other vital information for consultants, recruiters and employers.