Decoding DISC: A Comprehensive Guide to DISC Profiling

What is DISC profiling and how does it work?

DiSC profiling is a commonly used personality assessment among many psychologists and professionals. It was founded based upon research carried out in 1928 by Professor William Moulton Marston but the tests have been updated and modernised over the years to ensure its validity. DiSC personality tests are designed to measure whether an individual is more focused on task and logic, or people and relationships; and whether they are more reserved and cautious, or decisive and outgoing. Most DiSC assessments involve a simple word-based test, where individuals are asked to select which words typically describe them the most and which are the least like them. Although the tests themselves appear quite simple the amount of information that can be gained from the results can have a profound impact when used correctly.

What are the four personality traits in DISC?

The acronym DiSC comes from the first letter of each of the four traits that the assessment is designed to test. They are Dominance, Influence (or interpersonal skills), Steadiness and Conscientiousness (or Compliance). I will explain more about each different DiSC personality traits in future articles but for now it is important to explain that we all have an amount of each of the four traits. We have our own individual balance of the four traits which make up our own DiSC personality type.

If you are more fast-paced and outgoing, then you are likely to have larger amounts of Dominance and Influence in your profile; whereas if you are more reserved and cautious then you are likely to have larger amounts of Steadiness and Conscientiousness.

Those that are more focused on task and logic are likely to have larger amounts of Dominance and Conscientiousness; those that are more focused on people and relationships are likely to have higher Influence or Interpersonal or Steadiness.

By understanding your own unique balance and understanding your DiSC personality type then you will gain a much deeper understanding of your own behaviours, communication style and motivators.

How can DISC profiling benefit personal and professional development?

I have used DiSC profiling in numerous different ways with businesses, teams and individuals as part of their personal and professional development. Our DiSC profile dictates the things that we will find the easiest and the types of roles that are likely to suit us the best from a professional perspective. This type of information can be invaluable when individuals are considering their choice of career as a DiSC profile assessment can help an individual to understand their area of expertise and the skills that they can bring to an organisation. It can also be useful to those that are considering or have been promoted to a leadership role. By understanding the different types of people, as well as their own individual DiSC personality type, they can learn how to adapt their communication to match the person they are speaking to, which is an important leadership skill.

From a personal development perspective there are other benefits outside of the work environment for someone completing a DiSC assessment. For example, DiSC personality traits are not exclusive to a work situation and can carry through into our personal relationships also. Often conflict and disagreement in any relationship, be that work or personal, comes down to a difference in communication style between the people concerned.

The goal with DiSC personality assessments, like any other personality test, is to enable and facilitate an individual’s reflection on their self, their strengths and the limitations of their personality. An individual then has the choice of how they take that information forward and how they use it to better their success and/or make their life easier.

When we understand the things that we are good at, the things that we find a challenge and the things that causes stress then we are better able to manage our emotional energy and well-being. To discover your DiSC personality type and balance of traits take our online test now.