Emotional Intelligence and DISC: Maximizers of Team Performance

I had a conversation with a good friend last week about leadership and impact. We agreed that to best lead and serve our teams, we have an obligation to understand and appreciate the different personality and communication styles that exist within our teams. We have a duty to meet our team members where they are and communicate in a style they understand and will respond to. We also talked about some of the tools available for leaders to think about communication and interpersonal relationships differently. So, knowing our obligation as leaders what are some things to think about?    

The answer is both simple and complicated. The simple answer is to be more curious and take an active interest in your team members.  My time as a military officer and now as an executive performance coach has taught me the power of curiosity and the positive impact it has on others. Why? People need to feel valued and need others to care about what they have to say. This need is driven by the chemicals in our brain: serotonin drives our need for purpose while oxytocin drives our need for attachment with others. Curiosity and caring builds trust in others by connecting with their sense of purpose and attachment, and this trust establishes the foundation for connection, engagement and performance. So, the short answer is: be curious, talk less, listen more and ask more thoughtful questions. One way you can make that happen . . . read Michael Bungay Stanier’s book The Coaching Habit and put it into practice today!              

The more in-depth answer is increasing one’s understanding of Emotional Intelligence and the DISC model of human behavior preferences. Emotional Intelligence is the “set of emotional and social skills that influence the way we perceive and express ourselves, develop and maintain social relationships, cope with challenges, and use emotional information in an effective and meaningful way.”[i] More simply, emotional intelligence is the combination of our self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management.[ii] 

The DISC model of human behavior divides people into four main behavioral styles. Individuals are identified as either having a Task orientation or a People-orientation. They are further distinguished by either an Active or Reserved orientation.  Everyone has a combination of all of these traits but each of us has strengths and preferences that emerge and impact how we communicate and interact with others. It’s a matter of understanding and appreciating what other people want and need to be at their best.  No one behavioral style is better than another and to have highly effective teams, there must be representation from team members that represent the strengths of all 4 traits. 

(D) Results and Success - Active/Task Orientation 

 (I) Fun and Interaction - Active/People Orientation

 (S) Teamwork and Harmony – Reserved/People Orientation

 (C) Exactness and Value – Reserved/Task Orientation 

All of this leads us to three basic questions to consider if we are interested in building more productive teams: 

- How well do we know ourselves and our preferred mode of interaction? 

- How well do we know our team members and their preferred mode of interaction? 

- How are we interacting with our team members to optimize team performance? 

What’s the best way to answer these questions? It depends on how invested you are in the process because you can examine things qualitatively, quantitatively or both. From a qualitative perspective, it’s as simple as having conversations with others and asking them for feedback. From a quantitative perspective, there are self and 360 assessments. Self-assessments are the starting point for any personal leadership journey and aid us by increasing our self-awareness. The drawback is they are limited by our personal vantage point and bias. My preference is 360 assessments because they look at things from multiple vantage points and provide our impact on others. If you are interested in both, hire a coach to have conversations with the people around you and participate in a 360 assessment. You will gain the insight and perspective you need to maximize your team’s performance.       

Dennis Volpe is a Principal Executive Performance Coach and Leadership Consultant with the Leadership Research Institute.  He specializes in Emotional Intelligence, Resilience, Team Effectiveness, and Decision-Making.  He focuses his efforts on Performance and Transition Coaching for Emerging Leaders, proven mid-level Executives, and Military Veterans.

[i] https://tap.mhs.com/

[ii] https://www.talentsmart.com/about/emotional-intelligence.php