Profiling tools and DiSC assessments

Behavioural assessment models, including DiSC profiling. This is what we'll be talking about today on how to lead the podcast for CEOs, founders and leaders who want clear tools, techniques, and strategies to help them lead well and avoid being like Linda, the bad manager, so their teams thrive and results follow.

I'm Kate Waterfall Hill, and I'll be sharing some ideas from over 30 years of working in business and leadership development.

A quick reminder, if you find my take on leadership useful, but want to go deeper into elevating your own leadership skills or those of your managers, do check my website, waterfall hill.co.uk. For details of my leadership development offerings, there's a range, starting with the online course, the How to Lead Digital Academy, my group coaching program, the Leadership Accelerator Premium. My team workshops and one-to-one coaching programs.

Right. Let's see what Linda, the bad manager, my alter ego on social media has to say about profiling tools.

“Rachel in HR is banging on about people having profiling assessments. DiSC, I think she calls it. Apparently it's supposed to help you understand how people like to work. Well, here's my view. I don't need some fancy report to tell me that my way is the best way I get things done. I say how it is and if people can't keep up, well that's their problem.

I know some people like a slower pace and like all the detail and everything. Well that's fine as long as they don't bother me with it. And other people like harmony and consensus, which again is fine. Lovely. But do it on your own time. Honestly, I think all these traits are just excuses. People are either good at their jobs or they're not.

And if they're not, they can get outta the way. Mind you, I can't stand people who are too good at their jobs either. You know, the smug types, the showoffs think they're better than me, which is laughable 'cause they're obviously not come to think of it. The best trait is evidently mine.”

Oh, Linda, never mind. Anyway, people are complicated. That's not news. You know it every day and every time you've tried to lead a team of people where one person dominates, another's, quietly, fuming, and a third hasn't spoken at all, but we'll send you a three page email afterwards with everything they wish they'd said.

As leaders, we're expected to get the best out of all these different personalities, and it's not about playing amateur psychologists, it's about understanding patterns in behaviour, communication, and motivation, so you can lead people in the way they're most likely to respond well to.

And this is why profiling tools can be quite useful. They give us a shorthand, a framework, a way to say, oh, this is why Jane loves brainstorming, but hates detail. Or, this is why Marcus needs all the facts before he'll commit to anything. There are dozens of profiling tools out there. Myers Briggs type indicator or MBTI,

Clifton's strengths previously called StrengthsFinder Insights, Discovery, Hogan assessments and the Enneagram. They all have their place, but one I come back to most often with leaders and teams is DiSC profiling. And why do I like it? Well, because it's simple, it's memorable, and it's actionable. What is DiSC then?

Well, DiSC is a model of human behaviour that helps us understand how people approach problems, people pace, and procedures.

And this is what the acronym DiSC stands for. D is for dominance – results, action, challenge; I is for Influence - enthusiasm, relationships, collaboration; S is for steadiness, stability support, dependability, and C is for conscientiousness, accuracy, quality, expertise. Can you guess which one I am? I'll tell you at the end. Unlike MBTI, which gives you four letters and 16 types that many people promptly forget, DISC is easy to hold in your head.

You can usually recognize someone's style after a few conversations, and you can quickly adjust your communication to meet them where they are.

So the four styles in detail. Let's break down each disc style in turn. D for dominance. D style, people tend to be direct, decisive, driven. They like to cut to the chase. They want results and they want them yesterday. In meetings, they'll often be the ones pushing forward challenging assumptions or saying, why are we still talking about this?

The strengths of a D style person are their quick decision makers, comfortable with risk, thrive under pressure, and are focused on goals and outcomes, great people to have in a team. The challenges are though that they can steamroll others. They can be impatient with detail. They may come across as blunt or even intimidating, and they sometimes act before gathering enough information.

As a leader, when you're managing a D style, you need to be brief, direct, and focused on results. Don't drown them in detail. Show them the big picture and let them know what needs to be done, why it matters, and by when. Useful for everybody actually, but even more so for D Style people.

Now we've got I for influence. I style. People are sociable, persuasive, and full of enthusiasm. They light up a room. They thrive on energy, connection and collaboration. In meetings, they're often the ones brainstorming wildly telling stories and getting everyone excited about the possibilities.

The strength of I style people are, they're great at motivating others. They're natural networkers. they bring creativity and energy, and they keep morale high.

Again, a great team member to have, but the challenges of lifestyles, they can be disorganised, they may overpromise and under deliver. Sometimes they gloss over the details and they can dominate airtime and struggle to listen. So when leading I styles tap into their energy, acknowledge their contributions publicly, keep things interactive and crucially help them translate their enthusiasm into concrete action.

Now we've got S for steadiness. S style people are calm, patient, and dependable. They value harmony and relationships. They're the glue of many teams, the ones who quietly support others and keep things running smoothly. In meetings, they might not say much unless they're asked, but when they do speak, they'll often be thoughtful and people centred.

So the strength of S style people are that they're loyal and reliable. They're excellent team players, they're great listeners, and they're often steady under pressure. Again, great team members. The challenges of S styles, they can be resistant to change. They may avoid conflict and they can be slow to make decisions.

They often risk being overlooked because they don't shout the loudest. So your job as a leader is to make sure you spot them. So when leading S styles, give them time to adapt to change. Don't spring surprises. Emphasize the human impact of decisions and show appreciation for their steady contributions. They may not demand recognition, but they need it and deserve it.

And then there's C - conscientiousness. C style people are analytical, precise, detail orientated. They tend to value quality, accuracy, and expertise. They want to do things right. In meetings they're the ones asking how exactly will that work?

Or can we see the data? What's the evidence? The strengths of C styles are they have high standards. They're excellent problem solvers. They're methodical and thorough, and they often have very strong subject expertise.

Again, great team members. Do you notice I said that about every one of them? That's because no one type is better than the other. We're all different and we're all very much needed.

The challenges of C styles are that they can get stuck in analysis. They risk being perfectionists, and they might seem overly critical. You know that person that challenges everything, they often struggle with ambiguity. So if you're a leader of a C style type person, give them time to think, provide data and evidence.

Don't force snap decisions and respect their need for structure and clarity. So I've made it quite simple there, just describing the four styles, but it's really important to remember nobody is a hundred percent one style. We all have those attributes in different proportions and different strengths.

If you like, you might be a high D with a secondary I, which makes you results driven, but sociable. Or you might be S with C tendencies, which makes you steady. But precise

DiSC isn't about putting people in boxes. It's about noticing tendencies and attributes that people tend to have. So what energises someone, what stresses them and how they're likely to behave under pressure? It also changes with context. At work, you might lean into your D but at home with family you show more S.

Under stress, you might find that the C part of your personality takes over. That's why I like disc. It's flexible, not prescriptive.

So why leaders should care. Why as a leader do you need to know about something like DISC profiling? Well, in my opinion, because leadership is about influence, and influence depends on how well you connect with other people.

If you only lead the way you like to be led, then you might well get through to maybe 25% of your team, the ones who are wired like you, but the rest will feel unseen, misunderstood. Or disengaged, but if you can flex adapting your personal style to theirs, you can reach everyone.

And I don't mean being fake. You need to still be authentically you. You don't want to be masking your true personality, but it just means being versatile, speaking their language so they can really, genuinely hear you. for an example, if you have a D for instance, you might say, here's the goal, here's your autonomy go make it happen. With an I, you might say your energy could really inspire the team on this project, let's capture your ideas and make them work.

With an SI know this change is unsettling. Here's how we'll support the team through it and with a C, I've reviewed your analysis. It's really thorough. Can you highlight the three most critical risks we should focus on?

So this is about giving the message tailored in the way that the other person will get it, and that's what leadership is. So I don't want to ignore the other ones just because DISC is my favourite. So I'm going to give you a quick word on, some other assessment tools. And there are loads. I'm just going to touch on four, the MBTI, the Myers-Briggs.

It's really useful for self-reflection, but I find that people tend to struggle to remember their type and it's less focused on behaviour. StrengthsFinder or Clifton strengths is really good for focusing on what people do well, but there's less guidance on team dynamics, insights, discovery, colour coded and accessible.

It shares a lot with DiSC, but it's often seen as a more personality driven thing than behaviour. And Enneagram deep and insightful for personal growth, but maybe a bit complex for everyday team use, and they all have a value. But if you want something simple, memorable, and immediately practical for teams, then for me, disc wins.

I offer DISC to my leadership accelerator premium members in collaboration with approved provider. DiSC Simple. I really like it because it's easy to remember, powerful in team settings and leaders can start using it that afternoon.

No fluff, just insight and action.

I offer the workplace and the management profile because this helps managers and leaders really understand how their disc style impacts, how they manage, how they delegate, motivate, develop, and communicate with their team. They also get access to the Catalyst platform. It's an interactive online tool to explore how team member style compare, including guidance on how to adapt your communication to each individual.

We don't just give you a single page overview either. you receive two comprehensive reports, the Workplace One and the management one. The Workplace Report focuses on how you operate day-to-day with colleagues, your communication style, motivators, and stress triggers.

It helps you understand how to flex with peers, stakeholders, and your wider team. On the other hand, the management report goes deeper into how you lead, how you delegate, how you motivate, how you develop people, a way you might unintentionally rub others up the wrong way.

I also run interactive DISC workshops as part of the program, and I take you through Catalyst, that online platform to take disc even further. It gives you real time insights on how to navigate tension with people whose styles clash with yours, make your messages land more effectively, whether you are speaking to a DIS or C, or even an iID, an SC, etc.

Because you can have combinations of the letters. And it also helps you collaborate smoothly with colleagues who see the world differently to you. And it's not just about theory, it's really about turning those insights into practical leadership actions.

I think it's a great bonus of working with DiSC, but the common misuses of profiling are many a quick caution here, so they can be misused in a way that. Labels people, so, oh, she's such a high D. No wonder she's so bossy. it's just lazy and unfair labelling people in this way, you can also excuse behaviour.

Oh, I'm a C so of course I'm critical. No, no. The whole point here is to understand yourself and to grow, not hide behind a label, and then there recruitment shortcuts. some companies try to hire only certain types, and that, to me is a bit dangerous because diversity matters. It's really good in a team.

If you have a balance, the goal here for profiling is awareness, not stereotyping. So how do you use disc in teams? Where DISC really shines is in team development.

When a team understands each other's style, three things happen. Firstly, conflict reduces. People stop taking behaviour. Personally. If someone's abrupt, you think, ah, that's their D talking, rather than they hate me. Secondly, collaboration improves because teams learn to play to each other's strengths.

Getting the I'S energy, the S'S steadiness sees rigor and D'S drive, and people feel seen and valued for who they are. So engagement increases and there are some practical ways to use disc in teams. You can run a session where everyone maps their styles on a chart. Visually seeing the spread is really powerful and that's also what Catalyst is. Brilliant. And the online portal I mentioned, you can pair people with opposite styles to tackle projects. Those complimentary skills can often be brilliant and encourage people to flex their style in meetings. ask eyes to hold back a little and encourage s to speak up sooner.

I've seen teams transform simply by leaning into each other's disc profiles. Conversations become lighter, misunderstandings tend to drop, and performance rises.

So lastly, Let's talk about how this might impact you. Knowing your own disc style is a leadership superpower. It shows you where you shine and where you might trip up. Because if you're a high D, maybe you need to think about are you intimidating your team without realizing it?

If you're a high I, are you chasing ideas without following through? And if you're a high S, are you avoiding tough conversations? If you're a high C, are you paralysed by perfectionism? And self-awareness is step one. Step two is learning to flex. The best leaders are bi or even trilingual. In disc. They can dial up different styles as the situation demands.

That doesn't mean changing your personality, as I said before, being authentically you is important, but it does mean expanding your own toolkit. So before we wrap up, here are a few reflection questions to get you started. Which disc style do you most identify with and how does it show up in your leadership?

Who on your team has a very different style, and how might you adapt to lead them more effectively? Where could you flex your style this week to improve the conversation or decision? And how might your team benefit from learning each other's profiles?

Now I promised I'd tell you what I am and I am an ID, so I'm high energy and very driven. Hopefully that doesn't surprise you too much.

So that's all for today's episode of How to Lead. Until next time, keep leading with Clarity, Care, and Curiosity to avoid being like Linda, the bad manager. If you've enjoyed this episode, do follow for more leadership insights and could you spare a moment to like leave a review and share with your fellow leaders?

It really does help spread the word and it means so much to me. If you'd like my personal support, take a look at my website, waterfall hill.co.uk. You'll get more information about my services there. If you'd like to invest in disc assessments for yourself or your team, please do get in touch through my website.

The best leaders are clear on the vision, care about their people, and approach interactions with curiosity, not judgment. Until next time, don't be like Linda.