DiSC Content And DISContent With Your Career

This blog is on incorporating the DiSC model into a process of determining what is important to you in a job or career. This same exercise is equally powerful in determining what is important to you in life (life-balance using DiSC will be explored in a later entry). The following is an approach I have used with my private coaching and psychotherapy clients, as well as with myself in the past.

Focus on what you want or need from a job. Take some time and look at where you are now, where you want to be and what is in between here and there. Question yourself. Note: This exercise will only be as useful as you let it be, so do this when and where you won't be bothered by external distractions. Realize there are no right or wrong answers.

Sit down somewhere quiet with a pad of paper, a computer or an audio recorder and prepare to brainstorm. Ask yourself the following question and others that may be relevant to you.

What Is Important To Me? Make a quick list of whatever pops into your mind. Do not judge or edit your thoughts. Do not worry about grammar or spelling. The list below is for example purposes only. Do not limit yourself to these and replace the ones that don‘t fit.

• Career
• Job security
• Freedom
• Not being limited by others
• Financial security
• Family
• Social relationships
• Health
• Status
• Understanding what is going on and why
• Having control over your future
• Recognition
• Being a part of a greater whole
• Just being apart
• Having tangibles
• Cultivating intangibles
• Making a difference in your life

What would make me happy?

How would I know if I was happy?

What is keeping me for being happy?

What needs of mine are not being met?

Now focus on your job or career (or the one you want) and ask these questions.

What is important to me in a job?

• Money?
• Results?
• Status?
• Teamwork?
• Being creative?
• Getting it right?
• Details?
• The bottom-line?
• Relationships?
• Loyalty…?      Again these are just some examples.

How would I know I had the right job?

Is it important for me to have a job I love or is it just a means to an end?

What motivates me?

What would my ideal job be?

What aspect of that job make it ideal?

Is it the job that is ideal or is it the things I do in that job, the title, the position, the roles within that job ?

Is my job consistent with my career path? Does it need to be?

How much is my identity tied into my job?

Using The DiSC Profile To Reinforce What Is Important To You

Next review the results of your DiSC profile. If you have not completed the DiSC Profile within the last six months and there has been major changes in your life during that time, you may want to take the DiSC again. If you want detailed feedback on your DiSC style and how it relates to others in the workplace you should take the Everything DiSC Workplace Profile.

Use your DiSC report as a tool to stimulate thoughts of what is important to you in a job or career. Look at what your preferences are, what motivates you and what stress you out. Is what you are looking for unique to a particular job or industry or can you find it in many totally unrelated jobs and industries? Again, is it a particular job or title that is important to you or is it  what you do within that job that is significant to you?

Previous Job Evaluation

Review the jobs you have had in your past. Create two columns on a page. On one side list: "What did I like about that job?" On the other side list: "What didn’t I like in that job?" Review the list. Look past the obvious and search for patterns. Look for common threads, e.g. "I liked helping people because it made me feel good" or "I felt great when I achieved my goals and I take pride in my independence."

Next make the three columns: 1) What do I want in a job? 2) What do I need in a job (non-negotiable)? 3) What I don’t want in a job (non-negotiable) and fill it out referring to the above exercise. Look for common patterns and roles you have been in that transcend job title, position, or industry.

Why is it so powerful to add the DiSC assessment to this exercise? Here are two reasons:

1. It reinforces what we already know about ourselves.
2. It brings out blind spots about ourselves that we are not aware of, take for granted, or think unimportant. For example a person with a “S” DiSC style may discover that being a part of a team is important to her, but might be totally unaware how important that is to her in a job and how in certain jobs it would be an asset that differentiate her. She just assumes that everyone would be happier being part of a team. Another example is a “D” style sales profession who doesn't realize how vital it is to his sense of self to work independently and get immediate feedback on his success through daily commission reports and can’t figure out why he is unhappy when he has been moved to a straight salary sales position and has to be a part of a "sales team".

Think about the insights your DiSC personality assessment reveals. Then go back to the questions above and refine your answers. See what you learned about what is important to you and use it to expand your job and career options.

-- John C Goodman, MSOD, MSW

The DiSC Profile & What Tree You Would Be.

Using The Everything DiSC Profile To Determine What Tree You Would Be.

The other day my friend mentioned to me that he was on a job interview and the interviewer asked him the question; "If you were a tree what tree would you be?" He felt that the interviewer was wasting his time with such a seemingly ridiculous and arbitrary question. My initial thought was what if this was not an arbitrary question, but I kept quiet.  For whatever reason I found myself returning to that question throughout the rest of the day and the next. I spoke to another friend Robert (in his eighties). He had a response similar to my nephew. Robert said that the question was stupid because if you said you were a specific tree, e.g. willow or birch you may mean one thing by it and the interview may interpret that tree totally differently. I tried to explain that there was more to the question than just a one word answer of a particular tree species.

The next day I asked Steve (in his fifties)  the question and shared my theories as to why it was the possibly greatest question in the entire world and how it could reveal a deep look into the psyche of a complete stranger - OK, I got a bit carried away. He thought it was an idiotic question because "how would you know how to answer it". I just gave him a look. Most people prepare for an interview by rehearsing their list of skill sets, competences and strengths (which is already in their resume) and their one weakness (which can always be reframed as a positive). They prepare answers as to why they are the ideal fit for the job. However, how many people truly take the time to figure out what type or kind of tree they want to be?

The more I thought about it the more brilliant the question became. It is not about the tree it is about you. There is no one right answer. What a great way to get a quick read of someone's personality type and their general behavioral characteristics or preferences without having to give them a personality test or assessment like the DiSC Profile or MBTI.  Not only can you tell a lot about a person by their answer, but also by how they respond to the question. It is not only the qualities and characteristics revealed in the answer but qualities and characteristics displayed by the person answering the question.

That night I went up to my wife, without explaining my Nobel prize worthy theory and asked her what kind of tree she would be.  She immediately responded she would be an Aspen because it's expansive root system makes all the individual trees a part of one incredibly large organism.

Then I went into the other room and asked my nine year old son the question.  Without hesitation he responded; "I would be a Pine tree, because it is big and strong and gives lots of shade and because we use to live on Pine Street." I asked him what was important to him about the shade and he said it provided shade and shelter to the animals.

It is interesting and telling to compare the above responses to the various DiSC styles. Even though there is no correct answer to the question, if you understand your DiSC behavioral style you will likely have more self-awareness that you can use to help determine your response. Having said that, your response is likely to reveal your DiSC type any way.

We are all combinations of "D", "I", "S", and "C", but usually one or two of the styles dominate. Let's look back at my wife's DiSC profile.  She is a strong "S". A team player, supportive, stable and resistant to change.  My son appears to be predominately an "I". He loves to perform for others and loves the recognition he gets from it. He his friends and his younger brother approval are very important to him. My nephew and Robert are likely reveals a lot of "C" and "D". This is based on comments like: This question is stupid, arbitrary, has nothing to do with the job description and interviewer is wasting my time. Steve, has a lot of "C" as there should be a correct answer if you are going to ask a question. As for myself, my "C" comes to the forefront, differently. My first thoughts were; "What do you mean by kind?" "Do you mean type of tree? It's characteristics and qualities or do you mean species." "I am really bad with tree names." "Clearly the tree is a metaphor...."

This whole thing got me thinking about what if I gave my nephew an Everything DiSC Workplace Profile to take and he blogged about his experience taking it and getting the insights and feedback from the report. This could create some interesting exchanges to post and could be of benefit to him. We decided to give this a try. Let the journey begin.