About Everything DiSC® and The Five Behaviors™
DiSC is a mechanism for describing and categorizing human behavior.
It is relatively simple, yet surprisingly powerful.
“There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one’s self.”
- Benjamin Franklin
“As my awareness increases, my control over my own being increases.”
- William Schutz
When something is described as “powerful”, that means it must be able to do something pretty amazing for us. So what is the benefit of using DiSC? Why make the investment?
Much of the benefit stems from learning about oneself. If you’ve ever wondered why you reacted a certain way when, say, under pressure, DiSC can give some insight there. Think of this as learning “why you are” the way you are and why you do the things you do.
“The first step toward change is awareness.”
- Nathaniel Branden
“We are all each of us riddles, when unknown one to the other.”
- Mary Shelley
Once you have an awareness of what drives your behavior, you can intercept the natural, default reaction and make a purposeful change.
However, by definition, interpersonal communications involves two people: You and someone else. If you want to change your default behavior in order to better interact with another person, wouldn’t it be good to know what change would be most appealing to that other person?
This is another part of the power of DiSC. A DiSC profile shows us not only how we are, it shows us that others are different.
But it also reveals how others are different. With this knowledge, we have the all the pieces we need to improve our relationship with others. This is true for friends, family or co-workers.
“The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but rather what he does not say.”
- Kahlil Gibran
In most interactions, you can’t ask the other person, “How do you need me to be?” It would be an awkward question at best and they probably wouldn’t be able to tell you anyway.
Which brings us to the final part of the power of DiSC: Being able to make the correct adjustments; to “bridge the gap” between you and another person. Each Everything DiSC profile contains information on how to connect with others, whether they are of the same or different styles than our own.