Welcome to this third article in my four-part blog series on Everything DiSC®, a simple yet powerful personality tool that’s been helping people connect in more meaningful and productive ways for more than 30 years. In part 1, I introduced Everything DiSC Workplace® and explored the preferences and tendencies that shape the workplace experience of highly-driven and strong-willed D style employees—what works for them and what they find challenging when interacting with each DiSC® style. In my second post, we took a look at the steady and dependable S style contributors and the strengths they bring to the organization.
Now, let’s examine the role i style employees play in bringing much-needed balance and perspective to any team, department, or the organization as a whole.
Because i style types are optimistic and brimming with Enthusiasm, they naturally encourage team spirit and often find it easy to get people excited about their goals and ideas. Open and expressive of their own opinions and emotions, they also tend to be open and accepting of new people and ideas, too—assuming the best in people.
Friendly and outgoing, they are drawn to projects where they can work with others, valuing Collaboration because they believe it not only leads to better outcomes but also makes the job more fun. A roomful of strangers is likely to be seen as a great opportunity to meet new people and interact, satisfying the desire to connect and bring people together who might otherwise have never met.
Team members with the i style personality also strive to take Action, and their ability to initiate and make gut-instinct decisions can go a long way in keeping the group moving forward. Energized by innovative, groundbreaking solutions, they like excitement and are typically the ones who want to hit the ground running.
The most valuable contributions that people with an i style can make to the workplace are perhaps their ability to generate excitement, their high energy, and their desire to bring people together. In fact, these are no doubt some of the very qualities that their co-workers, bosses, direct reports, and others admire most about them.
Compared to those with other styles, i style types actively solicit ideas from others and, as a result, are most likely to see team brainstorming sessions as leading to endless possibilities—something that from their perspective is a very positive thing. However, because they naturally are open to new people and ideas, and want to connect and collaborate with others, they may have difficulty realizing that some people require more personal space, and more time to process ideas and emotions. They also may be challenged to give negative feedback for fear of being seen as the “bad guy.”
Different people—and different styles—find different aspects of their work motivating. What’s more, it’s important to remember that Everything DiSC is not about changing who an individual is. The power of this assessment tool lies in its ability to help people see their strengths and motivators, to identify situations that really stress them out, and to suggest some very specific strategies for overcoming the inevitable challenges we all face when working with others to get things done.
In my final article in this four-part series, I’ll explore how to bring out the best in employees with the last of the Everything DiSC styles: the C style.
