Spotlight on DISC
The Great Communicator

By Allyn Cutts, President Cutts Group, llc

Have you ever pointed a spotlight on yourself to see how you communicate with people? Not how you think you interact with them, but how they see you?

You'd be surprised at just how different the two versions are! Many of you may be familiar with DISC: What we call - "The Universal Language." Starting this month, we're going to give you the tools you need to improve your level of communications.

• ...with employees and employers
• ...with clients and customers
• ...and everyone else in your life - from strangers to close personal friends and family.

If you think about it, great communication skills are the secret weapon in everything you do. It works magic on both sides of the coin.

Are you a salesperson trying to break the company's national sales record? Then you must be able to communicate the benefits of your products and/or services to prospects in a way THEY can understand - that you're the most logical choice.

Unless you work at Jack-in-the-Box or some other fast-food joint, you probably don't stand around all day answering the question, "Does that come with special sauce?" If you're in sales, you don't point your customers in the right direction and stand by with a funny look on your face waiting to ring up the sale, do you?

It might be that you are the one buying from an ineffective salesperson. When you start to understand the language of DISC, you'll know how to communicate more effectively with the salesperson so that he or she understands exactly what it is you're looking for and at what price. Wouldn't this save you time and aggravation?

The first installment of this lesson will be an overview into each behavioral style. Then, we'll teach you how to figure out who fits what profile (or combination of profiles), and use that knowledge to your advancement!

We're all guilty of it. Meeting a person for the first time, and within 5 minutes, pigeon-holing them into a category of likable or unlikable based on how they interact with you. We label people subconsciously, into groups like:

· The Social Butterfly: talkative, friendly, outgoing
· The Bore: quiet, self-involved, reserved
· The Rock: patient, good listener, helpful
· The Whiner: pessimistic, full of excuses, depressing.

What happens to those in the Bore and Whiner category? You avoid them like the plague!!!

DISC can give you the communication edge. Understanding the language of DISC will help you to communicate with all types of people in a way that they can relate to, so that you don't have to dread dealing with them anymore. It eliminates misunderstandings.

So what is DISC?

Broken down, it means the following:

• Dominance - Grace under pressure. How do you react when someone challenges you? Do you fold like a deck of cards? Or meet the test face-to-face and emerge victorious?
• Influence - Could you convince someone to buy ocean-front property in Arizona? Then you might be a High I - meaning, you're very influential to those around you.
• Steadiness - Do you like a steady paced environment or one where changes are made at rapid-fire pace? Do you like digging on one project and working it until it's perfected? Can you handle the stress when a deadline is pushed up
• Compliance - Do you break all the rules and guidelines set by the company, or follow them so strictly that you cringe when others stray from them the slightest bit?

DISC only analyzes behavior! There are no right or wrong answers. A Dominant personality isn't always a winner over an Influential one. All four traits have positive elements, and DISC can teaches you how to maximize each one to their greatest potential.

What will you NOT learn from DISC?

• a person's intelligence.
• their values.
• their skills.
• or their level of education.

How can you use it to your advancement? If you're managing a group of people - you have to invest time, training, and understanding into each one in order to get them to perform at their best!

If they trust you, because they feel like you understand their needs, then you can bet they'll put 110% into working hard to help you realize your goals.

How can DISC help your employees?

We all know feelings sometimes get hurt unintentionally between team members who don't know the best way to express their opinions tactfully. DISC is a language that benefits both management and staff, and helps prevent conflicts in the workplace, and restore relationships that have already been damaged.