Although DiSC® behavioral styles don’t often change, they sometimes do. And if you are DiSC literate, you are aware that we recommend people “flex” or “shift” to the style of the person you are speaking with for more effective communicaton. If a specific situation requires  a different strength or skill than your preferred strengths, you may need to flex into that behavior to be more successful in that specific situation.

Changing from one behavioral preference to another for long periods of time is another story. When a person finds themselves in that situation, it is usually very uncomfortable and difficult to maintain.  Enter “ Jerry”, the source of the quote in the title of this post.  Jerry  was in shock when he first looked at his new DiSC report.  He took the DiSC assessment three years ago, reported a high dominance preference and was clearly comfortable that the assessment was right on.  This time his assessment showed a steadiness preference - a startling shift for anyone.  Particularly for Jerry.

When I had the opportunity to talk with Jerry, I asked him what he thought had influenced his responses to show this shift in  behaviors.  Having  had some time to reflect on his circumstance before we talked, he commented that the “steadiness” [Read more...]