What about DISC?

We've just reviewed all 12 Driving Forces and now have a much better understanding of why your team members do the things they do, as well as your own leadership style! But what about DISC? Most people think that at Kutsko Consulting, we specialize in DISC, which we do, but there is more to what makes a person who they are.

As we move forward in our lesson series we will go into a similar level of detail into DISC styles as we just did with Driving Forces, so that you can be a healthy leader and grow a healthy team with all the necessary tools at your disposal. Before we dive deeply into a new science, though, I thought it might be helpful to have an overview of the various human sciences we incorporate into our coaching and consulting work with leaders and teams.

We are extremely appreciative of our partnership with TTI Success Insights. The way the partnership works is that they provide world-class products, tools, and resources to us and then we provide world-class services for our clients using those tools.

The diagram above illustrates the 5 sciences that TTI measures, from the inside-out: Emotional Intelligence (EQ), Motivators (Driving Forces), Competencies, Acumen, and Behavior (DISC).

The Dimensions of Superior Performance graphic is not meant to be representative of all human facets, but only those aspects that can be discussed relative to business and personal relationships without delving into deeper psychological characteristics. People are a very complex blend of all of their unique experiences and personal makeup!

Let's go over the five one by one at a high level:

Emotional Intelligence, which is often also referred to as Emotional Quotient or EQ is a root-level quality people possess which impacts our effectiveness in the different situations we face. Our emotions are a critical part of our embodied selves. We are whole people who cannot be compartmentalized and we bring our emotions with us into every situation. Our EQ assessment looks at a person’s ability to sense, understand and effectively apply the power and acumen of emotions to facilitate higher levels of collaboration and productivity. We must be aware of our emotions to truly understand our whole selves as human beings. Understanding the emotional makeup of others is also a key indicator of effectiveness at work and in life.

12 Driving Forces or Motivators are our personal drivers or the “why” of what we do. Our Driving Forces assessment helps illuminate and amplify a person’s motivating factors. Motivators can be referred to as the aspects of life that you are passionate about, things that you perceive as important, or the thoughts that provide you with purpose and direction in life. Some people live their entire lives and are never asked to identify what truly drives them. You could work with a person for years and not be able to identify their true motivators. Why? Because our motivators are tucked away in a part of our brain we have difficulty accessing. When we uncover the Driving Forces of ourselves and those we work with on our teams, we create the opportunity for profoundly healthy teams

The personal skills or Competencies that we master tend to come from experiences, while others are more based on our cognitive ability or acumen. Our DNA assessment is designed to assist you in managing and developing your career by understanding the competencies you have already developed and by identifying those that may need further development. For example, if you enjoy helping people, you may be more prone to focus on developing interpersonal skills. Personal skills are developed slowly over time and become part of a person’s total talent. They can play an important role in satisfying what motivates you. In a nutshell, our competencies assessment simply measures what you are good at.

Acumen is defined as keenness and depth of perception and discernment. Another way to say this is, the ability to make good judgments and quick decisions, typically in a particular domain. Seeing the world and our self though filters categorized as intrinsic, extrinsic or systemic impacts our decision making. Our Acumen Capacity Index assessment is designed to help individuals truly understand themselves by explaining how they analyze and interpret their experiences.

Behaviors are easily observable and indicate the preferred behavior we use to interact with our environment and others. Our DISC assessment examines the behaviors individuals bring to the job and the universal language of “how we act,” or our observable human behavior. As far as multi-layered human beings go, this is the part of the iceberg we see when we observe others, while the other four are all beneath the surface, but more significant in many ways. 

In know, that's a lot. Are you still with me? Feel free to drop us a line with any questions you have!

In the next few weeks, we'll be going into a much greater degree of detail on DISC and how to lead your team more effectively ones you know how the people on it tend to behave.