Keep-It-Calm-Don't-Rock-the-Boat S’s

DiSC Styles - we've looked at D and i, today is S...

Like strong i's, the S is people oriented. But D's drive S's crazy and vice versa! Why?

S in the DiSC model is for Steadiness - D's move way too fast and make too many changes without the thorough planning a strong S relies on. i's are so much better to work with say you strong S's.

S’s are easy-going, sincere, modest and great team players. You are terrific implementers (totally unlike D’s and i’s who hate detail).

S’s are peace-makers and people love to talk with a strong S because you’re such a good listener. 

If you have a strong S orientation in your profile, you place a huge emphasis on relationships – work, family, friends. Most of your decisions are made slowly because you’re considering the consequences for all those relationships - will this be to my family or team's advantage? Let me think about it for a while.

If I walked into your strong S office, I’d find lots of family photos to look at (D’s have lost their pictures, i’s have misplaced the camera or phone and a C would need to know you very well before they’d share photos).

 The DiSC Behaivor Model

The more pronounced your S is in the profile the harder you work to minimize conflict and get along with everyone as well as be of service.

Major characteristics of the strong S include:

• Passive
• Inactive
• Team player
• Reliable
• Relaxed
• Family oriented
• Steady (don’t rock the boat)
• Amiable
• Systematic
• Methodical
• Loyal to people and to tasks
• Trusting
• Patient
• Understanding
• Good listener
• Non-emotional - you give very little away with you facile expressions (unlike an i who shows it all on their face)
• Slow to make changes
• Complacent
• Possessive
• Non-demonstrative

The strong S’s needs-driven behaviors are due to a need for stability and security (remember those below-the water-line influences?)

As a strong S you may have these tendencies….

·    Your are team and family oriented

Responsive, patient, relaxed

Work to maintain alignment, common goals

Good listener; combined with another’s logic, you can help others work through problems

Empathic

Peacemaker

·    You are loyal

Strong emphasis on relationships

You like to maintain status quo

Minimize conflict

Trusting

·    Your are a good implementer

Logical, step-by-step thinker

Consistent, good planner

Get tasks done by cooperating with others

Are you an S in behavioral tendencies?

Keep in mind:

1.  That you may be different at home than you are in a business setting.

2.   Your predominant behavior can change based on a situation; becoming part of a family can bring out more pronounced S tendencies in some people.

Would you agree that these are famous S’s from our past?

Larry King

Mr. Rogers

Tom Brokaw
Ethel Mertz (I Love Lucy)

Frank(Dad on Everybody Loves Raymond)

Mother Theresa

Gandhi

Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon)

Andy Taylor (of Mayberry) (Sorry to see Andy Griffith leave us)

Daphne  (Frazier)

Question: What famous people can you identify as strong S? Do you have strong S’s in your life?

My Very Important Note: Discovering your behavioral style is intended to help you understand more about your impact on and relationships with others and how you can use that information to improve or create strong and effective relationships – in your personal or professional world.

Understanding the styles of DiSC® is NOT an opportunity to stereotype and refer to someone as a “D” (or i, S or C). We all have some of each style within our range of behaviors so it’s unfair and possibility offensive to call someone by their primary style indicator. And remember that DiSC® is focusing on a particular role in your life – circumstances and situations may cause a change in that role and a change in behaviors. So can styles change? YES! No stereotyping or labeling allowed.

Resources:
The Universal Language ÔDISC, A Reference Manual, 1993, Target Training International, Ltd.

DiSC® Classic 2.0 Online Profile, Inscape Publishing, Minneapolis, MN
ProStar Coach, Performance Support Systems, Inc. Newport News, VA

My Real-World Experience –all over the place!

DiSC Research Reports

Image: flickriver.com

Getting to Know Yourself…and Others™ -
A Self-Study Program in Building Stronger Relationships