Which DiSC Style Makes the Best Leaders?

In my leadership programs over the years, I’ve done considerable work with the DiSC behavioral model. The DiSC model defines four primary styles of behavior for which people tend to show preference. At the risk of oversimplifying, I would describe the four styles as follows:

D – The DIRECTING style. People with a D preference tend to focus on the rapid accomplishment of tasks. They are driven (and drive others) to achieve results and don’t like to be bogged down in details.

i – The INFLUENCING style. People with the i preference tend to focus on persuading others by building networks and generating enthusiasm for their ideas. They interact easily with others and don’t like to focus on hard realities that might block their ideas.

S – The STEADINESS style. The S style tends to focus on achieving harmony, consistency, and balance in the workplace. Like the i style, they gravitate toward people but in a lower-key, often deeper way. People with an S style tend to dislike what they see as change for change’s sake.

C – The CONSCIENTIOUSNESS style. The C style, like the D style, tends to focus on tasks and outcomes rather than on people. However, the C style prefers a more deliberate pace than the D style, since they highly value accuracy, attention to detail, and the following of consistent processes. The C style resists ambiguity, lack of clarity, and rapid action unsupported by careful analysis.

In presenting the DiSC model to new leaders over the years, I’ve often encountered the question: “Which DiSC style makes the best leader?”  In the discussions that follow the question, I usually hear people say that the D style is “the leadership style,” on the grounds that this is the style that takes control, directs others, and rapidly drives toward results.

In order to deal with this question, I’ve taken to doing the following: Before we ever get to the DiSC model during a program, I ask participants to flipchart responses to a very simple question:

“From your experience, what are the characteristics of an effective leader?”

The list that they generate usually includes words such as:

·         Gets results

·         Overcomes obstacles

·         Influences others

·         Inspires others

·         Helps people deal with change

·         Creates a sense of stability

·         Sizes up situations

·         Makes good decisions

Later, when covering DiSC with the group, I’ll deal with the inevitable observation about D being “the leadership style” by referring to their “best leadership characteristics” flipchart and asking them to answer the following question about each item in the list:

“Which DiSC style do you think best supports this characteristic?”

As they consider each item on the list (which they themselves created), they quickly come to see that different DiSC styles support different leadership characteristics. A D style might be best for getting results and overcoming obstacles, but the persuasive approach of an i style is more appropriate for influencing and inspiring others, the steadying influence of the S style supports helping people deal with change and creating a sense of stability, and the analytical focus of a C style tends to work best for sizing up situations and making good decisions.

This exercise ultimately reinforces the important insight that leadership is not a “one size fits all” proposition. An effective leader must be able to shift her behavioral style to match the needs of different people and different situations – and the better she can learn to shift, the better leader she will be.