DISC Profiling

What is it?

DISC Profiling is a form of behavioural profiling that does not label or pigeonhole clients.  The system is an efficient one, data being captured in approximately 10-15 minutes and results generated instantly online or same day by email, the analysis comprehensive.

The DISC system states that we are all a combination of four types of behaviour – Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance. 

It is important to state at the outset that DISC is not a personality test but a test of personalities in specific situations.

The DISC system is credited to Dr William Marston although he never copyrighted the test.  Dr Marston was a psychologist working out of Harvard University in the 1920s and studied ‘normal’ behaviour publishing ‘The Emotions of Normal People’ in 1928.  Interestingly enough, Dr Marston was also the creator of the ‘Wonder Woman’ comic book character!!

How will DISC help me as a coach?

In the first instance, having a DISC Profile of yourself is enormously useful to understand your own behavioural style at work.  Once you know how you behave in certain situations it is far easier to adapt to other behavioural styles – something that an effective coach must do to be successful.

• In the case of Personal Coaching, DISC is a choice.  Some form of profiling will aid with generating a speedy rapport with your clients freeing up your session time to get results, however if they are experiencing specific issues in an area of their life such as work, stress or some other easily identifiable source then DISC may offer a useful insight saving valuable session time.
• Relationship Coaching can benefit from DISC Profiling by merging two clients’ profiles and giving a clear, graphical and textual report of their relationship.  This will highlight areas of discussion far more efficiently than perhaps many coaching sessions of investigative work.
• Business Coaching benefits enormously from DISC Profiling and is utilised to help Business clients understand their own behavioural styles and the effect that this has on other team members or colleagues.  A Management Coaching must! 

Another selling point of DISC in this situation is that it is relatively inexpensive (around £20 for a Deluxe report) and the questionnaire contains only 24 scenarios unlike more traditional profiling tests that can have in excess of 600 questions!!  Time will always be a consideration to your business clients.

• Team Coaching is another area where DISC Profiling excels.  An entire team’s profiles can be generated in a day along with a Team Report detailing the team’s strengths, weaknesses and dynamic.  This can dramatically reduce the groundwork involved in effective Corporate Coaching.

Important Point to Consider

I was recently fortunate enough to experience DISC Profiling for myself courtesy of Beverly Kepple at ‘A Great Attitude’ and it became apparent very quickly that you must complete the questionnaire in the same frame of mind throughout.  As I was completing mine I felt myself wander from wearing my ‘work hat’ to perhaps my ‘personal hat’ or ‘mum hat’ or some other thought process.  This skewed my results and generated a ‘crushed’ profile.  It’s fairly easy to spot though and I completed the questionnaire again – not a problem since it only takes around 15 minutes to do – and received a more accurate profile that day.  It is important to stress to your clients that they remain focussed when completing the exercise though.

How much does it cost?

A personal DISC Profile for yourself or an individual client costs around £20 depending on where you go.   Team reports and relationship reports are an additional £10-20 over and above the cost of the individual profiles of the members involved.

I asked Beverly if she knew of any disadvantages to DISC and she told me that the only thing that she had come across was, ‘If the profile is used as an excuse for a behaviour.’  The point of DISC Profiling is to generate awareness of behaviour types and allow the individual to adapt them accordingly.

So in conclusion I believe that DISC Profiling is a great resource for coaches and can really add value to the service that we offer.  It does not pigeonhole our clients as a colour, animal or any other singular label but treats them as the individuals they are and embraces the fact that we behave differently in different circumstances and environments.  By understanding our own behavioural style and how it impacts on other behavioural styles we are in the position of being able to adapt to situations and people that may have otherwise caused confusion or frustration.

I think Beverly summed things up beautifully when I asked her what DISC meant for her, she told me, ‘It allows us to change so we can be whatever we want to be.’ 

That just about captures the essence of Coaching for me, what about you?

Lorraine Hamilton

October 2006

References:      Beverly Kepple, A Great Attitude www.greatattitude.co.nz             www.onlinediscprofile.com

Further Reading:  ‘The Emotions of Normal People’  W. Marston ISBN: 1871482011

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