DISC: Knowing your personality type and unlocking your potential as an individual
By: Jhonn Carlo Rubico
Tags: Leadership, Mentorship, Communications Strategy, Psychology

Tower of Hanoi Disc, Photo by: Jhonn Carlo Rubico

“To be great is to be misunderstood.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Are you often misunderstood by most people due to your unconventional way of dealing with problems in life? Well, probably you are a great thinker. You see the world differently from others. You feel other people’s emotions. You can predict what is the true intentions of the people around you based on patterns.

But, there will be always room for improvement. To take the quote literally by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The problem is already in sight. A misunderstanding causes conflict. In leadership, a leader will put into a test on how he/she will resolve the conflict. One of the most effective way on how to resolve an issue is to know the people around you in a “personal level”.

Knowing your team member’s personality will give you a clear understanding of what are the needs of each team member. As a leader, we are responsible to fulfill the needs of our team members, especially on the emotional level. For example, if one of your team members is struggling to solve a problem. Back them up, Give examples on how they will resolve the problem. Finally, give emotional support and make an impression that they will feel that even though they made a mistake or causing the team to delay the deliverables. Their anxiety will be set aside because you are a calm and confident leader, which will remind them that it is fine to make a mistake. But, we need to make documentation for these precious mistakes. Because we will use these failures as an inspiration to do better instead of pointing fingers and display a dictator-like personality that will harm the team’s morale.

DISC personality assessment is one of the tools that we can use. Just a disclaimer that I’m not a professional psychologist. We will just explain it on a high-level explanation. If you want to perform an official test. I recommend you to go to a medical professional.

Let’s proceed with this mind map.

DISC Personality Profile powered by Simple Mind Lite

According to this model, we have 4 dimensions of personality. These are Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness.

Each of personality dimensions have a differences in terms of Priorities, Motivator, Fears, Positive characteristics and Negative characteristics.

Throughout the years of my leadership experience, I am very glad to have a true to life example of each personality type. These people are my very good friends of mine. Our friendship is forged through the years of ups and downs.

Now, let’s talk about the main 4 dimensions and about my friends.

Dominance

An assertive and decisive personality

Ms. Jaymee Joy Claire B. Neria, A good example that a woman deserves to be a leader

Ms. Claire is one of a woman that I admire because of her leadership capabilities. She is an example that leadership is not only for men. She is decisive, assertive, and exacts what she wants. She always prioritizes that all tasks should be done as fast as possible. She has a high standard and a superb sense of urgency. One of the best examples is that when she and I played badminton as a team. She never hesitate to say that she found an inconsistency in my playing style. She always pushes me to improve. She is a friend that will never stop fulfilling her goals in life in an efficient and fastest way possible. I will never forget when I met her and her boyfriend Mr. Adrian G. Jarilla. I’m inspired by them as a couple because they are working as a team. I learned from them that choose a partner opposes my personality but has the same life principles. Because that will be the basis if you and your partner have the same vision and goals in life. On the other hand, due to her decisive and assertive personality. She can be an insensitive and impatient person. Don’t misunderstand this kind of behavior as rude. Based on my experience, to be able to understand this kind of behavior correctly. The right communication style is different you must be an observant. You must see those emotions in an inward approach. For example, if this person is acting insensitive and damages your emotional health. Just let it go. Don’t do anything and leave that person alone. Cut the communication for a while between you and a dominant person. Wait for the right time to open the communication-line again. If the right time has arrived, most probably the dominant person will be the one who reaches you first. Because most of the dominant persons have strong moral principles. Also, they know and aware that they’ve hurt you. Dominant persons will have a hard time admitting that they are wrong. Because, in reality, dominant persons are an emotionally fragile person. They are sensitive to the judgement of other people. They are afraid of being alone and left by the one that they’ve loved. But, I will ask the readers that if you have a dominant friend or partner in life. You are one of the luckiest people in the world. Because, these people will be there for you, Fight for you, and will stay to you up until the end. They will never surrender or give up in the battle until you and your dominant friend/partner get that hard-earned goal altogether. So please, don’t leave them and stay. Because, if you leave. That will be a lifetime of emotional damage to a dominant person. Finally, I want to thank and express my sincerest gratitude to Mr. Jaymee Joy Claire B. Neria for approving my request to have this story possible.

Another interesting fact about Dominant Personality:

Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States

Did you know that President Donald Trump is a dominant person too? When he speak, he is direct and exacts what he wants. Also, I am impressed on how he communicates just like Nas. Because, even an elementary student will understand on what he is saying. Here is the example video that his personality shines.

A video that shows Donald Trump is a Dominant person — Credits on Nas Daily for the video

Influence

An outgoing and social personality

Mr. Clowie Fel Y. Bingco PUP CCIS Batch 2017 president

Mr. Clowie is one of my mentors when I was starting my leadership career. He is a very influential and charismatic person. One of the best examples of it is when he always prioritizes taking action to get things done when he was the batch president way back in 2017. I will never forget his charming and expressive personality. By expressing positive emotions, his team members are always motivated when he speaks, resulting in high-quality output. Because the people who worked with him are very comfortable because of his friendly nature. But on the other hand, when he is stressed he tends to be disorganized. I will never forget the time that he is loaded with tasks. He can’t do the things that he used to. Now, when this happens. An influential type of person needs to be comforted with his/her friends emotionally instead of giving a logical explanation of why this happens. In my experience, instead of the problem to be solved. It is getting worse because I used the wrong communication style. This communication style is suited for the Dominant personality type. This is one of my notable mistakes when I am starting to learn about leadership. I recommend everyone to avoid this kind of mistake that I’ve had. Finally, I want to thank and express my sincerest gratitude to Mr. Clowie Bingco for approving my request to have this story possible.

Another interesting fact about Influence Personality:

Barrack Obama, 44th president of the United States

Did you know that President Barrack Obama is an influencer too? When he speak, He touches the heart of the people. He has a high level of Emotional Intelligence and finally he has a charisma. I am very impressed because, he is capable of putting himself to other people shoes. Making him one of the remarkable president of the United States. Here is the example video that his personality shines.

A speech that emphasizes his influence personality

Steadiness

A calm, routine-based, and reserved personality

Mr. Adrian G. Jarilla, Software Developer and has a high level of Emotional Intelligence

Mr. Adrian is one of my mentors when I first entered an official romantic relationship. He is a very calm, supportive, and kind person. His top priority is to ensure that he gives the right support to his family and friends. Giving a stable environment for his family and friends and enjoys collaboration with his family and friends. To all of the people I know, he is one of the kindest people that I’ve met in my life. I will never forget how he patiently guides me in the darkest times of my romantic relationship. Even he knows that I can’t handle it and see that my relationship has no chance to survive. He is always there to support me emotionally. On the other hand, this type of personality tends to be indecisive. Because, this type of personality is the kindest, tactful, and sensitive one. They will do their best not to hurt you emotionally. They will overanalyze the words that they will say to you making them lost in their thoughts. Ending up not taking any action to say what they want. When this happens, the right communication style for this personality type is very abstract and intuitive. Because, when you ask this person what is the problem? They will tend to hide their true feelings because they will always choose the other person before themselves not to hurt the other person’s feelings. Based on my years of experience, to be able to reveal what is the real problem of that person is. Bring back the love and kindness that they are giving to other people. I recommend this strategy. The “Ask what is the problem?, Pat their back and say I’m here to support you and let’s solve the problem altogether.” If you use this technique, most probably they will open to you, and don’t forget to choose the words that you will use. Be tactful and compassionate as much as possible. Because if you use the wrong communication style, for example, pressuring this person. The chances are, it will have an emotional battle between you and that person. Ended up not resolving the problem itself and resulted in a conflict. That’s why I recommend to please be careful when you encountered this kind of person. Because this kind of person is rare and one of a kind. Because they will sacrifice even their own life just to make you secure and happy. Finally, I want to thank and express my sincerest gratitude to Mr. Adrian Jarilla for approving my request to have this story possible.

Another interesting fact about Supportive Personality:

Mother Teresa one of the most remarkable supportive person in our lifetime

Most of us knows Mother Teresa right? There is no question about it. She is very supportive and dedicated to the people around the world. She devoted her life to serve most of the poorest in the world. She served the Lord Jesus Christ unconditionally. Based on these testimonies, her kindness shines that reflects her personality type. Here is an example video that shows her kindness.

Speech of Mother Teresa about love

Conscientiousness

An analytical and systematic personality

Mr. Ron K. Erquiza, A competitive programmer and a developer with a high reputation when we was on college

Mr. Ron is a logical, systematic, and analytical type of person. This what makes him an effective problem-solver that’s why he is very good at programming. What I admire about him is that we have a common motivator which is learning. We are using this knowledge as an opportunity to innovate and improve things using technology. Me and Mr. Ron are friends since college. We both love to share our expertise with other people. I will never forget that we’ve volunteered on sharing our technical knowledge with freshmen way back in 2016. We are both passionate to pursue a systematic and logical approach to problem-solving. We have an introverted nature because of being reserve and quiet. These traits make us more reflective. Making our decisions to be more effective right to the current situation. On the other hand, we have a downside too. We tend to overanalyze things. One of the notable examples is way back then in college, We are at the university library and researching for our thesis. We are having a hard time to form our study because our ideas have a conflict. The most unforgettable mistake that I’ve made is that, to resist his ideas that you need to understand my idea first. Instead of the problem to be solved. The situation is not progressed because I am using the wrong communication style. In my experience, when I entered this kind of conflict again. The right communication style to resolve a conflict with this kind of personality is that “Listen and understand first, ask the right questions tactfully, assert your ideas and always take consideration to your counterpart providing a concrete explanation and results in a detailed manner”. In this way, you will set his mind to be convinced and he will feel valued because this kind of personality will feel bad when his ideas are rejected. Because he spent lots of time and effort to provide the best solution possible. Finally, I want to thank and express my sincerest gratitude to Mr. Ron Erquiza for approving my request to have this story possible.

Another interesting fact about Conscientious Personality:

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and current richest person in the world for this year 2020

Up to date, this man Jeff Bezos the CEO of Amazon is the richest person in the world. He is a logical, detailed-oriented, systematic and analytical type of person. According to him, the number 1 made us successful by far is obsessive compulsive on the customer needs. Here is the example video that emphasizes his personality.

I hope that we’ve inspired you for creating this blog. Keep safe guys during these hard times. Always remember that, we are the stronger than the problems. Don’t give up and always keep fighting! We are here to support you. Because, we are a team.

References:

https://medium.com/r/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscvalueprofiles.com%2Fblog%2Fwhat-are-the-disc-personality-types-a-deeper-look-at-12-styles%2F

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Teresa

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos