Can Extended DISC Psychometric Assessments be used for Sport? YES!

Written on the 31 May 2017 by Clyde Colson

The assessments can help you build your self-awareness and to take your performance to the next level. The assessments can be used to understand how to consistently achieve your best performance.

Of course, this doesn't just apply to sports teams, Extended DISC can be used to develop your self-awareness as a coach or other sports professional. Forward-thinking business coaches and consultants also understand the power of Psychometrics in developing effective teams in business environments.

Obviously, there is more to simply understanding the behavioural style of the individuals in a sport's team, but it is a very important part of a successful team.

We all know that fitness is a major contributor to success but many studies in sport's psychology (and the experience of those of us who have competed at the top level) know that just one "misfit" can impact on a team's performance. This is the reason that sometimes the most successful team is not one that is comprised of "rock stars" but those who are willing to work together as a team. So Psychometric Assessments really help us in understanding team dynamics.

I was fortunate to have a court-side seat a few weeks' ago in Helsinki to watch the Finland v Sweden basketball teams clash, with my good friend Jukka Sappinen (CEO of Extended DISC International).

Jukka introduced Extended DISC Assessments to the head coach of the national team and he considers sports as excellent fields for applications of the FinxS System. As he correctly points out, you cannot measure success in the business world quite the same way as you can in sports. His view is that the most competitive, top-level sports are a great setting to further develop and enhance Extended DISC's tools and assessments.

Henrick Dettmann, the head coach of the Wolf Pack (the name by which the Finnish team is known) said

"'You play the way you are' is one of my favouritesayings. The most gratifying part of our co-operation with Extended DISC has been the increased understanding and acceptance of diversity. The human innate behavioural patterns extend all the way to the game".

He goes on to say.

"Extended DISC Assessments help in both player and coach evaluations and in the understanding of the relationships between people. These are all critical issues in building a successful sports team".

And he can speak with experience. The team was not even ranked globally when he accepted the role as head coach and they are now in the top ten in Europe.

Sappinen sees Extended DISC's experts' roles as "the coach's consultants". Aiming to help the players as well as the coaches is the mutual goal. The focus is to achieve a deeper understanding of one's own ability and development targets. In the end, this contributes to the team's cohesion and competitive success.

His approach can be summarised in the following statement...

"In my view, our mission is to help the coaching staff to understand what they can expect from their players and how the individual players can be assigned into roles that best serve the team's common purpose. Similarly, we help players blend into a one, strong team, where everyone can be successful with their individual strengths and style. We are all unique individuals and creating a broader and deeper understanding between athletes proactively prevents conflicts and helps the team achieve a common goal".

It really isn't that much different in a business environment!

And the result of the game? Finland won by two points in the last few seconds!