Do we really understand ourselves? "Do we really understand ourselves?") Do we really understand ourselves?There are times when one wonders how well people really understand themselves. This month’s case study relates to a situation we experienced just a couple of days ago, and is a good example of someone who is going through quite a change in her life. Her initial reaction to her Personal Analysis Report was negative until she realised the report accurately described her true behavioural style. I have known Angela (not her real name) for many years although her telephone call was the first time I have spoken to her for probably 20 years! She was going through significant changes in her life, having left her job because she did not feel she was getting the motivation she needed from the role. Added to this, she had parted with her husband of many years and she felt she needed a new challenge in her life. She completed an Extended DISC Personal Analysis Report and the Profiles page is shown below.
 The reason for her call to us was that she did not think the report was accurate and she told me that her “friends” also disputed the description on the Text Page of the report. This was a little disturbing to say the least because Angela is a professional with a university degree and someone I would have thought really understood who she was! And from my recollection of Angela, she was (when I knew her quite well) a definite “DC” mix! The tightness of Profile II and the huge change from Profile II to Profile I indicated that she felt she needed to make a significant change in her behaviour to cope with her current environment and this change as well as the obvious indication of insecurity and frustration suggested to me that there was more to the story. And there was! After a lengthy conversation she admitted that the people she had shown her report to were people who she had worked with and the “friendship” did not include socialising in any way. So I asked her if she had discussed the report with anyone who was really close to her and again she had to admit that she hadn’t. The other interesting thing is that she felt her behavioural style was that of an “I” type. But again, after we talked about what motivated her, what she didn’t like very much and what she saw as her clear natural strengths, she began to realise that there was quite a gap between a typical “I” type behaviour and that of a “DC” behaviour.
 Suddenly Angela understood! She began to realise that the job she had just left required her to meet and mix with people, - lots of people, - people she hardly knew or who she had only recently met. She had to suppress her natural strong “DC” tendencies to cope with the role and this was the reason she had lost motivation and had decided she needed a change of role. She felt “peopled out”! This also explained the frustration in the Profiles and to some degree the insecurity in Profile II, although the break up in the marriage and the need to search for a new job would have contributed to this emotion. The conclusion was a happy one……..for both of us. The report was indeed accurate and it helped Angela rethink her future, - to look for a role that suited her clear natural strengths and understand why she had been going home at night feeling worn out. For me, it meant we had another client who had been converted from a disbeliever to an advocate!
To find out more about Extended DISC and how it can help you grow or improve your business, |
