On this page, you will find some tables comparing (some of) the main characteristics of the DISCp4 profiles, listed by category. You can download our free memos if you would like a printed version.

Key points

Dominant

Influential

Stable

Conscientious

Color Red: blood, iron, firefighter, prohibition, passion, seduction. Yellow: sun, heat, good cheer, relaxed atmosphere, creativity. Green: calm, nature, meadow, reassuring, ecology, validation. Blue: police, security, sky, sea, cold, obligations, order.
Animal Elephant, bull. Rooster, lion, peacock. Dog, wolf, rat. Owl, beaver, squirrel.
Emotion Anger Joy Sadness Fear
Typical job Director, entrepreneur. Sales person, marketing or communication rep. Coach, Mother Teresa, IT officer (Agile), teacher, caregiver. Accountant, administrative officer, IT officer, policeman/woman.
Question Why? What for? Who? With whom? How? When? Why? How much?
Strengths Goal-oriented, good at project work. Optimistic, good speaker, sociable. Loyal, concrete, consistent, reliable. Precise, analytical, righteous, organized.
Limitations Impatient Disorganized Self-effacing Overly critical
Drive Personal challenges, responsibilities, resolving difficult issues, competition. Recognition, having effective actions validated, congratulations, pleasure. Serving others, being useful, acts of friendship, listening to others. Doing things right, seeking accuracy, order, work correctly done.
Need Action Other people’s approval. Regularity, harmony. Security (checking, testing, verifying)
Fear Getting exploited by others, losing control, failure. Being rejected by others, losing freedom. Losing stability, aggressiveness. Criticism, mistakes, ridicule.
Changes Easily accepted. Jumps from one task to the next without finishing first. Prefers well-prepared, gradual changes. Feels uncomfortable.
Details Very badly accepted (hates them). Gets lost, sometimes overwhelmed by them. Needs them to understand the subject, but not all of them. Categorically needs them to understand and master the subject (accumulator).
Decisions Happy to make decisions without full knowledge of the state of play. Struggles to decide. Needs advance warning to take decisions. To be consulted beforehand or they risk rejecting them.
Talent Making decisions Influencing people Advising people Analyzing problems
Initial contact Not very friendly. Very friendly. Friendly Not very friendly.
Getting their opinion What would you recommend? What do you think? What does the team think? To what conclusion do the facts lead you?
Warning Individualistic about reaching goals, especially ambitious ones. Gets moody if someone intrudes on their territory. an explode if overloaded or have taken on too much. Inflexible if rules and punctuality are not respected.

Verbal

Dominant

Influential

Stable

Conscientious

Wants Facts News, rumors. To hear about the lives (and opinions) of people around them. Logical validation.
Listening Speaks more than they listen. Talks a lot and only listens afterwards. Enjoys discussions. Listens more than they speak. Listens more than they speak. Prefers written communication.
Asking Orders people around rather than asking. Slightly manipulative. sks questions rather than making statements. Asks questions, can get negative if cut off.
Analysis Distinguishes strengths and weaknesses, summarizes. Expresses their feelings, thinks out loud. May seem slow, but is thinking things through. Needs to deliberate and analyze everything.
Opinion Gives opinion easily. Gives opinion without being asked. Gives opinion only if asked. Provides data and not their opinion.
Construction Provides a conclusion without describing reasoning. Provides their reasoning, taking into account feelings and intuition. Expects others to guess their thoughts without explaining them. Checks the impact of what they say. Explains each step before giving conclusions. Struggles to summarize.
Interruptions Cuts people off. Fills gaps in conversation. Cuts people off. Always has something to say. Stops talking if somebody else talks or shows they want to. Feels what others say is more important. Stops talking if cut off.

Vocal

Dominant

Influential

Stable

Conscientious

Volume Loud Raised Quiet Moderate
Rhythm Fast. Varied : fast and slow. Slow, quiet, makes pauses. Slow.
Tone Bossy, oppressive. Dramatic. Unvarying, academic. MonMonotonous.

Visual

Dominant

Influential

Stable

Conscientious

Handshaken Brief, firm Warm Gentle Cold, infrequent
Gaze Confrontational, steady. Friendly, direct. Irregular, elusive. Distant, irregular.
Face Expressive Very expressive Placid Inexpressive
Gestures Expansive gestures outside the standard zone. Talks with their hands, outside the standard zone. No big gestures, doesn’t move much, walks slowly, standard zone. Restricted gestures within the standard zone.
Look Wears understated elegant clothes, either flashy or selectively discreet. Follows fashion (clothes, tech), adapts their outfit to the environment. Prefers comfortable clothes. Wears classic, long-lasting clothes.
Sitting Stretches out on the back of their chair. Prefers to stand. Often moves around. Stays seated and focused.

Email

Dominant

Influential

Stable

Conscientious

Likes Quick, efficient, practical e-mails. No. Finds e-mails impersonal and boring. Prefers oral communication. Loves it. Very comfortable with IT tools.
Uses names in greetings No Yes (with nicknames). Yes (‘Dear...’) No
Uses polite phrases No Yes Yes No
Signature No In color, very detailed. es, with contact info. Detailed but simple.
Length Short, one or two three-phrase paragraphs. Long (when they write them). Medium length. Long, comprehensive, detailed, exhaustive (requires scrolling).
Decoration None. Smileys, various punctuation marks, background image, music. None. None.
Contents Gives the conclusion first. Mixes personal and professional, important points and anecdotes. Doesn’t ask for what they want directly. Doesn’t immediately get down to business. Gives full explanation before conclusion.
Asks for news No Yes and says how they’re doing. Yes. No
Attachments No No, but they don’t mind attachments. Yes, lots of them, expects them to be read.
Other Uses e-mails like a chat-bot. Often sends jokes, PowerPoints. Doesn’t read long e-mails. May take time to answer due to desire to do things well. Slow to answer so they can give a full, judicious response.

To talk to him

Dominant

Influential

Stable

Conscientious

Criticism Possible to be harsh without causing offence. Needs time and space to digest. May paralyze them.
To be avoided Never forget to greet them and ask for news or they will imagine something’s wrong. Don’t hasten the discussion. Dislikes recognition and public congratulations. Never attack their team. Direct attacks.
To do Come to the point. They like people to be direct, frank and brief. Support their goals/objectives. Set limits. You may need to manhandle them to get their attention. Be relaxed when talking to them. Start by mentioning the weekend. Direct the communication towards them. Take your time and be gentle or they may feel attacked. Stop everything and listen when they talk. Be direct. Avoid prettying things up. Be exact and organized. Help them see the (small/large) consequences of a bad decision: would they be such a big deal?
Wants Clear-cut answers without details. To be informed of bad news ASAP with a proposal for Plan B. Attaches a great deal of importance to tone of voice/intonation. Be lively and enthusiastic or they won’t listen.
Conflict Doesn’t bother them. Must be defused ASAP. Makes them very uncomfortable. Must be defused calmly and gradually.
Compliments Sensitive to congratulations on their accomplishments. Likes to be congratulated, even on minor achievements. Prefers their team to be congratulated. Talk about their reasoning.
Feedback Talk about results and their ability to reach their goals. Focus on personality, prestige, the judgment of others. Negative feedback must be quick. May be on the defensive. To be done only in private. Highlight impact on the team. In private. Stay calm. Don’t force their hand. Talk about efficiency.
Delegating It’s enough to give them the final goal. Start by brainstorming. Take the time to explain each task and why it has been allocated to them. Explain the main steps and expect questions about details.
Deadlines They will do the maximum to reach their goals in time. They like people who reach their goals on cue. Tends not to respect deadlines. Insist on time constraints. Help them to prioritize, one task at a time. Request regular progress reports. Analyzes what they’ve been told and comes back (later) with questions. Likes preparing with others. Needs deadlines since they tend to accumulate data long-term and never decide. Insist on answers, even if data is not complete.
Contact Physical closeness possible. Stay out of their personal space. Do not touch them.

Memos

These memos sum up the main characteristics of each DISCp4 profile. They are an ideal addition for understanding your test results and adapting your communication to the context.

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