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.
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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. |
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.