Communication Styles – Part 2

In our last issue, we introduced DISC.

The first element of DISC is Dominance, which is a measure of how a person solves problems and meets challenge.

Bold and decisive on the high end of the scale, low key and less pressure on the opposite end of the scale.

This is the element of an individual’s personality that indicates competitiveness, drive and a desire to win. Highly dominant people tend to become angry more often than lower dominant types. Once they have had an angry outburst, they forget the source of their anger quickly and move on to other things, while a low dominant will take a very long time to get over the cause of their anger.

Dominance is a task-oriented trait so once a highly dominant person takes on a task, they become determined to see it through to the end. The lower dominant style is people-oriented and will be more agreeable and peaceful when solving problems and meeting challenges as they are more indirect in these cases.

Being direct is the natural course of communication for a high dominant, and the lower dominant will be intimated by this. When you are having a discussion with a higher dominant personality, be quick and to the point. When communicating with a lower dominant style, be patient and understand their aversion to confrontation. If two people are on the total opposite ends of the scale, the high dominant will be having a conversation while the low dominant has shut down due to the ‘confrontational’ discussion.

In our next post, we will discuss the basics of the I element of DISC, Influence.