630 | How Key Leaders Can Lead Up, Down, and Sideways with DISC, with Lyneé South

Business owners, team leaders and mid level managers. If you've ever struggled to get your point across to upper leadership, motivate your team or work alongside your peers, this episode is for you.

Today we're joined by Lyneé South, executive coach and DISC expert who's here to help us unlock the power of leading in every direction using DISC. All of that is coming up next.

Welcome to the Chris LoCurto Show, where we discuss leadership and life and discover that business is what you do, not who you are.

Welcome to the show, folks. I hope you're having a fantastic, fabulous day wherever you are. Today we are talking about something that every single leader has to learn and that's how to lead in every direction.

Introduction: Genesis 41 (00:01:01)

So let me start with a quick biblical insight. If you go to Genesis 41, we see that Joseph is suddenly promoted to second in command. And again and whenever we use biblical aspects, obviously there's a thousand times more deeper stuff.

We're using this for the the context of today's conversation. We see that he becomes second in command in Egypt and now he has to lead pharaoh.

He has to manage a team, a nationwide team. He needs to coordinate with peers in the Egyptian court. How does he do it?

Well, he does this by understanding people. He adapts his communication. He earns trust in every direction and that is what we are talking about today.

We are talking with our VP of leadership development, one of our top coaches, Lyneé South, on how DISC can help key leaders lead up, down, sideways, every direction effectively with confidence.

So welcome to the show, Lyneé.

Hello. Hello. Happy to be here.

So good to have you on yet again. I love it.

I'm so glad to be back on here. We spent way too long talking before the show.

You're telling everybody this is one of our times that we get to spend some time discussing things. But today we are jumping into this concept.

You, you lead so many of our Key Leaders, you coach so many of our leaders. We are talking about how do you lead in so many different directions when most people think I'm just communicating to the person in front of me.

Why Leading in All Directions Is So Hard (00:02:41)

So you work with so many of those folks. Many of them are stuck in the middle. You know, many report to upper leadership and many of them have their own teams and still report to upper leadership.

So what's the biggest challenge you see in trying to lead in all of these directions? Well, kind of what you said you painted that picture of the middle leadership is a lot of who I deal with. So sometimes they're not the ones making that final decision.

Right. They're not the ones that have all of the control. So for me it's so important to get them to see what do they control, what are their responsibilities, how can they make change?

And so opening their eyes to, you're in this position for a reason. Right? Your leader has entrusted you with this team and now whether you believe it or not, they expect you to lead them and lead them well.

And so we start digging into where, you know, what are the beliefs that we have and why do we feel like we don't have control to make change when we need to. And so that's where we kind of start.

And a lot of times they just have been able to manage things, you know, managing things in their position and it's easier to manage down. Right? So many leaders, right?

Yeah. Right. So we can manage down. But one, are we leading down or are? And then the next question is, are we leading up? And how, what does that look like?

And how do we start to open that conversation? But what about those folks who are like, even leaders, you know, mid level leaders that are like, well, my boss just doesn't get it or you know, the people around me never follow through.

What do you say to people who believe that that's the actual struggle? You know, we've had conversations just like this. How did you know? The thing is, is I say, how do we get them to trust us? Right?

We have to begin. Do they trust you? Is the first question, right? How do you know one way or another? And then where do we go from there? How if they don't or we've attempted to bring ideas and they're shot down or.

Cause that's where it usually comes from, right? It's experience. I've experienced this, I've tried to present this new idea and it gets shot down.

And so our voice becomes smaller as a leader and we put these barriers and, you know, these caps on things that we can and can't do. So I say, okay, what's most important for you right now? Where do you want to see change? And let's start with something.

And don't bring another problem to your leader. You know, we need to bring a solution. We say, hey, I've experienced this multiple times in my team.

I think this one thing right here could really help. This is how I would like to implement it. What do you think? And lay it all out.

Paint that vision so that you're building trust, you're gaining, hopefully buy in and they don't have to do anything, you know, and you say let me try this, can I?

And so we, we open that conversation and we're bringing solutions as well as asking can I, can I champion this? You know, and so that's one of the ways that we, I've just recently talked about this.

It's so funny because that is, that's a must for, you know, on our leadership team. It is a must. It. If you're going to bring a problem to the table, you got to solve a problem.

You know, I don't have a problem with you shooting holes in something, but you got to, you got to fill those holes, right? If you've got a problem, then try and come up with a solution and do the best you can and then we'll work through it from there.

I mean that's just the way that our team operates. And as we share that, it's, it, it's hitting me right now that the number of Key Leaders that you work with struggle.

And I mean we see it in StratPlan, we see it everywhere. Right, but the number of Key Leaders or mid level leaders that struggle with.

Well, I'm not supposed to bring solution to my leader. They're supposed to provide the solution. And you see that all the time, don't you?

Oh yeah, oh yeah. And I, you know, I know we're talking about DISC here a little bit, so I want to get into that too because the personality styles, when we're talking about trust, we have to understand who we're leading up to.

We have to understand the people on our team, the people up and down and sideways, right? Our peers, everybody. Because once we can start to understand how to communicate, we're not only speaking a language that they can receive, right?

We're then also plugging those holes. Like you just said, don't just bring problems, but we can explain it in a way. So I'm a high S, right? I have a lot, there's a lot of key leaders that are high Ss that may have a high D boss or leader.

And so we talk about that. Okay, what do you know about them? If you were to bring this over, how are you going to present it? What do they need to hear?

So a high D, they won't fast clear results. First they don't want you to bring the problem. You need to say, hey, paint the picture. I have a problem, I have a solution. How much time do you have like really, really get into this?

Is this a good time to talk? Set a meeting, give them information. And so when I can understand that and say, I always, I Think this works for me sometimes.

Especially we do this a lot in our company. High S here. Give me a minute. I'm going to-- There's some things have to process out loud with you, you know, and so one thing we'll do is acknowledge what is my personality style.

Because I think even though we know it, even though we talk about it in our company all the time, I will still say I'm in high C right now. Can you guys, you know, and I'll explain that to our team and say I need to just go through this real quick.

And so being able to say it out loud, hey guys, this is where I'm at. And reminding your team member who you are, reminding your leader who you are, especially in this moment.

And I think it helps. I think that brings a level of just awareness to the immediate conversation, you know? Oh, totally.

So interestingly, it can seem like I'm powerless if I'm a mid level leader, right?

Using DISC to Lead Up (00:09:39)

To leading up how, how does DISC help me? And it doesn't mean that you don't have power, but many times, folks. And we hear this all the time from mid level leaders. Well, my, my leader won't listen to this.

My leader, you know, we just talked about this a few minutes ago. How do we use DISC in those situations? If I'm, if I'm feeling powerless with a leader, how do, how does, how does DISC help me with that?

The DISC helps you to understand each other, right? It really helps you to understand.

How am I going to communicate what I need to in a way that they're going to receive because my high S wants to talk in high S language, but I need to talk in high D or I need to talk in high I.

If I'm talking to Joel, we all know. Well, maybe we don't all know. Joel is a 99I and some days I am not in my I is what this is the DISC ease that we speak.

I'm not in my I today. You're in your I. We're not communicating. Right. So the thing is, where are we currently? How do I communicate? Okay, Joel needs some time of just chatting and I am not ready for that.

If you're in C mode, you're like, okay, Joel, let's go. Exactly. So we joke because this is what we teach, this is what we do. But it's not natural to everybody.

So learning these things, having the cheat sheets that we offer, just a free resource. When you have these and you're like, look, it's a tool. It is a tool to understand your team so that we can--

It allows us to figure out how to present our message the right way so that it's received well.

And it's almost like a little hack, right? We should call it our DISC hacks. It's so funny because as you say that it is literally what we do is we just call it out where most people who haven't done this as long as we have get frustrated.

If you've got this high I, who's joking around or something like that, and you're in C mode instead of recognizing what's going on, it's just like, what the heck is wrong with this person?

Why won't they just. Why do they need to joke around? This isn't. We should just be moving to. I can't even process this. I'm not thinking. You know, it is amazing how we just call it out.

We're like, yeah, sorry, I'm a little high I today. Let's-- you're in your C, let's move on type of thing. But so what do we do? Like, let's say I'm a high S or high C who tends to over explain something to a high D.

Right? I'm. Let's say I'm trying to get them to understand something and it appears as though I'm losing respect or I'm, you know, maybe I'm losing attention because maybe they're just glossing over, you know, how.

How can I learn to get the information I need across? Or do I get all the information I need across? Thoughts on that? I think the second piece. You're leading me here, Chris.

No, there may be a softball picture there. The thing is, is we don't always have to give all of the information. Right? We can start the conversation with, hey, you know, I'm a high C.

I have researched the daylights out of this. Here are the key facts that I think you need to know to make this decision. Ask me the questions you need after I've given you this.

Because I have all the information I want to start here. So the high C needs to know who am I talking to? I know that he doesn't need all this information.

I'm going to give him the top three pieces that I think will help him make the decision. Then allow him to ask me the questions after. Right? And then where do we go from there? Then the high D is like, yep, this is the one question I have.

You answer it. And then we're done. And then the high C feels depleted because they spent two hours researching when they didn't have to. No. Well, sometimes yes. Right.

Sometimes it's like, well, I still have so much more. I feel like I need to tell you. The key is understanding if the other person doesn't need. It's great that you have the information.

And I think so much what we see is that the high C feels like, well, you're going to fail if you don't have every single bit of detail that I have.

And yet many times the high C has to understand I don't need, you know, the other person doesn't need every bit of detail. But it goes the other way around.

You know, so many times I'm clobbering high Ds going, you aren't getting enough detail. Get in there. Right. You know, eyes as well. It's that we, you sometimes you don't gain enough information. So. All right, let's kind of flip the direction.

Oh, go ahead. I was just one little thing on that would be that's the piece of leading up that we can start being a little bit more bold in our leading up where we would say, I think these are the key pieces but I do have a few more.

Once you get them hooked, then you say, have a couple more that I think are still important and give that after. And maybe separating those because of the information overload.

You know, that is so good because you just pointed out so as you say that my brain goes to how many times I've seen a high C or high S hold back in or high D's hold back information because they're like, well, last time I shared this I got my head chopped off.

And so then what does that do to communication? It just creates this issue where, you know, two weeks down the road it's like, why didn't you tell me this?

Well, last time I tried to. And you, you know, it's just so ridiculous. I love the way you said that. Here's bullet points I think you need but I've got these other bullet points if you want them, you know, dig, ask me questions, dig in.

Otherwise, you know, if that's enough, then, then we're good. It's not about being upset that it's not about. It's not about you. It's not about being frustrated that the other person's just not getting it.

The other person's not asking all the questions, the other person's not taking it. It's about, did you set the other person up for success? It's not about your you, it's about them.

You already have the information. Right. You already have the. The stuff that you think is important.

It's about getting the other person there. Yeah.

Leading Your Team With DISC (00:16:11)

So let's kind of flip the direction and talk about leading down. Right. So this is an area where many leaders think they're strong. We-- we talk about this, you know, a lot of times leaders think that they're communicating.

And what we say is, though, you're talking well. Right. They often, you know, just lead from their own personality style. How does DISC change the way leaders are leading their direct reports or how could it.

I should say. Yeah. Well, just like you said, we assume people receive things when we say it. Yeah. It makes sense to us. Or we're typing it out and it makes sense when we're, you know, I've been there.

I've done it to my team just last week, and I'm like, I left out this. Dang it, sorry. And my team knows, call me out, you know, and we- we have that relationship because we have fostered that relationship.

And so that's another topic I won't get into today, but knowing who they are and how they receive information.

I have Noelia, who is a high C on our team, and I give her a ton of detail. And it's almost, most- I'd say nine times out of 10- it is in Asana. It's in the comment box, and I give her all the details.

Sometimes Xavi, I say, hey, you want to jump on a call? She's a high I. Let's jump on a call. And we talk it out because I'm spending time with her. We're building that relationship. She wants the time with another person.

High Is: they are energized by encouragement, positivity, and relationship. So I know that about her. And. And I'm not doing it just to patronize her or just, you know, it's because it is our form of our relationship.

I have different relationships with each of our team members because we are different. Right. So that's what leading down looks like on a very surface level. Right.

I think that's so important for people to hear that you already recognize. It's not that you can't. It's not that you can't communicate through Asana.

It's not that you can't communicate through email, text, whatever. But you've discovered. And this is so me. I'm the same way. I take the person and I go, okay, if it is that detail, I'm probably going to spell it all out in writing.

Not because I don't want to talk to the person, but because it gives them that reference. Right. The thing to come back to. But I am very much, you know, this about me.

I want to talk to somebody. If I can talk to you face to face, if I can just go on over and talk to you and walk through something in my mind that has created that connection.

I'm changing the way my inflections of my voice and the emphasis I'm putting on things, and then I feel like I've communicated really well. But I have to be like you. We're both high S's.

I have to be that person who recognizes that if it's somebody like a Noelia Monster High C, then she prefers the detail. And then if she doesn't get enough, she's going to reach out and go, hey, can I talk to you for a second?

Which I don't know if. I don't think that happens very much, but, yeah. So she'll just work out the details. That's so good for people to hear that.

The way you communicate, whether, you know, we keep talking about leaning in direction. Leaning in direction.

Sometimes it's definitely important to lean in the direction of how they're going to receive the information, whether it's writing or phone call or face to face.

But sometimes it's best for you to change up for how you communicate it, because you might communicate it differently face to face than something like, you know, that's in writing. So. Yeah.

Influencing Peers and Cross-Functional Teams (00:20:10)

All right, let's talk about leading across into, like, you know, peers or other departments, you know, where it's not. I think people get really confused on this because it's. Maybe there's no formal authority there. It's just this is somebody who's on the same level.

How does DISC help me as a leader to build influence with other leaders that are on the same level? So I think DISC helps reduce frustration by showing others how we prefer to engage. Right.

Our team. Our team is just different. And it's so hard. I talk to clients all the time and they're like, yeah, you can't use your team as an example, Lyneé. And I'm like, I know, but if I could give you an example of something to even take.

Take nuggets from, if you do all the work, you get to this place. Yeah. Our. So our peer relationships are built on collaboration. Right. We're not using.

I'm not using somebody's DISC to control them or to manipulate anything. It's. I'm literally leaning in their direction because I know it benefits them and if it benefits them, it benefits me.

Because we're trying to get to success for the whole team and the whole business and for honestly for the clients.

So when we can have that trust and emotional intelligence is another key piece to this. And so when we are using these tools, collaboration is just so much easier. So. Yeah. And it. Go ahead.

Oh, so I was just gonna say. So let's say take the different personality styles. Take a. Which we talk about, hey, don't brainstorm with Cs and Ss without giving them information ahead of time.

But let's just say, let's say you have like a high I who's trying to brainstorm with a high C.

What. And they're not following the things that we're talking about. What are they going to experience? What is it going to be like and what should it look like?

So the high I is going to come in with a fantastic idea, so much excitement and wants to share it with a story about the weekend. Yes. And the story and maybe some donuts. Just because it's, you know, it's a meeting and we have to have food at a meeting.

And if you don't know, high Is are known as the life of the party. So. But the high C is the analytical. They're very detail oriented. So they're sitting at this table to brainstorm and they are, you know, they, that's what they've been called to this meeting for.

And the high I pitches this grand idea and the high C is like, well, that's too expensive. We don't have the budget for that.

We don't have the location for that. We don't have the people for that. Who's going to do that work, who's going to put on that event.

They are going through all the nos, all the why it won't work. They have not aligned in the excitement, the envision, the vision at all. And so what does that do? It deflates the high I. They do not want to pitch any ideas to anybody.

They're just going to go and do it on their own and ask for forgiveness later. Probably maybe find a high D to help them do that. Right. And the high C is like it's failing.

And you know what, it may fail in many areas because they don't have the insight from that high C. So that's the we're not doing anything with DISC scenario.

Now what happens if we are implementing DISC? (00:23:46)

How do we come in with this as a high I? If we're a mature high I, we're going to come in. We may still have donuts because we're still fun. Probably going to be.

But we're going to say, hey, high C. Let's, you know, I called you here because I need your input. I value your expertise in this area. So you say, what do we need from this person?

We acknowledge their skills and their depth of knowledge and stuff like that. And then, then we say, bear with me for a minute. I know that this.

Before you tell me why we can't do this, please just hear out. My vision and budget isn't a worry. And we, we paint the picture of all the things we think that they may have an issue with because we know them.

Right. We have this, this alignment. We know our team and, and we built that rapport. And so we tell them our vision and we say, okay, can you.

And depending on where we're at, you can either send them away and say, hey, go work through some of the things that you are. The holes you see in my plan. Right. If we have the time, we can go through and talk about those in the meeting.

It just kind of depends. But it's anticipating, it's acknowledging, and it's leaning in their direction. I know there's a lot of issues. That's why you're here.

But help me understand how can we make it work? So does it. Is. It is my making sense there? I think the thing that people need to hear is that when one try not to brainstorm with people who aren't prepared, period. It doesn't matter what personality style.

Right. But always, especially make sure the Ss and Cs are prepared ahead of time, but understand how their brain works. Right.

If you were going to brainstorm with a D and I, they're excited. They, they, they can process fast. They can come up with ideas. They love it.

It's, it's a joy. They want to fix things. They want to make things happen. An S or a C and S is trying to make sure they don't hurt anybody.

They don't affect anybody in a negative way. The C does not want to give input that's going to sound wrong. They don't want to be wrong. They don't want to make mistakes.

So it's so much easier. And because they're so analytical, they're going to shoot holes. They can see the problems in your presentation and believe it or not, the high C truly believes they're helping you. Yes. You know, they're trying to mitigate risk.

Exactly. Most of the time that's the position that they're in. Right. A lot of people in controlling and controller positions controlling and so that's their heart is.

Well, I'm telling you right now it's not going to work because this, this and this. And I'm helping you. And yet the way it comes across to it like a high I. Which we-- I used I and C because it-- they're fun. They're fun, right?

Yeah. But that eye is going to feel attacked. They're going to feel. It's personal. They're going to feel all this stuff if they're immature and not recognizing oh, crud.

This person from their exp-- the reason why I'm brainstorming with this person is because I believe they have good information anyways. Right. It's just getting to that place of understanding.

So, yeah, it's it. And then unlocking the brain of the other person.

You did such a good job of pointing out, if you will set the expectations on the front side. You know, I'm somebody who I love to brainstorm. I process pretty darn fast.  I love being a part of stuff.

But one of the things that we talk about all the time is that if we're going to get me to do a show or a product pitch or whatever it is, tell me what you expect because I'm going to go in the direction I think you want me to go and I might find out that that's not where you wanted me to go.

I just need that expectation. I'm not a high C, I'm a. What am. I think I've in 20. What are you now? 29 years. I've gone from a 10 to a 40, so that's massive.

You know, I've gone up a point a year, but for me it's the expectation. So I don't let you down. You know, that's my High S inside of me. I don't want to let you down.

If I can understand how to unlock the other person's process what they would normally do. And it was so funny because you went into it so fast, exactly the way you would think when you're in your seat.

If I can understand that and say, hey, I'm not looking for this, I'm not looking for this, I'm looking for this over here, then I've already set you up for a decent amount of success to get you shooting holes in the right direction.

And I think a lot of people experience that as well, where you start to present something and somebody shoots holes and you're like that. That's not where I'm wanting to go.

Well, why don't you just tell me where you want to go? Right. Yeah. So I think that's so vitally important. All right.

Helping Your Leadership Team Use DISC Effectively (00:28:36)

What happens when the entire leadership team understands DISC? Right. What happens when people as an, an entire leadership team is using it intentionally?

What are, what are some of the biggest benefits you've seen? Well, the thing is, is communication becomes so much more intentional. We're not reacting, we're not defending. Right.

I mean, that's so many things we see in leadership teams. We're defending our silo, our team. But what is the leadership team? They are the team. And so that's something I always have to. Well, I often say is remember what team you're on.

I mean, when I joined the leadership team, this is one of the things you told me. You are now part of the leadership team, not the leadership development team. Right.

And that's something that a lot of organizations on this team, you lead that team. Correct. And this is the number one team that we have to be aligned with and make sure it's put before everything else.

And so when we can communicate well on the teams and conflict decreases because people understand each other's intent and that's something that is built over time along with trust.

Right. It's what are my intentions? Who is Lyneé? What are her intentions? Would she do this on purpose and being able to ask those questions? No. I bet she was in high C at that moment. Ask.

And we use, I think I've mentioned this on the last podcast because we use it all the time. PGQ Perspective gaining question. We will type this in Asana.

We will start an email with it because it's a way to release accusations, assumptions, and we just say PGQ, what did you mean by this?

And it's literally we're like, oh, they're not offended. They're just asking for perspective. And so it has just become another tool in our tool belt. Right.

Because that's all we're doing is getting more and more tools so that we can become better communicators, better leaders, you know, to build successful businesses. Yeah.

If you're not gaining perspective, I'm just going to tell you you're failing. I mean, it's just, it's something that you must do.

And it's so interesting how for us, we are always trying to mitigate response. You know, as you're pointing out earlier, if I'm focused on me, if I'm selfish and self centered and self focused, then I'm focusing on how you respond to me.

And you're the problem, if I will focus on you and care more about you, you know, care, concern, you know, curiosity. Those are three Cs that, that we talk about in StratPlan.

Care more about the other person, be concerned about what they're experiencing and have curiosity to understand where they are type of stuff. Right.

If I will do those and I will think of you first, then an amazing thing happens when you don't receive what I'm talking about. Well, I can adjust.

And I have learned with, you know, PGQ, one of the things I've learned to do is assume that I'm going to say something in a way that somebody is, could take personally.

I'll give an example of, you know, I've talked about this before, but like with Heather, it, you know, her personality style, you know, we're both high S's.

She's a much higher C than I am. But there are times that I can ask because of her Root System stuff, I can ask a question in a way that sounds uncaring. Right?

It could be just a. I'm a very logical thinker and so I could ask a question of, hey, why did you just do that thing over there?

And I'm asking because I want to understand why she did the thing. I'm trying to understand my wife and what's going on. And she will hear, hey, dummy, why did you just do that, you horrible person?

Heather and I are the same person. We are. We laugh about it because we, we receive things with, no, this person does not. Chris does not intend this. It's so funny. You guys are so carbon copies.

It's, it's amazing. But I've had to come to this place of recognizing and I think, I mean, I've known you your whole life, so I don't believe, like I can't think of a time you receive me that way that is as strongly as she does.

But I'm sure you receive other people that way. Maybe your husband, maybe Kevin. Oh, Kevin. Don't call in. No, just kidding. Kevin's calling.

Hey, let me explain right now. But what I've had to understand is that I'm in a logical state of mind. I'm going to ask a question and if I will just PGQ it, if I will just literally say, hey, babe, perspective gathering question.

Why did you just do that right there? And then she immediately is able to answer. She's not set off, she's not defensive. And it's because of something that she experienced when she was, you know, younger that, that type of questioning said she was a horrible person.

If we can get this understanding, if we can take a look at personality styles and again, we can't expect people to understand other people's Root Systems. Right?

But at least we can try. We can try, do our best. We can actually listen to more episodes and get there better and faster. That's the goal at some point. So if I can at least understand, if I tee up, you know, there's certain tee ups that are bad and certain tee ups that are good.

If I tee up, hey, perspective gathering question, perspective gaining question, then I can help the person not to get set on the wrong path.

And now I've got to spend 5, 10 minutes trying to get them out of that. Hey, I'm just asking a question. Hey, I'm just trying to figure out, hey, I'm just. Instead, if I set them up again, set the up other person up for success, then it changes everything.

All right, one last thing. What does it look like for a culture? You know, you work with so many of these leaders and you've seen their cultures changed, you've helped them to do that.

What is a great cultural benefit? If you're helping the leaders, the mid level leaders to get to this place of understanding DISC and using it in their teams. So culture is what, what do we call culture?

Actions and attitudes. Right, exactly. So when we are building a culture of understanding, because that's what we want, right? We want to build a culture of unity, of understanding, of people, of growth, of leadership mindset.

I mean these are things I think that a lot of cultures want. And so when we're, when we're weaving in understanding people, you're automatically fostering unity, you're building relationships, you're building rapport with your team.

And what happens when people feel seen and heard and understood?

They want to show up, they have more team buy in, they have more mission mindset and growth mindset and all of our lessons kind of lead to each other because people want accountability because they want to grow. Right?

I mean there's so it just kind of just infiltrates culture. When you begin to understand and care about your team more than you care about yourself, you're going to see so much more success in your team and your culture, in hopefully the bottom line.

Because. Right. I think that that's, that's, that's not the goal. Well, I mean, I think it is right in business, but, but when we can do all the other things, right. I think that is just a byproduct of success.

Success is seeing growth in the business overall. But seeing growth in our people I think is huge. And I think that that's where, if you can invest in learning this stuff and implementing it and teaching it, you will really start to see some growth in your culture as well.

Yeah, exactly. And one good piece as you were talking about people wanting to grow is that if they don't want to grow, then they're probably going to, as you do this, probably find their way out.

Thank you, my dear. Thank you for spending this time with me. It's so good, so good. I know. This is so fun. I love when we can do this. I know, me as well.

Action Steps (00:37:22)

Well, folks, we have some action steps for you. If you are a key leader, a mid level leader, and you want to lead better in every direction, then here's where you need to start.

Number one, learn your DISC profile. Spend time understanding your strengths, your weaknesses, your blind spots, how you give information, how you receive information, how you act, how you react.

Number two, learn your team's DISC profiles. I cannot say this enough spend. You know, if you, if you watch our video teaching you on how to understand personality styles, one of the things I talk about is work with the person on your team.

Come back, read their profile, do this seven times, you'll get a master's in DISC because it's individualized. You know, you do that with every single team member on your team. You will be blown away at how much you will learn.

Number three, pay attention to how you lead up. Focus on your communication. What's in your personality style, what's in your leader's personality style? How do you lean in their direction?

Number four, collaborate better with your peers if you will focus and maybe you do a really good job. A lot of times, a lot of mid level leaders do a great job talking to each other. It doesn't mean that they understand how they're wired.

It doesn't mean that they're communicating well. Understand that. Learn that it's an easier place to start. Believe it or not, the better you can communicate with the person who's on your same level.

You'll be amazed at how much you can lead up better. Don't wait to lead up. Get going in both directions.

Number five, get your team trained on DISC. Make this a team wide, you know, common DNA, same language, same vocabulary, get it done.

Get everybody on the same page so that everybody can start leaning in each other's direction and setting people up for success.

Conclusion (00:39:14)

So leadership is more than giving direction. It's about understanding people, it's about leading them with wisdom. So big thanks to Lyneé South for joining me today and helping us. Thinking big, bigger about how we lead now.

When you start communicating based on how your people are wired, you don't just get better results, you get stronger relationships, you get higher trust, you get a much healthier team culture.

And I'll be honest, folks, you get a place where you enjoy coming to work every single day. Right? Yeah. So if you. And that's what we're looking for. Right?

So if you're wondering how to start doing everything that we've talked about today, here is your first step in the notes. And I'm always super lame on this. I don't. Somewhere in the notes. I'm not the big tech dude.

If I'm on your iPhone right now, I think you smash my face and it brings the notes up. Or maybe the notes are down below it nowadays. I don't know. I need to figure that part out.

There is a link for the DISC bundle. Understand Lead, Communicate the DISC Quick guide. We have got that for you for free. So click into the notes section or if you're on the blog post, whatever it is in the notes, get that free DISC bundle.

It's a short resource and it will help you to better understand yourself and others so you can lead, communicate and influence way more effectively.

Start there and you will absolutely be on the path to solving the communication issues that might be holding your team back.

Well, folks, that is all the time we have for today. I hope that this has helped you immensely. As always, take this information, Change your leadership, change your business, change your life.

And join us on the next episode.