In today’s post, I answer a question from a podcast listener about personality styles.
Hi Chris. Thanks for the podcast. From your teaching, our team is reading “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. We’re exploring questions like the following:
- What are our collective strengths?
- What are we collectively passionate about?
- What services are demanded by the market that utilizes our strengths and passion?
Please know we appreciate you, your team, and your teaching.
I had a quick question regarding personality styles. My wife is a college professor. We enjoy teaming up to support professional educators. Do you feel that teaching of the DISC profile can help professional educators in high school or college?
Thanks for all you do! – Michael Prosario
Great question, Michael! First, let me applaud you for your choice of exploring the teaching in Good to Great with your team. This book is VITAL for business growth!
As for DISC helping teachers, HECK yeah! I’ve had conversations with many teachers who struggle with the chaos that takes place in the classroom. Some kids need a lot of extra time while others are always bored which can lead to causing trouble.
Each time I ask a teacher the question, “Are the kids who get in trouble actually getting their work done faster than everyone else?” The answer is typically yes. Then I ask, “Do the kids you have to spend time with always ask a ton of questions?” Again, it’s a yes.
Then I share with them how to split up their room according to personality style. You see, the kids who get their work done quickly become bored, so they talk to others. Next thing you know, they’re in trouble because they can’t sit still.
The high D and I personalities process very fast, therefore they get their work done and don’t spend a lot of time asking questions. The problem is, they usually miss details so some of them have scores that aren’t as high. Not all, some.
The high S and C personalities take considerably longer to process, and they need extra details to understand exactly what it is they are learning. However, they get those details, so some of them tend to have higher scores. Again, some.
High school and college students have considerably more to worry about on a daily basis, so the process becomes more difficult. They contend with distractions that come from relationships, jobs, and for college students, being on their own for the first time.
You have to prepare your lesson to speak and relate to ALL personalities. Prepare ahead of time for the possible number of questions you’ll get from the C’s and S’s. Have something for the I’s and D’s to do when they are done. Maybe extra credit work since their scores are probably low from not asking enough questions…
To find out a ton of incredible information on how each personality style works, check out my new in-depth Personality Styles Video. And be sure to get your DISC Personality Profiles at the best price around!
Great stuff Chris! DiSC in the classroom? Huh. Never even thought about that. Makes sense though, that anywhere you have people, this is applicable. I’ll make sure to pass this along to my teacher friends!!
Awesome information !!!
Great insight. The more we know about ourselves, no matter our age, the more we can add to others. We have to add value to ourselves first and the only place we can start is from where we actually are today. Keep up the good work Chris, and maybe it will infiltrate the classroom in the future.
Chris – my whole team is taking the DISC test as we speak and reviewing them on Friday. Any points on what to talk about?
This is slightly off-topic, but the comment about D and I personalities being quick to process and missing details threw me for a loop a bit. I recently took a DiSC profile test and came out a high S, mid C combination, but the description of D and I personalities in school fits me perfectly! Can anyone help me reconcile the differences?
I struggled in school from elementary through to high school. The only subjects I ever did well in were the one’s where my personality style fit more naturally: history (stories) and english (stories) and where those came together in writing. I’m a high S and C.
This should definitely be taken into account when one person is tasked with walking a large group of diverse personality styles through the process of studying a certain subject.
I agree. Also, it seems we shared a common interest in subjects!
With you. I always excelled in the courses that were deemed most difficult by my advisors (Biopsychology, kinesiology, etc.) because I was interested.
Wow! I wish I would have known this when I was teaching. Good stuff, Chris. Thanks.
I wish all of my teachers knew it too!
Love this. I can totally see how this can help students be more successful in school!
Everyone would benefit.
Ironically, I went on a rant last night about how the majority of what we learn in school these days is irrelevant. I think self-directed education is, by far, the most effective.