When we mention the word leader, most of us think about politicians, religious leaders, or CEOs. However, we are all leaders in our life.
Whether you are a CEO, a team leader, or simply a parent, each of us has someone we need to lead.
But, leading is not easy. Ask any parent, and they can confirm this.
When leading others, we have to keep in mind their personality, how they react to certain situations, and how they need to be led efficiently.
Here are my secrets of the trade.
You can find all about different personality styles here. If you are unsure about your personality style, or the one of your child, spouse, or employee, take a DISC assessment appropriate to the age here.
Leading high D styles
In order to steer your high D in the direction you want them to go, here are the things you need to give them:
Freedom
High Ds require freedom to make choices. Suppose you need to limit their crazy ambitious ideas. In that case, you need to give them a couple of options but leave them the flexibility to make the final choice.
Even if we’re talking about having a high D child, it will be much easier to get them to bed every night if you allow them to choose their own sleep time from two to three options. They want to be their own boss.
Authority
Being micromanaged is not something a D will be on board with. Actually, if you try to do that, you will probably end up in a conflict with them. They want to have the authority to make decisions by themselves, so all you need is to give them the tools to be successful and look at them making things happen!
Varied activities
High Ds don’t enjoy repetitive tasks or doing the same things day in and day out. They need a challenge (and there is no challenge they can’t do!). Their brains, as well as their bodies, are always active and engaged. That’s why they need diversity in everything they’re going towards.
In the business world, you will notice a D in the position of a project manager or an entrepreneur will often start a task and leave it halfway to move on to something more interesting instead of waiting for things to unravel. But it is possible to keep them on task using step number four.
Difficult assignments
High Ds see this as a way to accomplish greatness. And there’s nothing more that they want from being great.
In the workplace, accomplish this by assigning them anything from letting them tackle a software they never worked with before to working with a new person on the team. You have to keep them engaged at all times, as they are looking for ways to move forward. Because they need:
Opportunity to advance
Whatever a high D is doing, they want to take it a step forward. Keep in mind that whenever you create a task and an expectation for a high D, they will go and do their best to exceed that. And they will most likely succeed in that.
Provide direct answers
Simply put: cut to the chase in most of your communication with a high D.
Ds are self-motivated, so there’s no need to chit-chat before giving them an assignment or trying to make them feel good before getting a task. You need to be clear, provide them with a task, expectation, and deadline, and you’re out!
Stick to business
This is especially useful in the workplace. High Ds react great to leaders who come to work to — work. They want to get stuff done and detest the icebreakers, chit chat and any other aspect of communication at the workplace that is not directly connected to work.
Let them know the goal
When giving out a task to your high D team member or your child, you must tell them what the end goal of that activity is. They need to focus on the result so that they can use their freedom to make choices along the way (remember the first two things on this list). You can trust a high D to find the fastest and most efficient way to reach the goal.
Put in some pressure
While people-oriented styles dislike the pressure of a deadline, a high D responds excellently to pressure. This makes them rise to the challenge. They will put in extra work and be concentrated and productive. Once again, they want to be seen as successful, and they will use a pressured situation to prove how well they can perform.
If putting pressure on others is taking you out of your comfort zone, keep in mind that by doing so, you will get a high D motivated to do what needs to be done.
Allow freedom for personal accomplishment
High Ds are box breakers, and they will think outside the box whether you like it or not. So don’t box them in in the first place.
Give them freedom for personal accomplishment. If you do that, you might find there is a new process for everyone in your company to use or just an easier way to clean the gutters on your house. It is also exciting to watch when a high D is coming up with something new, as they get really innovative. So, just set the goal and few limits (financial, etc.) and let them work their magic. You will love the end result, I promise.
Leading High I styles
High Is are all about fun, so you need to keep that in mind. Also, if you want to lead them, this is what you need to give them:
Prestige
Being a center of attention is something a high I enjoy. Suppose they are the best salesperson in the office. In that case, they want to receive a handwritten note, have a bit of a party, and enjoy the CEO shaking their hand in front of an entire company…
Interestingly, high Is is that the more dominant the I style is in them, the more attention they will want. If they are far away from the center of the DISC graph, they will want to be celebrated all day, every day. While if their results are somewhat lower and closer to the center of the graph, they will develop some self-awareness and will not need all the attention.
Friendly relationships
Is are people-oriented, and they lite to get involved with others.
That means that a cubicle is just a fictional boundary for them in the workplace, and they will be out of it every five minutes to go network and work with others. If you are a leader of a high I, you need to keep this in mind.
However, this can be used when you need some brainstorming or teamwork; as a high I will be happy to share ideas with others and get people to move in the right direction.
Opportunities to influence others and opportunities to Inspire others
These two opportunities might sound the same, but they are not.
Influencing someone is defined as the capacity to affect the character development or behavior of someone or something or the effect itself. So, a high I want to change how others think about something and change the action they’re going to perform.
Inspiring someone means having the ability to do something creative or draw forth or bring out. In this case, we can say a high I will use persuasion to get others to move into action or draw from their potential.
What connects both situations is that a high I is very optimistic, and they are capable of seeing the big picture that someone can achieve. And they will help them get there!
Democratic leader and a friend
High Is respond best if they have a chance to be involved in the outcomes of what’s going to happen. To be more exact, if they feel you as their leader are their friend too, they will move mountains to do whatever needs to be done.
To achieve that in an I, you must be able to listen to their ideas and give them the recognition they are looking for. Ask them for their statement and feelings often, and they will respond by putting their all into a task you assigned them to.
Social involvement outside of work
As mentioned before, high I like to engage with people and form relationships. They don’t want to keep them inside of office walls; they want to transfer those relationships outside of work. They like to be involved, and you will lead them easily if you invite them to bowl, a game, fantasy football league, etc.
For a high I, a relationship is significant, and the more you nurture it, the easier it will be to lead them.
Recognition of their abilities
It would be best if you fed the ego of a high I. The easiest way to do that is to recognize what they do well. Every time you speak up about how well they did something, it will put a little extra to your relationship with a high I, and they will return enormously.
Incentive for risk-taking
By nature, Is are not risk-takers, and that’s why they require an incentive to do so. But this doesn’t have to be money; it can be anything from starting a bowling league if they take a risk to go on a nighttime badminton game if that’s what they like. And they want fun more than anything, so keep that in mind.
Atmosphere of excitement
If you want to make an I do something, promise them (and deliver!) fun activity that they can be involved in.