For those who do not know themselves but want to uncover all their hidden assets, self-assessment tests are a good start. One test in particular is effective and quite accurate, the DISC Platinum Rule™ Behavior Style Assessment.
The DISC Platinum Rule™ Behavioral Style Assessment
The DISC Platinum Rule™ Behavior Style Assessment, whose ultimate goal is personal chemistry and productive relationships, is a behavioral tool based on the Platinum Rule™ Model of Behavioral Styles by Dr. Tony Alessandra. Dr. Alessandra’s Platinum Rule™ is similar to the DISC behavioral instrument based on the work of psychologist William Moulton Manton, PhD., who was interested in how people felt, behaved, and interacted with their environment. The DISC Platinum Rule™ has four primary behavioral styles:
- Dominance (D style) – goal-oriented go-getters who need to control and achieve.
- Interactive (I style) – friendly, outgoing individuals who are more relationship-oriented than task-oriented.
- Steadiness (S style) – People-persons who are warm, supportive, loyal and nurturing.
- Cautious (C style) – analytical, persistent, detail-oriented problem solvers.
According to Dr. Alessandra, behavioral tendencies, which are generally developed during childhood, are reflections of a person's personality traits. Dr. Alessandra, as well as other researchers, believes 50% of adult personality is genetically determined.
Everyone has a primary behavioral style. Each person tends to use his or her primary style most of time, but only a small percentage of the world population can be understood just by the four primary styles. For that reason, Dr. Alessandra developed each primary style of the DISC Platinum Rule™ into four sub-styles.
For the primary style of Dominance Dr. Alessandra developed the four sub-styles of "the director (Dd)" whose goal is new opportunities; "the adventurer (Di)" whose goal is dominance and independence; "the producer (Ds)" whose goal is accomplishing bigger and better goals according to an internal timetable; "the pioneer (Dc)" whose goal is being in a position to direct and redirect task accomplishments.
Dr. Alessandra developed for the primary style of Interactive the four sub-styles of "the socializer (Ii)" whose goal is social approval from others; "the helper (Is)" whose goal is friendship; "the impresser (Ic)" whose goal is to win with flair; "the enthusiast (Id)" whose goal is influencing people.
The Steadines primary style was further defined into the sub-styles of "the relater (Ss)" whose goal is personal stability; "the specialist (Sc)" whose goal is to specialize: do only what he or she knows and know only what he or she does; "the go-getter (Sd)" whose goal is a steady flow of more accomplishments; "the harmonizer (Si)" whose goal is the acceptance and approval gained from helping others.
One sub-style of the primary style Cautious is "the thinker (Cc)" whose goal is to be correct. Another sub-style of Cautious is "the master-minder (Cd)" whose goal is to increase opportunities for unique and significant personal accomplishments. Dr. Alessandra also developed for the Cautious style the sub-styles of "the assessor (Ci)" whose goal is accomplishing goals with excellence and "the perfecter (Cs)" whose goal is predictable results.
A Behavioral Style Example
According to the DISC Platinum Rule™ Behavioral Style Assessment, a behavioral style of the “cautious style” with a sub-style of Cd is called the Master-Minder. The master-minder is more guarded and less indirect than most other cautious styles.
The primary goal that motivates a cautious style Cd is to increase opportunities for unique and significant personal accomplishments. A Cd cautious style person expresses himself or herself more by what he or she does than what he or she says. Consequently, the Cd cautious style person has a strong need to choose his or her own goals and to work independently. As primarily an idea-generator and developer, Cd cautious style persons have little interest in dealing with implementation goals or details.
The master-minder is more guarded and fiercely private. The master-minder usually answers a question with a question and very seldom offers information. If an answer is given it will be very general. Cautious styles are indirect, slower-paced, and task-focused. The Cd cautious styles take a long time to do a task because the person will study the task thoroughly. Cd cautious styles are concerned with analytical processes and are persistent, systematic problem solvers.
The Most Effective People Know How to Adapt Their Behavior
According to Dr. Alessandra, the most effective people know themselves, know the needs or demands of the situation or relationship, and adapt their behaviors to meet those needs. Dr. Alessandra affirms that behavior is a very important part of the communication process, but warns that strengths pushed to extremes can also become weaknesses. Nevertheless, the DISC Platinum Rule™ Behavioral Style Assessment can be a good tool for anyone who is seeking self-knowledge.
Sources:
Alessandra, T. & O’Connor, M. (1996). The platinum rule. New York: Warner Books.
CareerPath (2007). Assessment Testing, Career Guidance, and Professional Development. Accessed July 29, 2007.
Hitt, M. A., Miller, C. C., & Colella, A. (2006). Organizational behavior: A strategic approach (1st ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
JobVent.com (2007). Inside information about the jobs and employers we love and hate. Arlington Development, LLC. Accessed July 29, 2007.
McGraw, P. C. (2005, May). Dr. Phil: You need to discover what kind of job will have you charging out of the gates each morning. The Oprah Magazine 6.5, 70(2).
Slowikowski, M. K. (2005, Nov.). Using the DISC behavioral instrument to guide leadership and communication. Association of Operating Room Nurses. AORN Journal, 82(5), pg. 835.
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