Understanding DiSC Personality Types for better Workplace Relationships

Sarah: 00:00:06

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the SEO Mindset podcast, where your hosts are myself, Sarah McDowell, and my wonderful co host and dear friend, Tatan Sullivan. So, yeah, thank you for joining us for another episode. This week, we are going to be talking about how understanding disc so dis personality types can foster better relationships in the workplace, but even in your personal life as well. So, before we get into the main topic, so the main episode, just a reminder of the ways that you can support me in Tazmin. So if you like what we do and you want to support us, there's many different ways. A couple of ways are if you head on over to seomindset.co.uk/donate that link will also be in the Show Notes. You'll be able to donate us a one off donation. So we're on. Buy me a coffee. So you can donate a one off donation of five pound and say, hey, here you go, we're supporting and we'd be very appreciative of that. And you can also reach out to us on Twitter. So the podcast is on Twitter, so, yeah, the handle for our Twitter has completely gone out my head at this time of recording. But the link will be in the Show Notes. Just go to the Show Notes, everything will be in there. Hello, Tazmin, how are we doing?

Tazmin: 00:01:41

Doing really well, thank you. Really excited about listening to all you've got to teach me today on this topic of disc personality types.

Sarah: 00:01:50

Good. It's a really interesting topic and I can't wait to share it with you and also our listeners. And hopefully they'll be able to take some things away that they can implement and they'll find benefits in work and also their personal life. Now, a bit of context behind why I'm talking about this. So I am part of the Women in Tech SEO book club. So the Women In Tech SEO is a wonderful community, supports women who work in technical SEO. There'll be a link in the Show Notes to join, but there's a book club, so we all meet up and we decide. So every couple of months, we decide on the next book that we want to read. Now, the book that we are currently reading is called Surrounded by Idiots. And I just love that title. I love getting my book out when I'm surrounded by people because I like to see reactions. But joking aside, it's the four types of human behaviour and how to understand those around us. And it has been written by a Swedish behaviour expert called Thomas Erikson. Now, I'm going to give a bit of context, but have you come across the book, come across the person, or is this your first time hearing Tazmin?

Tazmin: 00:03:17

So? I know a little bit about it, but not necessarily through the book. It was more through management and leadership courses that I've taken and it was with the purpose of understanding the people that you're working with and enabling yourselves to get the best possible results by really understanding what their personality types were.

Sarah: 00:03:39

Amazing. Well, yeah, it's similar to what I'm going to talk about. So you've already got some understanding, so that's great, but I'm going to give our listeners and yourself a brief history lesson. So in the 1920s, William Marston created a systolic blood pressure I can't get my words out. A systolic blood pressure test that was used to detect fraud. Now, this led to the modern lie detector. Marston was also the author of Essays in Popular Psychology 1928. He published Emotions of Normal People, where he investigated the difference in the behavior patterns of people. He was known as a pioneer and provided the foundation for what is known as the Disa disa model, which is used to categorize types of human behavior. Now, since Marston's work, since the 1920s, the model has been developed, fine tuned and worked on. As with anything, there has been critics there's critics with everything. But many professionals use this, have it as a basis model to do work, or counsel or coach or get better at understanding people. So loads of people use it because Martin found a way to basically demonstrate why and how people are different and found distinct differences. Nowadays we use the four following used to explain these behaviour types dominance, inspiration, submission and compliance. The four letters Dis form the acronym of the disk profile. Now this is what we're talking about, the behavior which Tazmin you said that you're aware of, and this is what is used throughout the word throughout the world. Sorry. Now, Thomas in his book Surrounded by Idiots, uses the disk profile and like these different models and a Disser model and all of that in his book to talk about the four main different behaviour styles, but gives them colors instead. And the whole premise and the whole idea of the book is that if you understand someone's behavior style, you can have a better relationship with them. So it's quite ironic with the title Surrounded by Idiots, because you might be like, oh my gosh, that person's such an idiot. They're not acting in the way that I am. I would I don't understand. So it was a really good read for me and a really good eye opener, and it has got me analyzing people. But that's the whole basis that with this understanding of these main behavior types, you better understand people and you understand that people are different and people are different to you. Doesn't make them an idiot. But joking aside, it helps you have a better relationship and understand people at work in your personal life as well. Now, I'm going to explain the different colors and what they are, but do you want to say anything at this stage before I delve into that?

Tazmin: 00:06:55

Be interesting to know what you think my colors are.

Sarah: 00:06:59

Yes. Okay, we will get into that later on. So before I sort of do a breakdown of the different colors and obviously this is just a podcast, a short podcast, just a podcast, you know what I mean? It's shorter than a book, we can't go into as much detail so it's a bit of like an overview or a summarize of the different colors. I've put a link to the book in the show notes because I really recommend that people, if you're interested in this, read the book because it's really good. So yeah, before I go into the colors, people are a mix typically, so you don't normally have people that are just one color. It can happen, but usually we're a mixture. So first up is red. Reds typically tend to be your CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs. They're driven and ambitious, they can be impatient and kind of want things yesterday. They can delegate tasks and they will, but they always end up doing it and it's probably coming from a part of because they're so driven and they want things yesterday, they can make mistakes because they're so on and they're just wanting to try and get things done but they always bounce back. They're very dominant, can be pushy and hard, says it how it is. So if you ask a red for their honest opinion about something, just be mindful, try not to take anything to heart because it's just how they are. They can quite often offend because of this but a red doesn't dwell on that. They would have said that, lashed out or said something that could come across as mean or not been taken very well by someone else. But they don't dwell, they've moved on to the next thing. So that's your reds, your yellows then yellows are very creative. They're great at coming up with loads of interesting ideas. They love doing that, they love to be creative and come up with loads of stuff. They're not very good at following through and seeing a project at the end because they just like to get stuff implemented in the first place, get it rolling and come up with the ideas in the first place. So they can end up with a lot of unfinished projects, great energy talkative, very entertaining, they can be array of sunshine, they're very entertaining. You want to be around them. Likes to kind of be the center of tension in a big group because they like to entertain and they like to focus on entertainment but they can sometimes be egotistical because they're so focused on that entertainment side. Some people can't other people in the group can't get a word in edgeways. They're not great with time management, they're often over ambitious with time so they think they can get X, Y and Z done. So say they've got a main job that they want to get done in a day, they'll do other stuff first and yeah, they can often be late basically. They're not good with the time management and they can be hot tempered. Your greens so that's your third color. So they're relaxed, loyal and reliable. They're typically your people pleasers wants everyone to get on. They're not good with conflict. This can cause issues because they don't like conflict. They're not very good at dealing with stuff head on. So if someone offends or someone upsets them they're not very good at telling that person and they could end up like venting behind someone's back which obviously isn't great. They like people, they're very welcoming, they're good but they're not light yellows. They don't like to be center stage and they're better in smaller groups. So yellows like bigger groups, greens like smaller groups and those they feel comfortable with, they can be more open and chatty with. They can be stubborn and a bit set in their ways. So greens might I don't know for example they have a set coffee routine and they're set in the ways of how that happens every morning and doesn't like when things change. Now your last color is a blue so your blues are very analytical. They follow the rules. They don't like breaking rules. Rules are there to be followed. They're logical, diligent and very methodical, very organized. They'll never be late. If a blue is putting together a meeting and inviting people to come there'll be a very detailed agenda, there'll be links out to research. It will be like yeah everything will be there. They can be indecisive but that's because they want all the info and they don't want to make a mistake or they want to make sure that they make the best choice. So for example let's say they're going to buy a new TV. It could take them a while because they want to do their research, do their comparison. Yeah, they're very analytical and they can also offend. So for example, say I had a new kitchen that I've been working on, I invite my blue friend to come over and just because they're so analytical they'll point out what's wrong. They're not doing it to be nasty or anything like that. It's just because they see something that's wrong and they need to point it out sort of thing they just like to analyze. Right in the book there's a really good example like if you get a blue to put an Ikea flat pack together so a flat pack furniture it will take them a long time but it will be sturdy. So yeah thoughts, thoughts on that Tazmin.

Tazmin: 00:12:53

Example? I think it's really interesting, I think when you've been aware of your colors for a while, as I have, and then you see how you change. Because there was a time when I'd be heavily blue and not very much red, and now the blue in me is reduced a lot more green before, and that's turning more into yellow. As I'm getting more and more comfortable with crowds and being able to be part of a bigger group. So I think it's really interesting. Somebody once said to me, if you want to get something done through somebody who is red now, as you said, they don't have much time. So if they say, yeah, but I've only got five minutes, the thing to say to them is, that's great, I only need two. And the minute you've said that, they realize that actually you're not wasting their time and you've got their attention. So that was a tip that was given to me years back.

Sarah: 00:13:55

So right now, Tazmin, what do you think you are? Because you said that you change.

Tazmin: 00:14:00

Yeah, I'd turn more yellow than I used to be, a lot more comfortable with bigger groups and with the nature of the business. You know how important storytelling is. So it becomes a little bit of this is who you have to be to be able to deal with the work that you're dealing with. A lot less green than I used to be. So less about people pleasing, more about delivering on the business, but also this thing that hundreds of ideas, you need the ideas, but you need to also be able to deliver them. And I think when you get to my age, because you've dabbled in so many different things, you've got these little projects on the go. So some people who know me know that I enjoy writing poetry and one thing I'd like to do is to put it all in a book and it's this little project that never really goes away, but I've never actually at the minute made anything happen with it. So that bit I identify with, I don't think I'm very read. I think there are times when I need an answer and I need it quickly and I don't want anyone to be faffing about, but I'd say that was a less dominant feature.

Sarah: 00:15:19

Interesting. I mean, I would definitely agree. And yeah, as you were saying your stuff, I was nodding along. And it's interesting you bring up poetry because that's how we first got talking. So one day you will have this book of poetry. I have faith in you. But yeah, I read this book mostly when I was on holiday with my girlfriend and I was reading bits out to her and we were kind of discussing what we were and I decided that I was green with hints of yellow. So green because I'm working on it, but I'm still a people pleaser. I'm not very good at conflict and I just want people to get on. But I think I am also like, I'm quite relaxed and I'm good at being given direction, do you know what I mean? And I'm also quite set in my ways. So, for example, this happened the other day. My loving girlfriend could tell that I was stressed because I was late for doing something and I wanted a cup of coffee, but was stressing about having time to make it and she offered to make it for me. But in my head, even though it was a really lovely gesture, I was like, you're going to do it wrong, you're not going to do it like how I would do it. And not that it was wrong, it was just she did it in a different way than what I would. And I've realized that I am very set in my ways. So, for example, we've got a whole cupboard full of mugs, but I'll only use a select couple. So, yeah, I am set in my ways. I think I'm yellow because I do like to entertain, so obviously I like getting up and delivering talks. I like doing this podcast with you and yeah, I like coming up with new ideas and stuff like that. So that's why I think I am yellow. But it is interesting because I'm more in social situations, if there's a big group, I'm not so much the center stage. Like, I like to take a step back and just let the other person entertain. I do feel like I'm better in smaller groups or like one to ones or groups of three or four. And yeah, so it's really interesting. In the show notes, there is a link because the book has a link to a quiz, so it's a very condensed version, so it takes you a couple of minutes, but it just gives you an idea and gives you what order. And when I did the quiz, I was mostly green, then yellow, and then I was very little with the blue and red. So don't ask me to do an Ikea flat pack.

Tazmin: 00:18:24

Me neither. Not interested.

Sarah: 00:18:27

So we're going to take a short break and then when we come back for part two, I'm going to talk about how colors can clash and how colors can complement. But before we do, is there anything else that you wanted to say on this topic?

Tazmin: 00:18:45

I think it's also really important to understand that no one color is the right color and no one blend is the right blend. Think as you get more and more used to this way of categorizing people, you realize that everyone brings their own strengths to the party. And this isn't about you going through your work life saying reds are bad and blues are good, or it's not like that. It is about how do I understand this person better in order to be able to communicate with them, to get the job that we need to get done, done, and with the utmost respect for their way of being and also self respect as well. So just because they might be the CEO and they're red, yes, you use this in order to communicate, but that isn't to diminish your own natural abilities.

Sarah: 00:19:44

Thank you for bringing that up because yeah, very important. And it was kind of because I was going to ask you a question at the end about this and I was going to address that then. So you've brought it to the forefront. So thank you. Because it is important to say and in the book Thomas says that it's not about feeling bad or being like oh, I need to be another colour. It's just having that self awareness, like you say. And because each different colour and each different behavior types are going to have their positives and negatives, do you know what I mean? That's just the way it is. But it's not a bad thing. It's just about being aware of what your strengths are and what your weaknesses are. And also in the book he says that in a team or in a company you need a mixture because again, what you said, echoing what you said because that's healthy, right? Let's take a break and come back with part two. Okay, thank you for coming back and joining me and Tazmin for part two of the podcast where we are discussing the disc Disaviour profile and yeah, so in our example or in this podcast, we're using the book Surrounded by Idiots by Thomas Erickson and he uses that model but uses colors instead. So yeah, in part one we discussed what the different colors were and all of that lovely stuff. Now let's get into what colors clash and what colors complement. So first things first, the colors that people, sorry, the colors that complement are green and yellow. Now the reason that greens and yellows complement each other is because they're both relation orientated. So they have people in mind. So they're both friendly, they're good to be around, they think about people, they have good people skills. Blues and reds are complementary because they are both task orientated and issue orientated. So they're not so much relation, they're more on like getting a job done. That's what they're there to do. So those are the colors that complement each other. You've also got blues and greens. Now blues and greens complement each other because both typically now this is like generalized. Typically blues and greens are more introverted, passive and reserved. And then your reds and yellows, they complement each other because typically, again, they tend to be more extroverted active and an implementer. So they like to get stuff done. Obviously I said that yellows have a lot of unfinished projects but they still like to get the ball rolling. So they're very good at getting stuff started, they're just not good at getting stuff done. So just to explain that bit. Now the challenging combinations are blue and yellow and green and red. Now the reason that they can be challenging is because at their core they're very different. So blues and yellows are challenging because remember, blues are task orientated and yellows are very sort of people orientated. So that can clash because they're just very different and they can end up rubbing each other up the wrong way. And it's the same with greens and reds because your reds are your task orientated and your greens are your relation orientated. So yeah, that can cause a bit of tension just because they're very different and yeah, so thoughts on that?

Tazmin: 00:24:03

Tazmin so in the workplace you talked about the blues and they're dealing with the data, they're dealing with the logic side of it. So who did you say that the blues typically didn't work well with?

Sarah: 00:24:21

Blues don't typically work well with yellows.

Tazmin: 00:24:25

Okay. And these are the idea people who idea generating their storytelling very different in their temperament.

Sarah: 00:24:38

Yes. So your yellows are like they're creative. Lots of ideas. Love to talk in a work setting. They love to be personable. We'll chat about their weekend and stuff. Whereas blues are there to work to get the job done. And they'd much rather focus on the one project. Get all the research, get it all done. Because then it's going to be more thought out. And do you know what? So that's why there's a challenge. Yeah.

Tazmin: 00:25:11

So two questions springing to mind. Does the book give an indicator of in general, population wise, what percentage would be predominantly red people green, yellow and blue? Does it give a split?

Sarah: 00:25:26

Great question. So in the book, what is talked about is that the majority of the population tend to be green. Yeah. And it's normally like green with like hints of other sort of colors. What it does say is a really small part of the population will only be one color and it does happen, but you know those conflicting colors. So how I said blue and yellow, red and green, you can have that in a person as well. So that's quite interesting. And also there's something else that I forgot was that another reason why blues and reds and greens and yellows get on. So remember that your blues and reds are task orientated and issue orientated. So a blue and a red, they've both got that main goal. But a red can speed up a blue because a blue is taking its time thinking stuff through, whereas a blue can help reds avoid some mistakes because they'll be like let's think this through, sort of thing. And it's the same with like greens and yellows. So because they're very like, because they like people at their very core, they've got that as the commonality. But a green can be very calming for a yellow. So a yellow has got all this wonderful buzing energy and a green can be quite relaxing for a yellow. And then on the other side, yellows can help greens come out their shell more, I suppose, be a bit more like yeah, they like people. So yellows can be good at getting them to come out their shell a bit more.

Tazmin: 00:27:21

That's really interesting. And I think also so if you're in a position of leadership, you might know your own colors. I know that certain organizations, you almost have to get to a certain level before organizations invest in establishing what your color profile is. But if you're leading a team and you know what color you are, you almost have to sort of suppress it and find a way of helping the team members bring their ideas to life. Otherwise, if you're very red and they know that you're in a position of authority, you could end up losing their ideas, losing that team spirits 100%.

Sarah: 00:28:10

And also to build on that as well, is that something that I was thinking, is there'll be jobs that are better suited to the different colors? So, for example, if you needed someone who was, say, in a marketing team, you needed someone to come up with strategies, be creative, they needed to head it up, get the different SEO, talking to social social, talking to content, content, talking to email, all of that stuff that would fit quite well with a yellow. Yeah, for example. Whereas if you needed someone who was looking after budgets for a marketing team, so looking after the SEO budget, looking after the marketing social media budget, looking after the email budget, that would suit quite well to a blue, if that makes sense.

Tazmin: 00:29:13

So does the book give you any advice on, for example, say you're a freelancer and you're doing everything on your own, and you'll have your natural colors, so you might have lots of ideas, but then they don't come to fruition because you're not a completer finisher, for example. So does it give you any ideas on how to deal with your personality? If you are working just for yourself.

Sarah: 00:29:39

You'Re on fire with these questions. Very good questions. Tazmin. So it doesn't specifically get into that from what I remember and what I took away from the book. But I suppose it was just about and it's something that we talk about on the podcast, is how important self awareness is. Because say, for example, you were working on a project and you knew that you were a yellow, right? You were mostly yellow in your profile. You know that even though you're going to come up with lots of great ideas and you're going to be really creative and all of that, you're not going to be great at following through and getting it done. So can you outsource can you hire someone else? Can you outsource it to another company, an interesting one in SEO, right? So say, for example, you had an SEO project or an SEO issue or something went wrong on your website that needs to be fixed, and you knew that you were a yellow, red, or green, right? You'd probably know, okay, am I best for this job? Because I know that a blue, they're very logical. They're very analytical. They'll take the time to figure it out sort of thing. So, yeah, I suppose it's just knowing your strengths and weaknesses, really. I mean, it should never be a reason to think that you can't do something. But if you're ever struggling, I suppose, or when you're looking at like say you're in control of a project or you want to hire people, it's just having that understanding, isn't it?

Tazmin: 00:31:27

Yeah, you're so right. And I think one of the things that I've been trying more and more this year to put in place is have that accountability. So I don't know if I've talked to you about this book called The Twelve Week Year, but basically I've got a group that I work with, we set targets for twelve weeks and each week we'll say this is what I'm going to get done. So there is that accountability to make sure that it's not just about generating ideas. Having a circle of people around you to help you compensate almost for your natural personality type has been really good for me. Definitely.

Sarah: 00:32:18

I think that's the first time that you've mentioned that book. But I love a good book recommendation because yeah, the more we read the better. Right?

Tazmin: 00:32:30

Yeah. And I think maybe this is a book that I've been through two chunks of Twelve Week Year. So the premise of the book we'll talk about more maybe in another episode. But the accountability part is the bit that really lends itself to the conversation that you're having today.

Sarah: 00:32:51

Don't you love it when things join up, things come together. Synergy. Synergy. So Tazmin main takeaway, what has been your main takeaway from today's episode?

Tazmin: 00:33:05

I think for know, selfishly, personally, maybe I need to sit back and think about all of the things that I'm not getting done because I don't enjoy that type of work. It doesn't lend itself to my personality type. Maybe I outsource that because there could be a lot of value that somebody else can unlock in my business by me just delegating that's one thing. And another thing is maybe I need to make decisions quicker. A bit more red. Tone down the yellow a little bit perhaps. And hire a blue.

Sarah: 00:33:48

Yeah, I'm nodding along. Sounds like you can implement something from this episode. For me it's been really interesting because since reading the book, it has got me analyzing other people and it gives so many good examples. And Thomas even says you can tell by someone's email how they are. So for example, if you get an email that's really long, right? So there's fluff in it. Right? So they're talking about what they got up to at the weekend, how they're doing all of this stuff. And then the actual point of the email is probably a sentence actually. What color would you say that was?

Tazmin: 00:34:34

A yellow, I'd think. A yellow?

Sarah: 00:34:38

Yes. That is a yellow. Whereas if you get an email that is like one sentence, it's really short. There might even be capitals in there. What color would that be?

Tazmin: 00:34:53

I'd say that was a red. And if there's graphs and. Data, then you got yourself a blue.

Sarah: 00:34:59

But yeah, you bang on. You bang on. And it's just so interesting because there's just things that you can look out for. And it's not just about work, right? You can bring it into your personal life as well. If you have that awareness about your partner or people in your family or your close friends, that's going to be better at like, obviously you're not going to stop conflict. You're still going to have arguments now and then, but at least you can have more awareness of yourself, but also that other person, don't you think?

Tazmin: 00:35:34

I think so. For example, with my daughter, we entertain a lot. I'm all about trying to make everything just so. I want things to be nice, but there comes a point, usually an hour before people are about to knock on my door, we've got to stop that and just deal with the basics. And that's where she's really good. So at that point, I usually go upstairs and get ready and I'll say to her, this is what needs finishing. And she's so quick and she laser focus and she just gets it done far better than I would.

Sarah: 00:36:12

Nice. I love that example. Love that example. Right? I'm very sorry, but we've ran out of time and that's my episode. So before I wrap up Tazmin, any final things that you want to think.

Tazmin: 00:36:29

You know, the more self aware you are about yourself and about the people around you, that's the thing that's going to pay dividends in your work life, in your personal life. So this has been a really great topic because some of the topics we talk about is like procrastination and it's a very individual thing, whereas this teaches you about you and the people around you. So it's about making the most of that added knowledge about yourself and others. So it's a great episode. Thank you very much, Sarah.

Sarah: 00:37:03

It has been my pleasure. And just a reminder that everyone listening to this episode, definitely go and check out the show notes because there's loads of research links in there. So I link out to the book surrounded by idiots. I also link out to that test that I talked about earlier. There's also other bits that I've linked out to more resources if you want to learn more and you find this episode interesting or this topic interesting. There's also a link to the women in Tech SEO, because obviously I mentioned that earlier because that was the basis the book club. Who doesn't love a book club, right? So that's us done for another week. So thank you very much for joining me and Tazmin, it's been wonderful. A reminder again that you can support us by heading to Seomindset Co UK donate, and you can donate us a one off donation of five pounds because we're on Buy Me a Coffee. You can give us a one off donation, be like, we appreciate what you do. Thank you. We're also on Twitter again, like I said earlier, our handle, even though I see it, like, multiple times a day, can't for the life of me remember. But, yeah, it's in the show notes. It's in the show notes. Just go and check out the show notes, everyone. Right, shall we say goodbye? And until next time, Taz.

Tazmin: 00:38:33

Goodbye, everybody. Take care.

Sarah: 00:38:36

Take care, everyone.