Using DISC to Understand Yourself, Others, and Energy at Work

Over the years I have found that most friction at work is not caused by strategy, tools, or structure. It is caused by mismatched expectations about how people think, decide, and communicate — and by the quiet exhaustion that comes from working in a style that is not your own.

DISC is one of the simplest frameworks I have used to make those differences visible. It is not a personality test. It is not a diagnosis. But it is often uncannily useful as a starting point for understanding behaviour, communication, and energy — and for designing environments where people can work with their natural preferences rather than against them.

Why most friction at work is not a strategy problem

At its core, DISC looks at two dimensions. How people respond to their environment — task-focused or people-focused. And how people express personal power — assertive or reserved. From these two axes, four broad behavioural tendencies emerge.

D — Dominance: direct, results-oriented, decisive. The classic high-D is assertive and task-focused — determined, specific, moves fast. Thinks in outcomes.

I — Influence: social, motivating, expressive. High-Is are assertive and people-focused — they move people into action through energy and connection, bring warmth and humour, and sometimes struggle to slow down for detail. This is my natural profile.

S — Steadiness: supportive, calm, dependable. High-Ss bring warmth and reliability. They make people feel safe. They are often the quiet glue in a team.

C — Conscientiousness: analytical, precise, structured. High-Cs want data before decisions. They think in systems, rules, and quality. They are often the people who catch what everyone else misses.

Most people are a blend, with one or two dominant tendencies. The point is not categorisation — it is awareness. DISC is not a box to live inside. It is a map of preferences, and a reminder that we can flex when needed without losing ourselves.

When I first took DISC, around twenty years ago, I was almost entirely I. Since building a business I have needed to develop D behaviours — decision-making, structure, commercial responsibility, sales. I have genuinely changed, not just adapted in the moment. That distinction matters. DISC can track real development, not just surface adjustment.

How DISC reveals energy, not just communication style

One of the most practically useful dimensions of DISC is energy.

Different behavioural preferences do not just shape how people communicate — they shape what drains and what restores.

A high C thrives in structured, analytical work and feels genuinely depleted by sustained social performance. A high I thrives in influence and collaboration and is destroyed by extended detail work. This is not a character flaw in either direction. It is physiology meeting preference.

Misalignment between natural behavioural preference and the daily reality of a role is a quiet, common source of burnout. People can work entirely reasonable hours and still feel exhausted if their work consistently fights their grain. And because the source of the exhaustion is not visible in the way that workload is, it is rarely diagnosed correctly.

I burned out after scaling a startup — not from the hours, which were manageable, but from the nature of the work. The company had stabilised. It no longer needed someone to bring order to chaos, align people around a direction, deal with drama. It needed steady-state optimisation and fine-grained detail work. Not my natural place. I was operating in C and S territory continuously when my energy comes from I and D. Eventually I moved sideways and took a role that matched my natural preferences again. The exhaustion lifted almost immediately.

The CEO who had been performing the wrong personality

A few years ago I ran a DISC workshop for a leadership team in a telecommunications company. Almost the entire leadership team — excluding the CEO — was a high D. Fast-paced, direct, action-oriented, not especially interested in data or deliberation (or taking part in the workshop!).

The CEO was a high C. He was an ex-technologist. He preferred data-informed decisions, time to understand problems fully, thoughtful interpersonal exchange. In meetings with his high-D team, he was consistently outnumbered — the pace felt disrespectful, decisions felt blunt, the team's impatience with process felt like a vote of no confidence.

He had been trying to become a D to survive in his own team.

When I reached the section of the workshop on energy management, he had to leave the room. I found him outside. He was not angry — he was in genuine emotional pain. He had just understood, for what felt like the first time, that he had been expending enormous energy every day performing a version of himself that was not him. That the exhaustion he had put down to the demands of the role was actually the cost of sustained misalignment between who he was and how he was required to operate.

He made changes after the workshop. He hired an I and several S profiles into the leadership team. A few months later he called me. The team was more balanced. Meetings were calmer and better. Decisions were more considered. He had stopped pretending.

Behavioural diversity had become a structural advantage.

Using DISC practically

Used thoughtfully, DISC becomes a useful lens in several directions. Know your own preferences and energy patterns first — it is harder to be useful to others if you have no map of yourself.

Learn to flex your communication toward others' preferences without losing your own centre. Do not use DISC as an excuse for behaviour — "I'm a high D, deal with it" is not the point. Design teams with behavioural diversity intentionally. Align people's tasks with their natural preferences where possible.

The goal is not harmony for its own sake. The goal is conditions where people can do good work without constant internal friction — where the system is humane enough to allow people to contribute from their strengths rather than spend their energy managing the gap between who they are and what they are required to perform.

There are many DISC assessments available, including free versions. Any reputable questionnaire is a useful starting point, though results should always be treated as indicative rather than definitive.