Submitted by brian.skinner on
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I have been, a technical resource for over 30 years, with 50% of my time overseeing/mentoring or leading technical people. I would have thought my DISC profile would have been more High D/I than the opposites of D/S - did I flub the test? Do I not know myself?
I have receintly been appointed as a technical manager of 15 peple, I fully appreciate that a 50% split between technical work and management in this new role is unlikely to happen and I will most likely be spending more time on O3 and other team matters.
Do I need to change? Do I need to try and alter my behaviour to be more D or accept that i need to control my natural instincts to 'do it myself' and delegate more?
What DISC profile is optmal for technical leaders?
DISC Profile 5362
There is no optimal disc profile
Hi there. I'm in IT. I am a very high D/C. As you haven't had a reply yet I thought I would share my thoughts on this topic with you. First, you may want to retake the test, as the MT folks have told me that is unlikely to have a high d/s or I/c profile. Also I highly recommend the effective communications conference.
In my opinion, there is no optimal disc profile for any role including any manager role. And that goes for managing tech people. I think more importantly than worrying about your ideal disc profile, spend time learning about the typical disc profile of the IT people you work with. Dont assume they are high Cs of course, just get to know those behavioral characteristics and how to adapt your behaviors as needed when managing and working along side them. From podcasts and my own experience I think it's common for managers to develop more high D behaviors over time, just as a natural response to manager responsibilities. Please don't let anyone tell you that there is no place for a high S in IT. IT needs more of that, not less. Perhaps most especially among managers.
My best IT manager was a high I. And I loved the guy, but he struggled to get his big ideas turned into realities. My most recent high D boss didn't bother to tell me when he was going to be in my country, when I was his only remote direct, I worked mostly from home and therefore was unlikely to be in the office unless he let me know, and he only came to the US a few times a year. Zero relationship. Zero feedback. And the only time he ever told me I was doing a good job was when I resigned. And plenty of mediocre at best High C managers who avoided contact with people. And my one High C/S manager was entirely ineffective and made my head explode. They all had their positives of course, I'm oversimplifying. I'm not trying to bash real people but to demonstrate that there is no magic disc profile for managing any type of people. I definitely find myself relaying on my high D "oh let's just get it done already" tendencies when working with my colleagues who are often highly detailed high C "waiting for more data before I make a decison or take action" types. But the broad-strokes of high Is and Ds who want to push the big red button without having done a risk analysis scares the high C out of me. I'm no expert, but I think the point of disc is to get a good baseline and feel for how we ourselves behave, and then anticipate and as best we can adapt our behavior to be more effective in different situations and with people of various disc profiles. So short answer is be the best 5362 you can be. For me that means being less of a high D jerk. You will have your own challenges. I hope some of this is helpful, Jeanne