How High I’s use email, and how to effectively use email to communicate with them.

At the end of the ECC conference, we give a demonstration of the four DiSC styles and how they think of and treat email. It’s a great, fun day, and email is the highlight.

It’s also one of the easiest ways to introduce yourself to tailoring your communications to other DiSC styles – you have a lot of information in the form of hundreds of emails to analyze people’s styles and plenty of time when you’re replying to get it right. You’ll be astounded at the results you get from this simple change.

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This cast concludes our guidance on how to stay up to date on what's going on in your company.

One of the skills which separates the successful from the non-successful is their connectedness. They know what's going on in the company and therefore where the opportunities are. It's not all achieved by networking, though there is no such thing as too much networking. In part, it's achieved by knowing what questions to ask of whom.

That means reading and thinking about the information which is available.

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This cast gives our guidance on how to stay up to date on what's going on in your company.

One of the skills which separates the successful from the non-successful is their connectedness. They know what's going on in the company and therefore where the opportunities are. It's not all achieved by networking, though there is no such thing as too much networking. In part, it's achieved by knowing what questions to ask of whom.

That means reading and thinking about the information which is available.

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This cast gives our guidance on how to make an initial change in your behavior once you understand DiSC.

At our Effective Communications Conference, we teach attendees to observe other's behavior, analyze their DiSC profile and tailor their behavior accordingly. It's remarkable to watch as all the attendees learn to do this very, very effectively in less than eight hours.

At the end of the day, they can act as if they were any of the DiSC profiles for the five minutes we give them. In truth though, it's very hard to be a D if you're an S or a C if you're an I for more than a few minutes initially. Not only is it difficult, it's exhausting! It takes practice, more practice, and even more practice.

In this cast, we give you a simple technique for moving towards the person with whom you're communicating.

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This cast gives our guidance on how to finish a conversation.

At least once a month we're asked: is there a way to help a conversation draw to a close without diminishing the relationship building aspect? Most recently, this came up on a forum post which Mark answered, but it comes up so often, we thought we'd answer it in a cast.

We just wish it wasn't that all of the people who ask it weren't incredibly high D's who constantly interrupt and have short attention spans. (Not casting aspersions - it's true of us too).

Literally, we have NEVER met someone who has asked me this question who, when asked for an example, didn't want to end a conversation after an abruptly short period of time, after having appeared to have been tapping their fingers in irritation within seconds. I've seen them expect conversations to be over ("okay, I've built this relationship, now let me go do IMPORTANT STUFF, BYE!") within 30 seconds. In the context of this posting, they would define "reasonable" as that 30 seconds.

But maybe that's not you. ;-)

So, if you think you've spent enough time:

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This cast concludes our discussion on how to manage a High I direct based on some natural tendencies and weaknesses.

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This guidance describes how to manage a High I direct based on some natural tendencies and weaknesses.

Having a High I on your team makes almost everything more fun. High I's are exciting to be around, generally, openly communicative, quick with ideas, and contribute to team ideas and efforts. A High I with even just a bit of experience will always know someone somewhere in the firm - or even externally - who can get something special done. They're always owed favors.

And we'd bet they know how to tweet and text better than anyone else, too.

So, let's all have nothing but I's on our teams, right?

Nooooooooooooo! There will be brainstorming sessions, margarita parties, and inspirational offsites, and no accomplishments. ;-)

Just like the rest of the four major behavioral profiles in the DiSC behavioral instrument we favor and teach, High I's cause their share of headaches. Maybe more in today's technical world. We'd be willing to bet that most of the Tylenol sold in London's Tech East End or California's Silicon Valley is bought by High C managers of High I directs.

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This cast addresses a behavioral change for an insidious practice of High D Managers: always putting results in front of relationships. People MATTER!

All bosses have weaknesses. In our first in the series, we said the error that so many High C bosses make is being so perfectionist that no idea is ever good enough. When someone else suggests something, they immediately "try to add too much value" as Marshall Goldsmith says, by pointing something that isn't as perfect as it could be, and other ways the idea could be made better. We said that High I's tend to start a lot of stuff, but then not finish well.

And for High D's . . . well, where do we start? High D managers are the most feared, and some would say most hated of all of the categories of managers. [That is, if you're just looking at DiSC behavioral analyses – abusive bosses are probably the most hated of all. Sadly, most abusive bosses are . . . High D's. – M&M] High D's step on others to get what they want. They're driven to achieve, even at the expense of the resources they'll have to go to again. High D's don't sugarcoat their communications, which is another way of saying their bluntness goes past political incorrectness into rudeness and into relationship destroying. They take risks that others would never take. If they win, they're celebrated, and if they lose, many suffer, including them. But only long enough to set another BHAG, and start thinking about Everest again.

Here's what to do.

1. Don't Assume Your Boss is a High D
2. Don't Kill The Goose For Its Golden Eggs: Get To Know Your Team
3. Results Don't ALWAYS Trump People: Invest In Relationships With Others
4. Mind Your Tongue: Truth And Relationships Don't Always Mix

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This cast addresses a behavioral change for an insidious practice of High S Managers: overprotecting your team.

All bosses have weaknesses. In our first in the series, we said the error that so many High C bosses make is being so perfectionist that no idea is ever good enough. When someone else suggests something, they immediately "try to add too much value" as Marshall Goldsmith says, by pointing something that isn't as perfect as it could be, and other ways the idea could be made better. We said that High I's tend to start a lot of stuff, but then not finish well.

And for High S's . . . we see you overprotecting your team, and we see you delaying decisions and change. We know that you struggle with asking too much of your team, and identifying with them so much that you hesitate when it's time to ask them to work really hard. We know you're less comfortable with the rapid change your peers might want, and so you delay decisions and actions, taking a "wait and see" approach. We understand you, we respect you, we're glad you're sensitive. And it's holding you and your team back.

Here's what to do.

1. Stop Overprotecting: Be Willing To Delegate
2. Stop Overprotecting: Don't Accept Reverse Delegation – Your Favorite Letter
3. Stop Waiting: Remember the One Third/Two Thirds Rule

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This cast addresses a behavioral change for an insidious practice of High I Managers: starting well and ending poorly.

When we started this series on the most common failings of different types of bosses, we said all bosses have foibles. In our first in the series, we said the error that so many High C bosses make is being so perfectionist that no idea is ever good enough. When someone else suggests something, they immediately "try to add too much value" as Marshall Goldsmith says, by pointing something that isn't as perfect as it could be, and other ways the idea could be made better.

Alas, the direct who hears this doesn't hear, "this is good, let's make it better, because I would never suggest making improvements to a truly BAD idea". What they hear is, "this is wrong, and this is how I can make your wrongness right."

Oh, and by the way, if you're thinking to yourself, why wouldn't anyone want their idea made better, then you're likely a High C boss and you need to go listen. ;‐)

But what about a High I boss? What is their common foible? We said that many High C managers can be found in IT and technical areas. High I bosses, if you want to increase your chances of seeing one in the wild, are likely over in Sales and Marketing. (This is an overgeneralization! One of Mike and Mark's favorite managers ever is an off the charts High I working software development in the telecom space, and she knows who she is.)

The High I manager often is one step away from chaos in managing their work and their team. They don't plan, and they believe that their insights and network can solve any problem. They start work and then lose interest, and their team feels pulled in a hundred directions, and at risk of working on the wrong thing, never being sure (because of never being told which is most important).

1. Follow Through ‐ Stop Starting Stuff You Don't Finish
2. Follow Through ‐ Work The Plan and Make Sure Your Details Are RIGHT
3. Follow Through ‐ Report Professionally on Your Work

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