#6: How to Communicate with a High D

In this episode, Deanna provides provides insight into how to best communicate with someone who has a high D profile on the DISC assessment.  Specifically, she shares how you can identify if you’re interacting with a D,  what their qualities are, what value they bring to the team, and how to best communicate for results. 

Episode Highlights: 

  1. Understand how to identify D behaviors
  2. Learn what strengths and weaknesses D’s bring to a team
  3. Understand how the D may show up in conflict
  4. Learn tangible ideas of  how to communicate with a D

    Links & Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

     

    • Take the What’s Your Leadership Genius Quiz HERE
    • Join the Leading by Type Facebook Community HERE
    • Connect with Deanna on Instagram HERE
    Episode 6 Transcript

    DEANNA PECINA: The first thing you want to do is make sure that you are. Direct and to the point. Tell them what they need to know. Tell them what you want them to do or tell them what needs to be done and then leave . You also want to focus on what questions, what needs to be done. They don’t want to get bogged down in the how. They want to know what, because they focus on results.  

    INTRO:  Welcome to the Leading by Type podcast. I’m Deanna Pecina, former school administrator, turned Enneagram practitioner and DISC consultant, and I’m obsessed with all things leadership and learning. I hope you’ll join me each week as we have conversations about communication, team building, and embracing your leadership genius.

    DEANNA:  Well, hey there friends, and welcome to episode six of the Leading By Type podcast. I’m excited about the next four episodes because we are going to be doing a series where we’re looking at how to communicate with each of the specific DISC profile types. In this first part of the series, we’re going to explore how to communicate with High Ds.

    Specifically, we’re going to look at how you can identify if you’re interacting with a. What their qualities are, what value they bring to the team, and how to best communicate for results. So let’s start with how do you know if you’re interacting with somebody who is a D? Well, D and I styles are more individualistic and they tend to use pronouns like I and me. 

    D styles tend to ask what questions. For example, they might ask what is the bottom line? You can also listen to their tone of voice. Ds tend to talk in a louder, more commanding voice when they speak. Do you hear a lot of inflection and you will also probably hear a lot of confidence when AD is speaking as well.

    D’s exhibit, self confidence. They have firm handshakes. They make eye contact, they speak with certainty and they can come across as experts. So I have a fun analogy that might help you be able to visualize all of the different types. Last night I went to my son’s high school drama production and I left thinking, Oh my gosh, this is such a great analogy for an organization.

    So your DS are the directors, they are the ones who are telling other people what to do, or they are the leads. Let’s say the, the, the lead for the lights. They’re the ones who are directing the lights and making sure that things are getting done. Your eyes are your actors. They are the performers. You’re the ones on the stage.

    They are entertaining everybody. Your C’s are your technical people, the lights, the sound, and then your S’s are those folks that are working behind the stage doing hair, makeup and making sure that everyone has what they need. And it’s such a quick little analogy, but it really does illustrate the different types of personality that you’ll see in the different profile types.

    So when we’re assessing whether or not somebody is a. They are going to be very animated and assertive. They have strong eye contact. They speak with a loud voice and inflection, and they focus on the future. They’re also very task oriented Ds. Talk about things. They are more focused on tasks versus people, and they don’t show an overabundance of emotion In terms of overall qualities and characteristics, Ds seek control.

    Their strengths are, they’re very good at things like administration and leadership. Some of their challenges are, they can be impatient. They can come across as being insensitive, and they can be poor listeners. They dislike inefficiency and indecision. When you consider that Ds are decisive, it makes sense that indecision would be something that would bother them.

    They focus very much on productivity in the bottom line. Biggest fear is that they’re being taken advantage of. What they want to focus on or what their wants are, is they want to save time. They want to be more efficient, They want to get things done, they want to make more money. They want to be innovative, they want to solve problems, and they’re driven by this need to do so.

    And D’s also can have a directiveness that can be perceived as insensitivity by the other three. Now when we look at what the value is that a D brings to a team, well, they’re bottom line organizers. They’re going to make sure that things get done. They’re really good at telling other people what they need to do.

    They place a high value on time. They can be very innovative, and if you need someone to challenge the status quo, Ds are going to be able to do that for you. In terms of how this can show up as a weakness. If you have someone on a team who, let’s say, is not in a position of leadership and they see something that  they disagree with, they can overstep authority, D’s can a lot of times seem to have an argumentative attitude.

    And they can attempt to do too much at one time because they’re focused on trying to get things done and achieve goals. So when you’re working with a D, it’s really important to understand what might be a possible trigger for them in conflict. there’s most likely going to be disagreement and debate when you’re interacting with a D, and this is going to be a problem for all three of the other profiles.

    Because they don’t handle conflict the same way that a D does. DS do not like having to submit to somebody else’s authority because that’s going to make them feel threatened, and they also feel threatened if they think that a personal goal is being blocked or if something is getting in the way of them achieving what it is that they have set out to do if presented with a negative message.

    Ds can be confrontational towards the messenger. So this is important to remember. If you are ever in a situation where you’re the messenger and you’re having to deliver bad news to a D, they can become confrontational, and it really doesn’t have anything to do with you. It has to do with the message.

    They can also become confrontational if the messenger has some sort of a reaction to what it is that they’re telling them. So communication with a D, effective communication with a D. Really important to prevent this confrontational nature from coming out. Likewise, if in a situation where they’re feeling threatened, they can go into a survival of the fittest type of a mentality where it’s like, whatever it takes, we’re going to do whatever it takes.

    I don’t care who gets hurt, I don’t care what happens, We’re going to achieve the goal. And most importantly, in a conflict situation, communication can deteriorat. Pretty rapidly. So how do you communicate with a D to avoid all of that? Well, the first thing you want to do is make sure that you are. Direct and to the point.

    Tell them what they need to know. Tell them what you want them to do or tell them what needs to be done and then leave . You also want to focus on what questions, what needs to be done. They don’t want to get bogged down in the how. They want to know what, because they focus on results. If you have a problem and you are communicating with a D, you want to make sure that you come to them with some, so, You don’t want to just dump a problem on them and ask them to solve it.

    You want to come to them, present them the problem, and then present them with some possible solutions. When I was an assistant principal, this is something that I learned very quickly was the best way to get results. If there was some sort of a conflict with going on with the teachers, and they would come to me and then I would have to go to the principal, I always made sure that I went in with, “This is the problem. These are some possible solutions. What is it that you would like to do?”

    You also want to make sure that you don’t make generalizations and you don’t want to ramble or be overly sociable. Again, D’s are very direct and they’re focused on results. They don’t want any fluff, they don’t want feelings, they don’t want emotions.

    They want to know what it is that needs to be done. So you want to make sure that you are not overwhelming them with details. They want the bottom line. What is it they need to know to achieve a goal using logic and some sort of an action plan? It’s important to remember that Ds, they, they really desire to be in control as they achieve their goals and their objectives.

    Confrontation might be needed to get their attention, but if it leads to the desired results, then they’re okay with that confrontation. You may not be okay with the confrontation, but D’s aren’t going to have any problem. So I’d like to leave you today with some confident action steps. I want you to think about the people that you interact with regularly.

    Maybe it’s a spouse, maybe it’s a boss, maybe it’s a coworker, Maybe it’s someone that you manage. I guarantee you that as I was describing, what ad’s, qualities and characteristics are light, you probably thought of someone that you know. So my challenge for you would be how can you utilize some of the tips shared today, the next time that you interact with them?

    So when you’re going to this person that you have imagined with a problem, how can you go to them and present a solution? Focusing on what questions versus how questions or emotion.  and see what type of results you might get different in your interactions with that person by utilizing these communication tips that were shared today.

    If you’d like to know more about your leadership genius, head on over to leading by type.com/quiz. I’ve created a short 12 question quiz. It can help you start to identify your leadership superpower. I’d like to thank you so much for being here today. I love spending time and learning with you. I would appreciate it if you would subscribe and rate and leave a review because I’m a words of affirmation kind of gal, and I love hearing feedback from people.

    If you found value in this episode, share it with a friend. Maybe you know somebody who has a high D in their life and they’re struggling with their communication with that person. Share this episode with them because I guarantee that there were some bits and pieces in here that will help them communicate more effectively.

    And if you’re on Instagram, you can find me at leading by type or if you’d like to join our Facebook group community, it’s also at Leading by type. I’ll be back next week and hope you will be too. See you then friend.