These last few months, it’s been good to focus on how each DISC Style best relates Adult to Child and Adult to Teen. If you want to look over that helpful information, just click here for those past blogposts.
This past week, as I shared in my last couple blogposts, my Stress Factor has ramped up into overdrive as we finish the Kansas house, get the Denver house ready to put on the market, then prepare for the actual moving process. We know we are SO CLOSE! But that last lap to the Finish Line looks full of hurdles to jump over. All this to say that I’m drawn to focusing on how the DISC System relates to Stress.
I know there is an inordinate amount of information on Stress. But I’d like to add some insight and a different way of approaching the subject.
Before I understood the DISC System and how it relates to Stress, I confess I held two major misunderstandings – first, I expected that if I was stressed by something, everyone else should be, too.
Then second, and even more dangerous, was my assumption that others would respond like I did to stress. It took years for me to recognize all the “stress markers” in my own life. And I admit that even last week, I had an incident talking with someone over the phone that stressed me. I was surprised at my emotions that came bubbling up and how I responded – until I started reviewing DISC and Stress and had an Aha! Moment… of course that is how I would respond!
My goal is to take the next month to discuss Stress and DISC Styles – both how each Style responds to stress and how each Style prefers to alleviate stress. The goal is to gain more awareness, insight and understanding, both of our own responses to stress as well as those around you. A special thanks to Extended DISC, Inc., for their insights.
Since each DISC Style is unique in their strengths and qualities, it is no surprise that each Style’s response to stress would also be unique. If you want a quick overview of each DISC Style, please note the Infographic attached. Or see the review I put in last week’s blogpost, “Stressed? The DISC System Can Help!” And remember, most people are a combination of DISC Styles, so you may see yourself in several of the next few blogposts.
This week, we will focus on the High D-Style. As a reminder, the High D-Style person tends to:
- Strive to be in control
- Focus on tasks more than on people
- Have a “high speed motor”
- Be decisive – sometimes without researching the facts
- Get things done quickly
- Be authoritative
- Take charge in a situation
When the High D-Style encounters Stress, they tend to:
- Get impatient, since the D-Style’s goal is for things to get done NOW
- Become aggressive
- Speak more bluntly, even harshly
- Become more demanding in their expectations
- May panic and become less rational
- Choose ACTION at any cost without considering the consequences
As the High D-Style moves into this array of reactions, it is important to know ways to alleviate their stress:
- Get more control, if it is possible to do this respectfully and appropriately
- Act independently, if the situation allows it
- Focus on goals and often the long-range perspective, as well as the value of relationships
- Step back and breathe; take a break from the situation if possible
- Engage in some physical activity
To put all the information on Stress and DISC Styles together, I’ve written a short e-book, “How to DISC Stress Goodbye for Good: Four Steps to Recognize and Alleviate Stress and Renew Yourself”. Just click here for more information.
QUESTION: Do these Stress Response Descriptors sound like how you respond? Or how someone near and/or dear to you tends to respond? I’d love to hear your thoughts and observations. Please feel free to share in the comment section below.
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