488 - Do you communicate affectively with everyone?

Last week, @Larry Reines wrote a compelling post about the DISC personality assessment of which Larry is a Certified Behavioral Consultant.

He included the perfect quote, for what happens to many of us in business.

“What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate.” ~ Cool Hand Luke

That happens too often but the good news is, there is a remedy!

The DISC profile is an accurate and valuable resource to learn about different personality styles and how to communicate with them.

Not only do you learn about your personality type. You learn how others perceive you and how best to communicate with them.

That is great information to have because it's often what causes a breakdown in communication.

Consider it another tool in your business resource kit.

We can't talk to everyone we meet for business the same way we talk to our friends and family who know us.

You've probably heard the quote: "I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant". ~ Robert McCloskey, U.S. State Department spokesman (later attributed to Alan Greenspan)

How we think we come across and how others actually perceive us are two different things.

I once got a free DISC profile but that's all it was. I received a printed report but no one who could explain it to me. It was kind of like trying to read an EKG if you're not a trained doctor.

By learning from the DISC, you learn how to communicate better with people who have a different style than you.

The DISC profile isn't free but it is worth it to have a qualified consultant walk you through it, as Larry Reines did with me.

You can increase your awareness by learning new things about yourself, the people you work with and people you will meet.

Have you ever done the DISC personality assessment ?