The awareness of people’s predictive differences

Over the years, I have had an opportunity to take some of these assessments and I encourage if you have not and are able to, give it a try. The point is to learn more about yourself and how to predict others around you. 

This does not mean we get to put people in a box. In part, these assessments shed some light and bring awareness to predictive patterns to help us relate and communicate better with other people.

We are relational beings, and we yarn to effectively communicate with each other. To do this starts with knowing yourself. As a student of leadership and personal growth I have learned over time that “leadership is influence”. 

In the book The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth by John Maxwell, one of the laws is the law of awareness which states that, “You must know yourself to grow yourself.”

A few years ago, when I took the Maxwell DISC assessment, the results came back with my DISC style being an “IS – Advisor”. The advisor role may fit me, but I am no expert.

Reading through the report, most of the descriptions of the report is pretty much spot on describing my behaviour and communication styles. It highlights my communication dos and don’ts, areas of strength, personal growth areas, and much more.

There is a section that is unique to this assessment called the Power DISC which highlights areas of leadership and how each person leads. I refer to this section of my report often because it is very helpful to me in learning more about who I am. It highlights my areas of strength and brings to my awareness how I should operate when in a stressful environment. Now this is not about me, the point here is, we can learn more about the people around us and leverage helping each other to operate from areas of strength. So, why is it important for us to learn and operate in our areas of strength?

Most of us (generalising), grew up thinking we need to work on our weaknesses in order to get better. However, today it is clear that it is better when we operate mostly in our strength zones. If we can operate 80 percent of the time in areas of our strength, we will find ourselves to be more fulfilled. 

This does not mean we ignore our areas of weakness; we can choose to partner with others who are strong in our areas of growth. If we know who we are, and what our strengths are and choose to operate in those areas, especially during the stressful times, we will feel more fulfilled, be more in harmony, and happy with our life. 

As mentioned, people are different, but we are predictably different. It starts with knowing yourself and how you operate in any given situation. The more we learn about ourselves and others, the easier it is to predict each other. Our behaviour patterns will always show up and when we can recognise them for ourselves and others, it will help us build our relationships with others. 

It will also foster better communication. This is very critical in our family settings and how we operate in positions of leadership and also important for maintaining harmony in society. The more we can learn to better understand each other, the more doors and opportunities will arise. It all starts with self-awareness on how you and I operate at the human level. Know yourself in order to grow yourself. 

I believe in you. In virtue and wisdom lead the world.

Jerome Emanzi is a transformational leader Coach with the Maxwell Certified Leadership Team. [email protected]