Following a Pattern

As we work to verbalize a purpose each of our team members find fulfillment in and connect with, something they can rally around as a genuine purpose in their life, it won’t be as simple as throwing the proverbial mud against the wall and hoping something sticks. This will require us to be very specific in how we communicate our message for each and every individual. Just like you and I aren’t likely motivated by the exact same things, our team members won’t be either - and the way each of them receives our message can vary just as much.

Nearly everyone I’ve ever met has been familiar with some form of The Golden Rule, “do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.” As powerful as this could be if leaders across society would actually take it to heart, we’ll need to build on that idea just a bit if we’re going to help our teams connect with and know how to measure purpose in what they do. Not only do each of us have our own unique lens for receiving communication, the things that motivate us are just as different. But recognizing a simple pattern for understanding this can serve as a foundation for removing the guesswork.

In the early 1900s, William Marston did a tremendous amount of research to identify patterns for what people acted in certain ways. After thousands of hours studying people in heavily populated areas, the work that served as the basis for his book detailing The Emotions of Normal People, he was able to nail down some very basic ways for recognizing those patterns in nearly anyone. He also realized that what he saw had no ties to gender, race, age, or nationality. And while each individual had their own unique “wiring” within those patterns, his work provided a strong starting point for understanding how we each approach the things we do. In addition to the book, that same work led to what we know today as the DISC Model of Human Behavior, the Wonder Woman comic book character, and the polygraph.

Cindy and I weave tools based on the DISC Model of Human Behavior into nearly everything do with organizations across the United States to help leaders at all levels build stronger relationships and communicate more effectively with their teams. In most cases, we have each leader we work with complete a basic (but extremely accurate) communication style assessment prior to our time with them. The scientifically validated results give us a detailed understanding of how they’re individually wired to communicate and behavior when things are going well as well as when stuff hits the fan. We’re also able to show them how they can use several other tools in comparing their own results with their entire team or any other individual who has completed an assessment. The reality though is that each of them, and each of us, will need to be effective in dealing with people every single day who have not done one of those assessments so we work even harder to provide everyone in each group we train with a simple approach for applying Marston’s work in any scenario they find themselves in.

I realize that many people have completed some form of DISC assessment. Heck, Cindy and I have provided assessments and the training I just referenced for no less than a thousand leaders through several dozen organizations over the last few years. My intent here though is to give you perspective of just how much that same information can impact the way we help our team members latch onto a definite purpose in their own lives as well as the major purpose our organization is working to achieve. Whether you’ve worked through this type of material with us directly or not, there are two things you’ll need to consider to be able to provide a message of purpose that really connects with each individual you lead - and we’ll look at the first of those next!