Believe it or not, your personality not only dictates your behavior, but also the way you teach, the classroom environment you create, and even the results and motivation of your students. The more you understand who you are and the more you learn about behaviors in general, you will become a more “behaviorally intelligent” educator by applying DISC theory in your classroom environment and beyond. Have you ever had a student you just couldn’t seem connect with, no matter what you’ve tried? It may actually be a clash with your personality types, and you simply need to adjust your approach.
Based on how the student reacts to your approach, you could find your own personality beginning to change and adjust to meet theirs with understanding. Easily discover which type of teaching style best relates to your personality type, and how can you apply it to the classroom by first taking your DISC Assessment. Then, read on to learn which of the four DISC personality types or combination of styles resonates with the style of teacher or educator you might be:[…] Read more
The American Psychological Association labels psychological
resilience as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity,
trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress — such as
family and relationship problems, serious health problems or workplace
and financial stressors.”[…]
Read more
Is your team better at dealing with stressful situations as they are taking place? Or, they are better at “getting over it” once they’ve had time to “cool down?” Psychological resilience is one of the key strengths we should all learn during our lifetime. Let’s take a closer look at how stress affects a team’s resilience and ability to overcome obstacles.
A candidate’s resilience strengths should be taken into consideration during any hiring process, especially when positioning new hires into immediate areas of concern and/or high-stressor environments. Team resilience development can also be applied when optimizing the existing workforce, replicating top performers and developing new leaders from within.[…] Read more
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES ARE PUBLISHED TO THE DISC INSIGHTS BLOG, OWNED BY PEOPLEKEYS.
Jessica is passionate about “people” and helping them to evolve professionally. Her “I-style” personality trait has led her to 15+ years of service to public relations, social branding, and design strategy. In love with technology, business, and career development, Jessica has contributed to a number of online platforms and is a part of PeopleKeys branding team, as well.
Most people enter a relationship thinking “this just might be
the one.” In the very beginning, both people seem to be in-sync, but
over time the combination of differing personalities and communication
issues cause most couples to become out of sync. It’s this moment in
which couples may turn to a counseling service, and understanding their
different personalities is the first step in helping the love birds get
back on track.[…]
Read more
Hiring has always been a two-way process, even though many HR
professionals, coaches, and business owners can be making the mistake of
accepting it as a one-sided road. There is a switch in the hiring
market, and most companies don’t really want to talk about it –
especially when hiring for high-level positions.[…]
Read more
Every hiring manager knows it can be a daunting task to sift
through resumes all day. Many recruiters use a benchmarking process to
narrow down the talent pool and know in advance not only what kind of
background and information they’re looking for, but also the type of
personality best suited for the job at hand.[…]
Read more
Easter is a celebration of rebirth, and is a good time to also
renew relationships by showing people around you your understanding of
their personalities. DISC theory, a universal language of communication,
teaches us everyone has their specific preferences, approaches and
little quirks. This also applies to the types of gifts they enjoy to
receive the most! At Easter, it is a tradition to give a basket to
colleagues, family members and kids as a sign of appreciation. Here are
few ideas you can use for Easter baskets, based on the personality style
of the recipient:[…]
Read more
When it comes to dealing with stress, change and volatile
situations, understanding DISC personality styles and communicating
change in the proper way is always necessary. When you coach against
life changes, a behavioral approach not only builds trust amongst all
involved, but it allows each personality to contribute without the fear
of conflict or confrontation. As we previously discussed in our blog
about coaching life changes for the active personality styles, according
to DISC theory personality styles can be separated into Active and
Passive styles. The active “D” and “I” styles tend to react quickly to
challenges and being stagnant drives them crazy. At the same time – the
passive styles – “C” and “S” are more reserved and slower to accept
change. Your main task as a life coach will be to help them understand
that sometimes taking too much time to process an idea can become
detrimental to progress and counterproductive to the situation. See more
life coaching tips below.[…]
Read more
It’s not always easy to adapt to change, especially if it’s all
happening at once. Sometimes change can be overwhelming. There’s no
guidebook as to how our lives are going to change every step of the way,
and there’s no deadline to prepare for. This is a moment many people
turn to a life coach or a behavioral consultant to guide them through
and support transition. There are a lot of guidelines coaches implement
to help handle transitions and support their clients from point A to
point B. Let’s see how a coaching professional can best utilize the
personality approach to guide change.[…]
Read more
When a client of ours, let’s call him Joseph, took over a
company project, he knew it wouldn’t be easy to turn things around. The
design team had fallen behind over the course of a year and a half. They
were just six months away from the final delivery date originally
committed and had blown through more than half-a-million dollars
originally allocated to the entire project. Yet, there was still nothing
ready to deliver to their client. There was a huge liability sitting on
the table…one that would ruin the company entirely.[…]
Read more
No matter the realm of your operations, you are going to
eventually be working within a team. With a larger group, more
personalities will come to the table – and with a greater number of
personalities, we see an increase of ego, thirst for power,
miscommunication and lack of vision.[…]
Read more
Behavioral selling is presenting your product or service in a
way your customer can relate. Show them benefits, such as how your
product will help them meet their goals or how your service will more
than exceed their expectation. Some clients will want it now – give them
examples and samples.[…]
Read more
Let’s be honest – unless you sell something that is scarce or in high demand, such as power or bottled water in the desert, people may not really care if they’re going to buy from you or someone else. That’s why your approach means everything and understanding your clients will provide the best path to success. People have problems to solve, not products to buy. That’s why a good salesperson will use the proper approach and provide information in the right way to open doors. Let’s look at some common approaches of highly successful sales people to boost your sales.[…] Read more
Have you ever noticed the difference in day-time advertising,
as opposed to the advertising you see at night? Some commercials last
longer at 1:00 PM than they do at 5:00 PM… and there are many variations
depending on the channel. Well, there is actually a reason for that and
it’s not as far-fetched as one might believe. This is part of
behavioral selling, where the way you deliver your message can make the
difference between attracting a new client or losing them before you
even opened your mouth. This same model can be successfully applied to
boost your own bottom line.[…]
Read more
Employers are saving both time and money by implementing tools
for predictive hiring into their regular hiring practices, and to get
past the obstacles met within the initial screening of candidates,
hiring managers have begun applying a number of pre-hire assessments
into final decision-making. These assessments serve as indicators of
what a person may or may not bring to the table, how they will interact
with an existing workforce and how they will perform in particular
environments.[…]
Read more
Every educator deals with a wide range of personalities and
behaviors on a daily basis. There are always some overachievers, as well
as those students who need just a little bit of a push in the right
direction. They require undivided attention, but sometimes are
overlooked. If they are meeting the milestones provided by academic
boards, the educators’ efforts are considered a success. Some students
aren’t given the right support, as an individual, to compete against
their peers academically. Truth is it’s not that they can’t comprehend
what’s being taught to them, as much as it is how they are being taught.
Many of these kids are recklessly thrown into programs and classrooms,
and aren’t encouraged to go that extra mile towards success. See below
for a few suggestions on how to improve this situation.[…]
Read more
We live in a versatile economy. It’s not unusual for companies
to hire on a project-by-project basis or let their employees work
remotely. Thus, they are minimizing overtime pay and overhead, and in
some cases eliminating costs associated with office space or tax laws.
In return, their employees are enjoying a little flexibility, taking on
more than one project at once, and often earning more than they would as
a full-time employee with the company. Remote or temp employees and
project-based managers are in more demand than ever. While many
companies actually have a full-time project management office staffed
with in-house professionals, it’s becoming the norm to hire project
managers that may not ever reach a physical office or those who control
remote teams, globally dispersed around the world.[…]
Read more
One way coaches have been finding new clients – and immediate
success – is through already established channels that allow them to
earn while building their brand from the ground up. Once you get
certified in DISC Behavioral Analysis, you have the unique chance to
start developing multiple streams of income with the application and
expert knowledge of the PeopleKeys DISC system. Gain the insight you
need to begin capitalizing on your knowledge and experience with the
PeopleKeys Business Partner Training and try some of the strategies
below.[…]
Read more
There are many approaches a coach can apply to expand their
coaching network. In addition to gaining online visibility and creating
content for different digital channels, there’s no better promotion than
that earned through word-of-mouth and referrals. As a Certified
Behavioral Consultant, you may and must network within the community and
establish yourself amongst people who may already be familiar with your
previous career, reputation or history. Depending on your personality
style and your internal passions, this type of awareness is up for
interpretation.[…]
Read more
If you build your brand, people will come for you to coach
them. While we’re referencing the movie “Field of Dreams,” as a
Certified Behavioral Coach you will need a strategy to help you gain
momentum, credibility, and increased revenue in a field of your own and
develop your coaching business to the level you want it to be. As we
provide you with a brief insight on brand awareness, social branding,
and public relations tactics, please envision yourself as a brand and
compare these topics to what you are currently doing. Apply these
strategies to your own business and watch your portfolio grow.[…]
Read more
Many coaches get accredited in DISC Behavioral Analysis as a
first step or as a part of their coaching training. Once they complete
their training as a Certified Behavioral Consultant or as a Certified
Behavioral Life Coach, one of the most often asked questions is how do I
reach my potential clients. We, at PeopleKeys, are here to help while
you’re expanding your coaching network. One of the first places you
should start developing your brand is on social media, and here are a
few points for you to consider.[…]
Read more
Many coaches who feel confident providing business expertise in
sales, strategic planning, and growth but are reluctant to venture into
hiring, despite the impact hiring can make in each of these areas.
Could DISC for Hiring be the missing piece of your puzzle for success?
Effective hiring strategies can have an immediate and long-lasting
impact on growth and productivity. Many DISC Certified Behavioral
Consultants are tasked to manage the hiring process of their clients, or
at least provide advice for the best fit (especially for top management
positions). As you are probably quite aware by now, and from your
training with PeopleKeys, DISC system is one of the most effective ways
to gage human behavior and develop improved communications amongst
teams. It’s effective for operations and sales, and it’s definitely
effective in predictive hiring processes.[…]
Read more
Networking can be an uncomfortable feat for many coaches
entering their first few years in business. They’re intimidated by
titles and worried decision-makers are unapproachable. In fact, making
more connections means growing your coaching network and increasing your
potential client outreach. Following up with your network not only
warrants eventual contracts in the future, but it also keeps interested
parties “in the loop.” As your coaching network begins to grow, your
efforts will not go unnoticed. You can build your network by
participating within local chapters and organizations, frequenting
mixers and events, and even socially through sites such as Alignable and
LinkedIn. While we have heard the cliché, “it’s not about what you
know, it’s about who you know,” there is truth to the matter. Here are a
few points to consider:[…]
Read more
Let’s be honest – unless you sell something that is scarce or in high demand, such as power or bottled water in the desert, people may not really care if they’re going to buy from you or someone else. That’s why your approach means everything and understanding your clients will provide the best path to success. People have problems to solve, not products to buy. That’s why a good salesperson will use the proper approach and provide information in the right way to open doors. Let’s look at some common approaches of highly successful sales peopleto boost your sales.[…] Read more
Research by the Harvard Business Review shows that acquiring
top talent could ultimately be the difference between success and
mediocre result. In fact, vetting and positioning incoming talents,
based on strengths and abilities, isn’t always enough. With every
“ying,” there’s a “yang.” Therefore, both are necessary in finding the
right talent for your organization.[…]
Read more
A new year means new opportunities, a fresh start, and new
beginnings. For many organizations, this also means new relationships,
as companies seek to partner with like-minded associates in the
expansion of ongoing business initiatives. Finding the support of new
products, services, and community-based programming can often be a
daunting task. So, forging strategic partnerships can be a godsend, when
teaming up with just the right brand.[…]
Read more
According to Sandy Kulkin, CEO and Founder of PeopleKeys,
“People are different, but they’re predictably different.” They’re
different in the ways they carry themselves, the ways they are
motivated, how they interact with others, how they deal with stress, and
even how they seal the deal. But on the other end of the spectrum, the
various personality types have been prewired in our systems from the
time we were born through our years of “adulting.” The experiences we
encountered in childhood tend to dictate how we deal with stress, and
our trust in others will come from the adversity we have faced over our
lifetime.[…]
Read more
You’ve implemented various strategies, utilizing DISC methods
for sales, leadership, and predictive hiring – but, now what? How do we
gage our performance and determine the results of our efforts? How do we
use these results to improve our business over time?[…]
Read more
You may be surprised but the truth is that anyone can be
successful at sales and you can certainly predict a sales team’s
effectiveness. It may not happen naturally or overnight… It takes is a
little bit of awareness, training, and willingness to adapt to other
personas. While some personalities are natural-born influencers, even
the most driven sales professional will run into clients who are
difficult to read and a little rough around the edges.[…]
Read more
The hiring manager is often undervalued, because the
recruitment process is so complex. Not many realize what it takes to
find qualified talent or how to develop a meaningful hiring process that
proves itself over time. Likewise, Human Resources can also go
unappreciated for their role in employee retention and/or turnover
ratios. Yet, together, these two forces make all the difference in the
world.[…]
Read more
Dr. William Marston developed his DISC theory while at Harvard
University as a method of identifying major human personality traits and
translating them into predictable behaviors. It is true that people can
be predictable, but they are also predictably different. Being able to
read through their personality differences is a key to good
communication and building successful relationships, partnerships,
families… Have you determined your DISC personality, yet? If not, the
DISC Personality Profile will take you about 10 minutes to complete and
get a full report of your combined personality style.[…]
Read more
Active listening is an interpersonal skill that every top
professional needs. No matter if you are a business professional, sales
person, executive coach or business consultant, active listening is an
essential part of utilizing your knowledge of human behavior. It allows
us to take both verbal and non-verbal cues from clients and begin to
understand their every need.[…]
Read more
Continuing our series on global expansion by utilizing DISC, we
already reviewed the importance of DISC for strategic planning and
applying behavioral analysis for hiring and teambuilding in part 1, and
focused on some strengths of the different personality styles for
business development in part 2. In addition, we must understand that
some countries are more family-oriented than others. These cultures may
be friendlier, ambitious and centered on people. Other cultures can be
more impersonal – especially in business. They want to know numbers,
there is very little eye contact and they can be somewhat aggressive.
Short and to-the-point, we need someone to present them with the facts,
while onboarding them for ongoing business initiatives. In addition, see
also How do DISC styles vary by country.[…]
Read more
Once we begin to expand into new territories, we need to really
do our due diligence to understand the local communities, traditions,
business practices, and hierarchy. We need to position our leaders,
based on the needs of businesses in outside cultures. Keeping our teams
integrated by hiring locals will eliminate much of our burdens in the
marketplace. Keeping our teams happy will build trust in nearby
territories. Together, we can position our brand for greatness and
eliminate cultural discrepancies in the process. In Part 1, we discussed
why DISC theory is important to globalization and gave few tips and
tricks for teambuilding & interaction with “the locals,” and here we
will continue to dig further in utilizing DISC in your global
expansion.[…]
Read more
Tariffs aside, globalization is here to stay. With the
evolution of technology, our world gets smaller and smaller. Likewise,
even the smallest business is now able to reach territories further and
further away. This means connecting with people and authorities of all
cultures, some that you may not yet be familiar with. But how do you get
along with people that can be so different? Here’s a simple answer –
DISC has always been a tool to understand people and predict their
behaviors. We can fairly state that DISC is the international language
of human behavior and no matter of cultural differences, DISC
personalities speak the same language.[…]
Read more
As many organizations are finalizing year-end strategies and
developing next year’s business plans, others have already taken a
running leap into 2019 with iron-clad initiatives for growth and
expansion. No matter which phase of strategic planning you are in,
please don’t forget that “people” are our most significant investment
and that our businesses are defined most effectively by our workforce.
According to Human Resources Today, the macrotrends for workforce
optimization in 2019 are dominated by record-low rates of global
unemployment. Simply said, this means that workforce optimization, in a
tight labor market, must be a top priority for any business entering the
new year.[…]
Read more
DISCLAIMER: Every once in a while, we cover “Elements of Internet Marketing” and why they are important for everyone to be aware or reminded of. Some of these topics are not new, but they are very important to consumers and service providers to repeatedly encounter and understand. Today’s “Element” is related to the topic of “BrandYou”. Enjoy!
BrandYOU! Yes, this is a very important topic. I am glad to be writing about it “on demand.” I have covered this topic many, many times within my articles. But, this topic is the most important one that we can ever cover. The reason behind that is that whether you represent a brand or ARE the brand, BRANDYOU can play a major part in your success… “strike that, erase it (Willy Wonka reference).” It will definitely play a major part in your success.
BrandYOU isn’t just about Branding. It isn’t even anything to do with Internet Marketing, but it can be. And, that is the problem. But, it is also the greatest thing that could ever happen! That is why it is so important to understand BrandYOU inside and out.
Have you ever heard that you need to eat, sleep and dream your business in order to see it take form? Have you ever considered the fact that YOU are a business? After all, don’t you file taxes? Do you file as an individual, independent contractor, sole proprietor or board member?
If you said yes, then technically you just proved that you ARE a business, whether you use your own entity, fictitious name or work for someone else’s brand. The truth is, all of these are brands, And the truth is, you are getting paid to represent that brand.
As a matter of fact, you are responsible to pay taxes because that brand is alive! Isn’t that interesting? So, wouldn’t it be in your best interest to keep THOSE interests at the ultimate peak high point at all times? After all, YOU are investing so much time into the brand and then paying taxes on that time that can never be replaced.
In considering this scenario, one should remember a few things about businesses:
First impressions are everything.
Quality customer service needs to be maintained.
Reviews and Testimonials can sway the opinions of those who seek to know about a POTENTIAL service provider.
Competitors exist and work against competitor brands.
What will you do to protect your
brand? What will you do to keep the reputation of the brand satisfactory
to clients and community?
The obvious first step in BrandYou is always to be on your best behavior. This doesn’t mean that you can’t show your opinion. But, it means to act upon how you would like to be perceived. If your brand represents THIS, then you can display THIS in your actions.
I had a conversation with another business owner recently. The conversation was based around her recent activity on Facebook. She tried to apologize for the “recent racy content.”
What she didn’t realize, however, that showing a public interest in a subject based upon her role in the community of her target audience will actually allow her brand to be received as a trustworthy persona and build a lasting brand loyalty that will lead to a long enduring tenure of that brand.
It basically all boils down to this: CATER TO YOUR AUDIENCES. If you want to be perceived as an individual for hire, then portray the ideal characteristics of the ultimate employee.
If you are a business, tend to your community of followers and those that you want to target in “giving them what they want” and do not give them a reason to think otherwise. This means to be consistent, persistent and show interest in that particular characteristic.
Like in previous blogs, I would like you to think of a respectable business person, public figure or entertainer. They all have something about them that stands out, correct? This is something that is overemphasized in creating a character perception of them.
Now, look at those characteristics that aren’t “front row and center” in their persona. These characteristics do not conflict with the public perception of that brand. Contradictory elements will keep that brand from being accepted, in turn, they will more than likely remain unsuccessful.
Think of an artist that may be perceived as a “thug” or “boss.” To find out that they were once on the opposite side of the law and never really this “thug” or “boss,” we change our persona of that artist.
True fans will stay loyal. Those are those who really have learned to love the brand’s product and really could care less. But, others have lost respect for that artist. This leads to lower ROIs and less money in our bank accounts.
Keeping realism with your brand or YOU as an individual (BrandYou) and implementing the archetype you have selected for it, you will keep anyone from doubting your mission, vision or even track record. Which means, more often what you say will be taken at face value, respected and believed. If you go slightly off track, we know something is wrong. If you go “left” in your action, we start speculating, assuming and looking for a discrepancy in ALL actions and statements made by your brand.
It all really boils down to the ethics of your brand, professionalism and catering to your audiences. As long as you can be perceived as professional, you are entitled to your opinion.
If you feel you will offend someone, start by giving a disclosure and allowing them to understand your point or opinion… As yourself, how you have gotten to this ideal or interest?
If it is a fellow business person, they more than likely will understand already. As a matter of fact, they may reach out to you in liaising to these markets in cross promotions or future campaigns. They may just send you business or point you in the direction of that business, especially since you may not be competition due to the catering of different audience types.
Stay true to yourself, your brand, and consistency. You will be fine!
Have you ever “Googled” yourself only to find websites that have nothing to do with you? Mugshots of criminals? Reviews about businesses not even in the same state as you?
Would you like to dominate the first few pages of Google with your search results? Aside from in-depth SEO-work by a professional, there is a basic tool available to novice users everywhere.
A few months ago, I discovered a site called BrandYourself.com.
Apparently, I was a little over a year behind this knowledge, because
this site has been around since the earlier parts of 2012 from what I am
understanding.
The site was created in efforts to keep “same” people together in search results, separating successful business people from arrest records of convicts that include mugshots, both of which share the same name and possibly same city of residence.
BrandYourself.com has the common goal of
helping you rise within the search rankings using your name as personal
leverage. It keeps your websites, portfolios, social network profiles
and more attached to this central hub.
This hub acts as a link wheel and builds
the connection between a user on Facebook to the handle on Twitter that
everyone is following, while linking to professional and personal web
spaces and biographies.
As an active user since my discovery of this site, I have been a little impressed. I use a basic accountm because this is one of my areas of expertise and a paid account would be a waste of money to me. However, it would be a good investment for someone who does not have this knowledge.
While the site, itself, does not rank high in search engines (even with a PageRank score of 6), it does indeed boost the PageRank of your sites through authoritative linking and through acting as a central hub. It also keeps you up to date on tips and tricks of basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies if you subscribe to their newsletter.
BrandYourself.com is very good at
communicating with users almost immediately. One of my URLs were not
listed on the BrandYourself profile I created with them. When it
appeared in the top results, I was emailed by BrandYourself to
tattle-tale on the “Unidentified Link.” It gave me tips on how to battle
the site and regain territory. It also told me how many people viewed
my page by telling on them as soon as they visited the page!
While I do not have a premium account, I am impressed overall. To be honest, there are more efficient and effective ways of doing this. But, as I have stated earlier: For someone to have no experience in the field of SEO or Internet Marketing, this is an awesome tool for them to use and to find ownership in the most valuable keyword they will ever own — their name!
