Your Strengths – Have They Gone Wild?

Strengths and weaknesses – every personality has them!

It’s not uncommon for people to believe that there are some good personalities and there are some not so good ones. That’s simply not true! It’s really about whether or not you are living out of your strengths or your weaknesses.

Maybe you have no idea what “your” personality is or what the strengths or weaknesses of your unique personality might be! If that’s the case, I encourage you to take a DISC assessment and debrief it with a DISC consultant. Reviewing your assessment with a qualified professional ensures you to get the maximum benefit from the assessment.

While no one fits neatly into the four DISC quadrants, it does offer a framework that enables you to understand you and those around you easier. Most people tend to be dominant in on one of the four quadrants with another quadrant being secondary, but your DISC profile may not look that way.

You are 100% unique. There is no one else like you!

Your Personality’s Strengths

Whether you are a “D”, “I”, “S”, or “C” or a combination your personality has strengths! It’s easy to gloss over your strengths because they are just naturally you, that you don’t even realize that they are strengths!

Your Personality’s Weaknesses

Did you know that the weaknesses associated with each of the four personality types are actually strengths gone wild, lived out to the extreme? It’s true!

Another way of looking at weaknesses is that when you walking in the Spirit, you operating out of the positive side of your strengths, and when you are walking in the flesh, you operating out of your weaknesses.

Don’t forget, your Fear Monster also plays a role in shifting your strengths to weaknesses.

“Too much of a good thing is a bad thing” or so that saying goes. There are plenty of examples:

• Food – you need it for health and energy, but too much adds unwanted weight and becomes a health risk.
• Sun – it’s actually your friend and there are tons of health benefits. Too much sun is risky!
• Water – rain is a necessity, but when it floods it’s destructive
• Exercise – incredibly beneficial to your health and well-being in so many wonderful ways, but too much takes its toll on you and becomes negative!

The same holds true for the strengths associated with your personality. Let’s take a closer look at just a few of the many strengths of each of the four DISC personality types or behavioral styles, as well as the weaknesses they have the potential to turn into when those strengths go wild:

Since strengths serve you so much better than your weaknesses, you may be wondering what causes you to shift. Here are three reasons you may be operating out of your weaknesses rather than your strengths:

1. Habit

Merrium-Webster defines a habit as “a settled tendency, usual manner of behavior, or a pattern acquired by frequent repetition.” In other words, we keep doing what we’ve been doing, even if it isn’t doing us any favors.

For example, it is common for D’s to be controlling, for I’s to over-promise, for S’s to be resistant to change, or C’s to perpetually research and analyze in hopes of arriving at the perfect solution. These are all great examples of strengths gone wild. In small doses these behaviors are useful, but when they’ve gone wild and are your go-to way of operating, they shift and are no longer advantageous.

2. Fear

Fear is a powerful driving force. Beware, it might even be the motivator behind each of the examples I shared in the previous habit section. Consider this: How might the fear of…

• • • Being out of control be driving an over-controlling “D”?
    • Not being liked be driving an “I” to people please and over-promise?
    • The unknown be causing an “S” to resist change?
    • Being wrong or making a mistake be behind a C’s quest for the “right” solution?

Another factor worth considering is the role your Fear Monster has in shifting your strengths to weaknesses. The feeling of not mattering, being rejected, or not being enough, among others, may be shifting your strengths into overdrive!

When you are walking in who God created you to be and reflecting Him in the way He designed you to, your strengths are more likely to shine!

3. Stress

Let’s face it, when you are stressed, you have less capacity to “manage you” so the real you is on display! In DISC terminology, that would be the “graph #2 you” – the unguarded you.

If you aren’t that familiar with DISC, one of the aspects of the assessment that’s unique to DISC is that your profile is broken down into two graphs. I affectionately call these two graphs “Thing #1” and “Thing #2.” Graph #1 reveals how you show up when you are on your best behavior – your public face all made up and looking good. The way you want others to see you. Graph #2 reveals how you show up when you are unguarded, not made up, and just being you. The more stressed you are, the more likely you are to behave you in your Thing #2/Graph #2 way.

Depending on your habits and how fear is at work in your life, adding stress into the mix increases the probabilities of your strengths going wild and turning into weaknesses. I hope that motivates you to…

• Increase your self-awareness and pay attention to your habits.
• Face your fears.
• Limit your stress!

D’s aren’t the only ones who like to be in charge. We all do! We just do it in different ways!

When D’s & I’s take charge, they actively take control – it’s no mystery! When their natural bent for leadership goes wild, they tend to be overly aggressive and damage trust. (Aggressive)

When S’s & C’s take charge, they tend to be more subtle. They often run into trouble when their stubbornness or procrastination kick in. (Passive)

What about you – have your personality’s strengths gone wild?

Contact me for more on DISC and/or taking a DISC assessment!