How to Guestimate Someone’s DiSC Style

Guestimate One’s Style By Asking Two Easy Questions

Short of formally assessing individuals, which I’m always happy to help with (of course), the best way to guestimate someone’s DiSC style is to do the following.

First, consider a specific person in your mind. Take a moment to really think about them, their demeanor, behavior, essence, etc. Get a totality of the person in your mind. Once you’ve got that, you can guesstimate what their style might be by doing the following.

1. Ask yourself if this person tends to be fast-paced and outspoken (they think fast, walk fast, talk fast, make decisions fast, etc.) OR more cautious and reflective (they are laid-back, pensive, slower to make final decisions, speak at a moderate or slow pace, etc.)? Choose that which generally describes this person. Go with your first gut-instinct. Don’t overthink it.
2. Next, think about whether this person tends to be questioning and skeptical (they have a hard time believing anything without an abundance of supporting facts or data) OR are they accepting and warm (they are quick to trust and express affection).  Again, choose that which generally describes this person. Go with your first gut-instinct. Don’t overthink it.

Plot Them On The Circle

Next, see where your two answers intersect, and plot that in the appropriate quadrant on the circle.

Guestimating One’s Style

Finally, put it all together to guess one’s style:

Fast-paced/outspoken AND questioning/skeptical = the person likely leads with some variation of a D style.

Fast-paced/outspoken AND warm/accepting = the person likely leads with some variation of an i style.

Cautious/reflective AND warm/accepting = the person likely leads with some variation of an S style.

Cautious/reflective AND questioning/skeptical = the person likely leads with some variation of a C style.

If you are unfamiliar with Everything DiSC, you can go here to watch a short video introduction.

CAVEAT: this method I outline above provides just a quick guestimate of one’s primary DiSC style and is in no way intended to substitute for the formal assessment of an individual. Also note that, in actuality, we all have all four styles within us…we just typically “lead with” one or two of them.

Of course, if you ever want a formal assessment, simply reach out to me at chariti@charitigent.com. I regularly provide DISC assessments for individuals. Happy to help you, too!