compliant 'C' as a leader and coach

Author:​ Claire Cahill

These are the leaders and coaches that leave no stone unturned, they will make sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed. They have fantastic attention to detail and the more detail they have, the more they thrive. If you give them an action plan they will make sure you have every eventuality covered. These qualities are great if you are expecting a visit from an auditor, however imagine being in a meeting where you want to move forward with an action plan and the compliant C keeps highlighting the risk, being cautious and sitting on the fence afraid to make a decision in case it is wrong.

General Characteristics of a compliant C

• Reserved - thinking things through internally
• Task Orientated
• Cautious
• Compliant
• Calculating
• Careful
• Enforce the rules
• Evidence based decision making
• Analytical

Their greatest fear is criticism due to their perfectionism and will avoid conflict like the plague. Your intention may not be to criticise or pick fault, however being a reserved individual who processes every detail they will take any form of feedback as potential criticism due to the high standards that they set themselves. 

They say that opposites attract and can work exceptionally well together. I know that a lot of my clients are compliant C and we have a fabulous relationship because their strengths are my development needs and vice versa so we end up being each others missing ingredient. I can think of numerous jobs as a leader and a coach that I would gratefully delegate to a compliant C and they would thrive and flourish seeing through to completion. On the flip side I know that I would only be able to tolerate their need for more detail for so long before I would get frustrated. 

Part of building effective relationships and having powerful conversations is recognising your own personality traits, accepting them (warts and all), deciding how you best like to receive information and be able to articulate that as well as respectfully realising that you may need to adapt your communication style to get the best out of others and the relationship. 

Questions to ask yourself when working with a compliant C

• How do they make you feel?
• How would you have to adapt your communication style to get the best out of them?
• How will they help or hinder your relationship and team?
• How will they be an asset and add value to your team?
• What would be the best environment for these people to work in?

My top tip for engaging with a compliant C is GIVE ME DETAIL, the more the better and consider your INTENT & IMPACT.

For further information about DISC and the personality traits I can recommend you read "Do it or Ditch it" by Bev James and "Empowering Employee Engagement - How to ignite your team" by Claire Cahill. Both available on Amazon