Dominant 'D' As the Leader & coach

Author: Claire Cahill

Website: ​accendocoaching.co.uk

You can normally spot these people as soon as you walk into a room or feel their presence before you see or hear them. They will ooze confidence which may border on arrogance. They will not shy away from expressing how they feel and typically have a large ego that needs to be stroked. They will want to be in charge, even if they don’t know what they want to be in charge of, so it wouldn’t be unusual to see them in a leadership role.

These individuals would display the following characteristics

• Outgoing
• Task orientated
• Determined to succeed
• Dominant
• Action takers
• Problem solvers
• Respond to challenges aggressively
• Forceable characters
• Direct communication style

 
Imagine you are stood waiting for a lift and the person in front of you consistently pushes the button believing that the more they push the button, the quicker the lift will arrive! There in front of your eyes is a dominant D person. 
 
Failure is their biggest fear so it wouldn’t be an option for them to fail & you may hear them say “this is what I’ve learnt” or “let’s move on and try something else”. They will never stop trying to achieve their hopes, dreams, aspirations or goals and would always want to be the best, encouraging others to do the same. They would want to lead high performing teams and failure for the team would also not be an option for consideration. 
 
When under pressure the dominant D leader and coach may not be sensitive to others feelings and are motivated by results, power and authority.
 
Questions you may ask yourself when interacting with a dominant D leader and coach are: -

• How do these people make you feel?
• How might these people be a great member and asset to your team?
• What value will they add to your team?
• How might you have to adapt your communication style to get the best out of these people?

 
In every team, you need a mix of people so please do not shy away from employing a dominant D or interacting with a dominant D. As I have found out from my client’s, opposites attract and they may be the missing ingredient that you need to build a winning team.
 
My top tip for engaging with a dominant D leader and coach – BE BRIEF, BE BRIGHT, BE GONE. Don’t use 500 words if 5 will do because they don’t need that level of detail to make effective decisions and have valuable conversations. 

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Thank you to Bev James, CEO of The Coaching Academy for teaching me all I know about DISC. If you want to learn more, you can do so by reading "Do it or Ditch it" by Bev James and "Empowering Employee Engagement - How to ignite your team" by Claire Cahill. Both available on Amazon.

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