Talent Examined – The DISC Assessment

The DISC Assessment

Socrates once wrote, “A life unexamined ‎is a life not worth living.”

When it comes to real estate, one’s personality traits unexamined can lead to a real estate career not worth living.  This is why Excelleum employs the DISC process of determining predictive personal behavior as a staple of our career development programs.

The DISC is an assessment process that reveals which personality traits are more pronounced within all of us.  The letters D, I, S, and C serve as an acronym whereby each letter stands for the definitional symbol of each of the four behavioral quadrants.  The four symbols are dominance, influence, steadiness, and compliance.

The creation of the DISC goes all the way back to 1928.  That was the year that William Marston, for his Harvard University doctoral thesis, wrote the acclaimed “The Emotion of Normal People.”  His major premise was that four basic personality types, each described by the letters D, I, S, and C, explained virtually all human behavior.

Dr. Marston, however, did not intend that his epic work be utilized for the screening of prospective employees, for career developmental purposes, or for team building guidance.  This application came decades later when noted industrial psychiatrist Walter Clarke evolved the DISC for business utilization.

The DISC process is, without question, under-utilized in real estate.  I say this, as I believe that while real estate is one of the easiest professions to enter, conversely it is one of the more difficult in which to gain great success.  The DISC would significantly help both of these factors. 

  1. Career enhancement takes place when individuals and teams have their assumed strengths validated.  This leads to a greater repetition of favorable professional behavior.
  2. When counterproductive blind spots are revealed and accepted, this provides the opportunity to amend or eliminate costly behaviors.
  3. When one’s coach has the privilege of discussing a client’s behavioral patterns, it leads to customized solutions and strategies along with shared acceptance of change.
  4. The invaluable insights provided through the DISC process enable the coaching process to evolve from symptom related mentoring to cause related coaching.

I have always believed that no two people can sell alike and no two markets or consumers are precisely alike.

My team and I have also learned that real estate teams and groups are the biggest proponents of the DISC.  While real estate companies are supposed to represent a hit or miss opportunity, one where the words recruiting and retention are more celebrated than selection and development, expectations are generally higher that a team will be more selective and more invested in personal development. This nuance makes the DISC all the more relevant to real estate teams and groups.

DISCAuthor Bio: Debbie De Grote

Debbie is not only considered to be one of the most experienced and most in-demand real estate coaches in North America she also has a track record as being an outstanding top selling real estate salesperson.  Debbie was ranked number 1 in listing and sales for Century 21 in Los Angeles and Orange County, number 3 in the nation and number 10 internationally. To receive a PDF of my book Building Bigger, Busier, and More Profitable Teams, click here.