I-styles are influential, interesting, and inspiring. They represent just over 1/3 of the Canadian population and their enthusiasm and energy plan an important role on our teams. They are focused on people and emotions and can drive C or D styles crazy. They need to know how people are feeling so they understand how they are showing up, and will ask lots of questions to check in and try to uncover any emotions or feelings which may affect a meeting. These check ins will often consume a decent amount of a meeting which can irritate the results-driven members who see time spent this way as wasteful. If there is conflict, I-styles will spend time, either during or after a meeting, touching base with those present to ensure they are feeling OK.

I-styles embrace change and like new ideas. They are forward thinking and future-oriented. Due to their fear of social rejection, they will work to get everyone on board with change and their influencer power is important to harness. They can be impulsive and sometimes rely on a “6th sense” to help them make decisions.

I-styles can appear unorganized as they are focused on people and emotions, rather than tasks. They tend to talk more than they listen and can jump from one subject to another. They are easily excitable and wear their emotions on their sleeves. They may repeat questions and may not focus on details. They feed off the energy of other people. Their energy can be contagious and people often seek them out. They are fun, bubbly and positive. They thrive around people.

It is important to check in emotionally with I-styles. Ask them how they are doing and ensure you have built in time to connect on a personal level. When communicating with an I-style, many D and C styles, will write an email and then go back and add some personal touches and questions after.

I styles are not concise and can tend to talk a lot.

Some famous I-styles include Robin Williams, Drew Barrymore, Bill Clinton, Prince Harry, Ellen DeGeneres, Scotty of “Star Trek” and Penny of “Big Bang Theory”.

I-style is the People and Active quadrant.

People means they focus more on people than tasks and show emotion fairly easily.

Active means a future focus, and they may talk about how things could be. They can be loud and speak with inflection and animation. Their body language is energetic and assertive and they often maintain strong eye-contact.

Because of their people focus, they can seem like they are wasting time, especially to the more task-focused D and C styles. Their animated active style can be overwhelming for the reserved S and C styles.

Does any of this speak to you? Are you reading and saying, “Yes!!”? Do you wonder how you can communicate better with others? Completing a DISC assessment can confirm your natural style (often we are actually a mix of a couple styles) and give you a ton of other useful information such as your motivators, situations that reduce your motivation, how you react under pressure and how others may see you. Additionally, the report will give you specific suggestions for communicating with each of the 4 styles (based on your specific style or combination of styles). There is a variety of different reports available including individual, team and pair reports and once you buy the assessment, there is no additional charge for different reports.

Understanding the DISC profiles of team members can help you better communicate with others, and also to identify team strengths and blind spots.

Whether you are curious about your style and want more insight, or you feel that DISC may be a useful tool for building a strong team, let’s talk and see how we can use DISC to improve understanding and communication for you or your team!

Interested in a quick overview video of about I-Style? Check out this ONE.

Over the next couple of months, I am going to feature each of the DISC styles, so keep reading to see which one is the closet to you. Or reach out and do an assessment and find out right away! Either way, stay tuned to learn more!

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Have you read all the way to this point and have no idea what I’m talking about? Want to know more about the different styles? Check out my DISC page with links to blogs about each style.