Lead With Moxie

Teri Whittington and Heather Legge of Envision Success Inc share ideas, experiences, and inspiration for integrating DISC along with other assessments, programs, and initiatives in business.

This episode continues our conversation about the broad applications and priceless awareness that DISC assessments offer for individuals, teams, and departments across various parts of organizations.

Far from being the latest dud idea, or "flavor of the month." that senior leadership announced for improving business, DISC gives us each the gift of awareness -- of our own individual nature as well as of other people around us. 

It is truly a model for human behavior and a POWERFUL tool for improving relationships, conversations, and increases everyone's chances for success (professionally and personally).  The individual assessments and team reports show us our own unique combination of communication or leadership style, and how other people or departments see us.  This brings awareness of how we are showing up in the world and how we relate to others. 

DISC results can also show us why some people on our teams are more exhausted by their work roles and expectations while others thrive on challenges or social interactions.  While we are all capable of flexing and stretching into activities that take more energy from us, this awareness as individuals and teams can be priceless for avoiding burnout!

In addition, we discuss how DISC integrates very easily with many other tools to develop people in business, including Working Genius (Teri shares her own personal ah-has).

There are many versions of DISC assessments. At Envision Success Inc, we use 2 popular options with clients. Learn more about Teri Whittington's blog series on the languages of communication, relationships, and leadership, download a sample of DISC assessment results, or contact us with any questions or requests.

You know the popular DISC "personality assessment" but did you realize that it's NOT what most people think.  It is truly a model for human behavior and a POWERFUL tool for improving relationships, conversations, and increases everyone's chances for success (professionally and personally).

The model shows us our own unique combination of communication or leadership style, and how other people see us.  This brings awareness of how we are showing up in the world and how we related to others.  In addition, it provides a way to understand other people and suggestions for adjusting our language so that others understand us better. Priceless!

The simplest way to understand a person's primary communication style is to ask 2 questions:

1. Are they more Active or Reserved?
2. Are they more People-Oriented or Task-Oriented?

The answers will indicate one of 4 primary styles (Note that there is no style that is better or worse than others, they are not an indicator of success, and everyone is capable of flexing out of their own comfort zone into other styles' behaviors if desired.):

• D Style is more Active and Task-Oriented 
• I Style is more Active and People-Oriented 
• S Style is more Reserved and People-Oriented 
• C Style is more Reserved and Task-Oriented 

See the image referenced in this episode here: https://www.envisionsuccessinc.com/discovering-communication/

There are many versions of DISC assessments. At Envision Success Inc, we use 2 popular options with clients. Learn more about Teri Whittington's blog series on the languages of communication, relationships, and leadership, download a sample of DISC assessment results, or contact us with any questions or requests. 

Watch the YouTube version of this episode with Heather Legge and Teri Whittington of Envision Success Inc

Krist Krayneski and Heather Legge of Envision Success Inc discuss the far-reaching leadership superpower of clarity, whether used in conversation, goal-setting, strategic planning, etc...

We love the quote "Clear is kind. Unclear is unkind." which we discovered via Brene Brown (Dare to Lead) and have found this adage applies to every interaction and every relationship you have. It's worth the pursuit to enhance your leadership powers by driving to clarity in your 1:1 discussions, meetings, projects, and at all levels throughout your organization and business partnerships!

How will you drive to more clarity in your next email, conversation, announcement, or invitation?

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Kristi Krayneski and Heather Legge of Envision Success Inc talk through one of their favorite goal achieving frameworks, step-by-step. If you resist setting goals or following through on them, for yourself or for the people on your teams, this episode is for you!

We dive into the power behind one of the most popular tried and true 5-part goal-setting exercises.

Grab something to write with and think of a goal that is meaningful to you, and enjoy the listen!

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Heather Legge and Kristi Krayneski explore ways to apply an "Outcome vs Impact Mindset" for leaders. Whether we're talking about personal leadership and intentionally making a statement with our life, or leading in business -from applying this mindset to our workload, meetings, projects, or the company vision- in all these cases leaders can grow exponentially by asking questions such as:

1. What impact do you want to make? What impact could you be making?
2. How could you define "impactful" work for yourself, your team, or company?
3. Are you focused on the most impactful work each day?
4. Regarding the work that is less/not impactful, what could I let go of?

As you prioritize your work for the week, look for opportunities to shift more time and energy to impactful work. This naturally makes letting go of busy work or unnecessary tasks easier.

Also, try introducing this concept into conversations or meetings over the next few weeks and see where it leads.

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What do you do when you have someone on your team who doesn't seem to be working out?

Kristi Krayneski and Heather Legge of Envision Success Inc discuss a common situation of having someone "on the bus" who isn't the right fit. This is one of the hardest leadership challenges because a person's value as a human being is separate from their contribution to the team, but until you acknowledge that as a leader feelings such as "but they are a good person" can get in the way of seeing the bigger picture and taking appropriate action. Not wanting to be too hard on them (or waiting for things to magically get better on their own over time) can prevent seeing that there is a possibility they will thrive in another role, on another team, or otherwise find a better match. It's also critical to realize that if you have a person who is a mismatch, it can negatively impact other team members and even destroy the culture that you've been working hard to create. Effective leaders know how to evaluate if they have a "wrong fit," identify specifically what is a mismatch about the person vs the desired attributes of the team or culture, separate the person's behaviors from their overall worth, and take appropriate action for the good of all people involved. How do you know when to coach up or coach out?

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Kristi Krayneski and Heather Legge of EnvisionSuccessInc.com share some considerations and tips regarding impactful conversations. Many people procrastinate having "difficult conversations," but there is no reason to avoid improving your relationships, work environment, and team culture through positive, impactful conversations. Prepare and boost your confidence (and results!) by identifying the purpose and intention beforehand, as well as adjusting your own natural communication style to suit the other person, listen actively to ensure they feel heard, and prevent your stress and worry by avoiding making assumptions about how someone else will react during an impactful conversation. Don't wait - go for it!

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Kristi Krayneski and Heather Legge of Envision Success Inc share some of their favorite ways to boost motivation and build momentum, because - let's face it - everyone feels challenged to keep going and stay positively motivated, at least once in awhile. They explore answers to questions such as: Do you have a favorite morning routine? What times of the day do you have the most energy, or feel the most motivated? Which types of meetings or conversations should you schedule in the afternoon vs morning? Do to-do lists help or hurt your motivation? How often do you justify self-care and/or gratitude? And more!

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Heather Legge and Kristi Krayneski explore why delegation fails, whose fault it is when delegation doesn't go well, how to avoid squishy words and remember that "Direct is kind' (Brene Brown), and related nuances of one of the greatest skills leaders need to master in order to be professionally effective, experience career growth, and achieve work-life harmony.

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Kristi Krayneski and Heather Legge of Envision Success Inc discuss which perspectives on delegation make it harder or easier for leaders, why learning to delegate well is an amplifier of leadership challenges or a propellant to leadership opportunities, how not to "dump" work on others, and a few other tidbits for leaders - whether they have a large team or no one to delegate to currently.