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What is the DiSC Di type?

8 min read

People whose DiSC® profile shows a Di style display both the dominance of the D style and the influence of the i style. They are persuasive, bold, and results-oriented. They like to move fast and are always looking for new opportunities. People with Di styles are often viewed as dynamic and outspoken.

Di style graphic with priorities: action, results, enthusiasm

The DiSC Di personality type at a glance

  • Traits: Active, results-oriented, vocal, enthusiastic, assertive, quick, dynamic, inquisitive, persuasive, rebellious, restless, colorful, charming, intimidating, bold, driven, entrepreneurial
  • Driven by: Quick action, new opportunities
  • Anxieties: Loss of power, loss of status, invisibility
  • Influences others by: Charm, bold action
  • In tense situations: Addresses issues head-on, may say things they will regret

How well or how strongly this matches your own Di style will depend on how close your dot is to the edge. The less strongly inclined you are to this style—or the closer your dot is to the center—the more likely it is that some of these traits will be expressed less frequently.

DiSC style blends: Di

Circle showing the 8 scales: four continua which intersect at the middle

Everything DiSC® assessments measure eight scales: D (Dominance), Di/iD, i (influence), iS/Si, S (Steadiness), SC/CS, C (Conscientiousness), and CD/DC. People with the Di style score highest on the Di/iD scale. Further, their responses show tendencies slightly more in line with the D style than the i style. D-style folks are direct and strong-willed. People with i styles are outgoing and enthusiastic. Di styles are a blend of the two.

Everyone is a mixture of all DiSC styles, but most people tend toward one or two. All DiSC styles are equally valuable.

What is the opposite DiSC style of Di?

One way to think about the great variety of personality types is to look at which styles are opposite each other on the DiSC circumplex. For the Di style, the style across the circle is the SC style. People with Di styles likely score lower on SC-scale measurements like being cautious and soft-spoken. Di-style folks may display SC behaviors at times, but it will likely take them a lot of energy to do so.

Circle showing the 12 style wedges. The Di wedge is highlighted.
  • SC-style people tend to be reserved, while Di-style folks are outgoing.
  • The SC-type personality is cautious and methodical; the Di style takes risks and moves fast.
  • SC styles usually prefer stable environments, while Di styles seek novelty.
Image showing the active-to-reflective dimension and the skeptical-to-accepting dimension

What motivates the Di style?

People with DiSC Di styles are motivated by action, results, and enthusiasm.

Action

  • are adventurous and bold
  • grow bored easily
  • seek out unique situations and leadership positions
  • maintain a fast pace

Results

  • work to accomplish their goals rapidly
  • ambitious and goal-oriented
  • competitive but charming

Enthusiasm

  • maintain high energy and create a lively environment
  • use their passion to inspire others
  • are excited about new possibilities

What are the Di style’s driving assumptions?

We all have driving assumptions: unconscious beliefs that shape our personalities and influence our decisions. They are often things we wouldn’t express aloud, and we may not even be aware of them. But they still direct our behavior.

For the Di style, thoughts like these may drive their behavior and choices:

  • I should be making progress at all times.
  • If I don’t stand out, I’m not valuable. or If I’m not special, I’m nobody.
  • I must never be ordinary. I must be uniquely talented.
  • People must think highly of me.

These beliefs can be both destructive and productive. They can lead Di-style people to display egotism or impatience at times. But they also fuel the Di style’s driven confidence that helps them do big things.

How does the Di style handle stress?

Di-type people actually welcome what we tend to think of as stereotypically stressful situations. At times when the pressure is high and the expectations higher, Di styles say “bring it on.”

What does stress out a Di-type personality:

  • feeling deprived of personal agency
  • feeling a lack of stimulation
  • being ignored
  • being asked to do work that is repetitive, analytical, or too behind-the-scenes
  • feeling like things are moving too slow or time is being wasted

Under stress, Di styles tend to:

  • express themselves without a filter
  • look for ways to take control
  • become curt and impatient
  • look for attention
  • become disorganized

How can I work well with Di-style people?

People with DiSC Di personality types bring a lot to their workplaces. They are goal-oriented and willing to take risks.

Tips for working with Di personality types:

  • Be direct and succinct. Don’t bog them down with details they don’t need.
  • Allow them opportunities to express themselves.
  • Help them prioritize when they need to be detail-oriented and complete tasks.
  • Be assertive. Don’t beat around the bush or try to avoid difficult discussions.
  • If you’re naturally methodical and cautious, try flexing into the Di style’s faster pace at times.
  • Praise their accomplishments publicly so they feel valued and appreciated.
  • Recognize the value of their energy and boldness.

The Di style and teamwork

Di-style teammates are generally action-oriented and enthusiastic. Their fast pace and boldness can help balance out teams more prone to caution and analysis.

Strengths of Di-style teammates:

  • look to seize upon new opportunities
  • are good at seeing the big picture
  • bring a positive energy and drive
  • boost team morale
  • are great at turning obstacles into opportunities

Challenges of Di-style teammates:

  • can be impatient
  • can be overconfident in their abilities
  • may gloss over important details
  • may not recognize when people need more space or time
  • have a need for personal autonomy that can lead them to “go rogue” at times

Read more: Team building

What if there are many Di-style people on a team?

The mix of individual styles within a group creates a larger DiSC group culture. When a group displays a D culture (with many people of Di, D, and DC styles) it tends to be dynamic, driven, and innovative. We call this the “get it done” team.

Advantages of the Di group culture:

  • cultivates self-starters
  • makes decisions without wasting time
  • encourages innovation

Drawbacks of the Di group culture:

  • fails to spend time on thorough analysis
  • takes too many risks
  • creates power struggles that lead to poor decisions

Read more: DiSC D group culture

What careers are good for DiSC Di personalities?

People of any personality type can find success in any job field. We don’t recommend basing career decisions (or hiring decisions) on personality type alone.

However, DiSC can still be helpful to people considering a first career path or a career change. Each person’s DiSC profile offers clarity on their unique blend of motivators and stressors. This helps them define what gives them energy and what drains it, and how they might seek out a career path that aligns with what motivates them.

For example, people with Di styles tend to value environments that provide novelty, adventure, autonomy, and a chance to prove themselves. Di-type people could explore jobs in entrepreneurship, arts and entertainment, media, medicine, consulting, sales, and many other fields that welcome their ambition and give them a sense of status.

Everything DiSC Workplace priorities map
Review your priorities when considering a career change. Image: Everything DiSC® Workplace priorities map.

Do Di personality types make good leaders, managers, and salespeople?

Are Di types good leaders?

People of all DiSC styles can be great leaders. Each style has its own strengths and challenges when it comes to leadership. The most effective leaders know how to move between styles to meet the needs of different situations.

Di-style people are pioneering leaders: bold, passionate, and inspirational. They are good at initiating change and setting stretch goals for themselves and others.

People with Di styles may also display the qualities of commanding leaders.

On 360-degree-type leadership assessments, Di-style leaders tend to rate highly in areas like being able to improvise and pushing boundaries. They receive lower ratings in areas such as being attentive to their followers’ needs and staying open to input.

Read more: Di-type leaders

Pioneering leader: finding opportunities, stretching the boundaries, focusing on results

What are Di-style people like as managers?

Managers with the DiSC Di style:

  • promote creativity and new approaches
  • get people energized about their work
  • tend to be optimistic about people and their abilities
  • provide encouragement
  • like excitement and fast movement
  • trust their gut instincts

Di-type managers probably enjoy:

  • inspiring and influencing people
  • being looked to as someone with the answers
  • keeping things moving
  • giving people confidence and empowering them to use creative approaches

Di-style managers likely don’t enjoy:

  • having to follow a lot of procedures and protocols
  • making decisions objectively rather than by instinct
  • taking a diplomatic approach
  • slowing their pace for more cautious and skeptical team members
Priorities map from Everything DiSC Management
Priorities map from Everything DiSC® Management

Read more: Management

Do Di-style people make good salespeople?

You’ll find successful salespeople with all different DiSC styles. Each style has its natural strengths and challenges when it comes to sales.

Salespeople with Di styles use their confidence and passion to get customers interested. They are goal-oriented and want to operate with autonomy.

Other characteristics of Di salespeople:

  • ambitious and self-assured
  • don’t linger on mistakes or second-guess themselves
  • strong ability to persuade customers
  • able to initiate change and bust through obstacles
  • value results over process

The overriding priority for salespeople with Di personality types is action.

Everything DiSC Sales priorities
Everything DiSC® Sales priorities

How does the Di personality type deal with conflict?

People with Di styles tend to be assertive and passionate in conflict situations. They have a clear vision of how things should be, and may dig their heels in to push for their own perspective.

Conflict is a part of every workplace, and many studies show that some amount of conflict is actually healthy, when this conflict is productive, not destructive.

Priorities map from Everything DiSC Productive Conflict
Priorities map from Everything DiSC® Productive Conflict

Tendencies of Di styles that are productive during conflict:

  • address issues head-on
  • are willing to disrupt harmony in the short term so that the problem can be fixed in the long term
  • are direct in their opinions
  • have a bias toward action, not letting things fester

The same personality traits driving the above tendencies can also drive destructive tendencies during conflict, like:

  • saying things that are better left unsaid
  • making personal attacks
  • becoming aggressive, looking to “win”
  • not seeking to understand others’ perspectives

If you are in conflict with someone with a Di style, try these tips:

  • Acknowledge problems instead of hoping they’ll just go away.
  • Realize that you may have to speak up for your opinions and needs at times. Otherwise, they may go unnoticed.
  • The Di style wants to move quickly. Make sure the issues are fully resolved before they move on.
  • Try to make sure everyone involved has a chance to share their thoughts, including the quieter folks.
Conflict behaviors in the Five Behaviors model
The Five Behaviors® model discusses healthy and unhealthy behavior during conflict. For Di styles, you can see that a healthy behavior is addressing issues head-on and an unhealthy behavior is saying things they will regret.

Is the DiSC Di style emotionally intelligent?

There are many ways to be emotionally intelligent. A lot of it has to do with calling upon the most skillful mindsets to meet various situations. Emotional intelligence (EQ) is not a single trait, but a set of skills and mindsets. Each DiSC style has natural strengths and challenges with EQ.

Of the eight EQ mindsets described in Everything DiSC Agile EQ, Di styles align most closely with the dynamic mindset. This means Di-style people are likely to:

  • project a strong social presence
  • initiate action on their ideas
  • influence people
  • take advantage of opportunities that might otherwise go untapped
  • promote their visions

Read more: Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Priorities map for Everything DiSC Agile EQ
Priorities map for Everything DiSC® Agile EQ™

What are some growth opportunities for DiSC Di styles?

Unlike many other personality assessments, Everything DiSC is developmental rather than just informational. If you take an Everything DiSC assessment, you’ll get both an understanding of your personality and an individualized path for personal development.

In general, Di-style people may benefit from working on:

  • showing patience
  • practicing humility
  • considering others’ ideas
  • being more objective
  • receiving criticism
  • leaving space for others to speak

What is my DiSC style?

Do you have the DiSC Di personality type? If so, how does your unique personality differ from the typical Di type? Taking a DiSC assessment is the first step toward meeting many personal development goals. Not only will you understand your own behaviors more, but you’ll learn how to form better relationships at home and work. We recommend starting your DiSC journey with Everything DiSC Workplace.

Author

Avery Harris-Gray

SC style, NY based. Writing about Everything DiSC and The Five Behaviors since 2020. Leadership style: humble. EQ mindset: composed. I always have snacks to share.

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