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What is the DiSC Si type?

9 min read

People whose DiSC® profile shows an Si style are friendly, upbeat, and warm-hearted. They enjoy collaboration and go out of their way to make others feel comfortable and included. Si-style people are always ready to offer support. They value harmony, preferring calm environments where everyone is getting along. You can recognize people with Si styles by their cheerful and agreeable demeanor, patience and empathy with others, and focus on creating a positive team experience.

Si style graphic with priorities: collaboration, support, enthusiasm

The DiSC Si personality type at a glance

  • Traits: Optimistic, encouraging, cooperative, generous, service-oriented, conflict-averse
  • Driven by: Desire for acceptance, close relationships
  • Anxieties: Facing aggression, having to pressure others, letting people down
  • Influences others by: Showing empathy, being patient
  • In tense situations: Avoids conflict, tries to make everyone happy

DiSC style blends: Si

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

The Everything DiSC® assessment measures respondents on eight scales: D (Dominance), Di/iD, i (influence), iS/Si, S (Steadiness), SC/CS, C (Conscientiousness), and CD/DC. As you might expect, people with the Si style score highest on the iS/Si scale. Further, their responses show tendencies slightly more in line with the S style than the i style. S-style folks are often even-tempered, patient, and humble. People with i styles are probably outgoing, enthusiastic, and optimistic. Si styles are a blend of the two.

Everyone is a blend of all DiSC styles, but most people tend toward one or two. All DiSC styles are equal and valuable in their own ways.

What is the opposite DiSC style of Si?

One way to understand the natural dispositions of the various DiSC styles is to look at what style is directly across from it in the DiSC circumplex. For Si styles, that’s the DC style. Si-style people likely score lower on the DC scale, though some people have extra priorities in styles outside their own.

Circle showing the 12 style wedges. The Si wedge is highlighted.
  • DC-style people are strong-willed, even stubborn. They take a no-nonsense approach, prioritizing efficient results and quality work.
  • The priorities most associated with Si styles are collaboration and support, while the priorities of DC styles are challenge and results.
  • DC styles push back when pushed; Si styles dislike having to be aggressive.
Image showing the active-to-reflective dimension and the skeptical-to-accepting dimension

What motivates the Si style?

People with DiSC Si styles value collaboration, connection, harmony, feeling helpful, and acceptance.

Collaboration

  • People with Si-type tendencies usually value friendly cooperation, finding it motivating to work on a team.
  • Their upbeat nature helps rally people to achieve goals.
  • They celebrate the contributions of their teammates and show diplomacy during disagreements.

Connection

  • Relationships are vital to Si-style folks.
  • They value connecting with others in a personal and authentic way.
  • Their empathetic and trusting nature often puts others at ease, allowing for deep connections even with people they’ve only recently met.

Harmony

  • Si-style personalities may struggle when there’s a lot of tension around them.
  • They prefer calm, upbeat environments, often using their high relationship IQ to foster this type of space.
  • Si-style folks may be more distressed than other styles when people around them aren’t getting along, or when they think someone is upset with them.
  • They are also unlikely to confront others.

Feeling helpful and supportive

  • People with the Si personality type are often great listeners, and take pride in being the person others turn to when they need help or solace.
  • Si-style people feel valuable when they are helping others.
  • Si styles have a genuine interest in learning about other people and hearing their thoughts—and they’ll probably remember to send you a birthday card.

Acceptance

  • Si-style people seek the approval of others.
  • In their perfect world, they like everyone and everyone likes them.
  • There’s a tiny voice telling Si styles “I should never be the source of someone else’s unhappiness,” and that assumption—while often unconscious—drives their behavior.

What are the Si style’s driving assumptions?

Driving assumptions, or unconscious drivers, are beliefs someone has that—even when they don’t consciously think them—govern their behavior. If asked directly about these beliefs and challenged to defend them in rational terms, they might admit they’re not totally in line with reality. But they still shape personalities.

For the Si style, thoughts such as these may be at the heart of many choices they make:

  • If things don’t feel harmonious, something is wrong.
  • I can show my value by helping people.
  • I am responsible for other people’s happiness.
  • I must be accepted.
  • It is intolerable to have someone mad at me.

These beliefs drive both productive and destructive behavior: they aren’t just negative. For example, Si-style people’s need for harmony often means they’re the first to notice when someone is upset or struggling, and because they want to be helpful, they have a genuine desire to try to make that person feel better. People often appreciate having someone with Si energy on their team.

How does the Si style handle stress?

Si-type people generally prefer stable environments, though this desire is more pronounced in S and SC types. Because Si-style personalities are so relationship-focused, they are especially sensitive to stressors related to people and relationships.

Under stress, Si styles tend to:

  • internalize stress
  • neglect their own needs for the needs of others
  • overcommit, take on too much
  • fail to speak out until the stress is at a high level

If they lean into the S part of their style, they might become quiet and passive, withdrawing from the situation and hoping it resolves rather than taking action to change it.

How can I work well with Si-style people?

People with DiSC Si personality types bring strong people skills to their teams. They tend to be motivated more by group accomplishments than individual egos. They are empathetic. They are trusting, modeling vulnerability, which is crucial to strong teams.

Tips for working with Si personality types:

  • Be personal. Express your interest in them. Show warmth and concern for their feelings.
  • Create a space where they feel comfortable speaking up.
  • Make sure you’re not dismissing their perspectives just because others have more forceful personalities.
  • Avoid being confrontational or too aggressive. Offer your point of view, but try to start with an easygoing approach.
  • Work collaboratively with them. Share ideas and successes.
  • Be clear about deadlines and when you need them to make decisions.
  • Give them time to process criticism or changes to their environment.

Si-style people tend to take even minor criticism quite personally. This doesn’t mean you can’t hold them accountable or critique their work. Just realize that they might need some time to process the feedback before moving forward.

The Si style and teamwork

Overall, Si-style teammates are cheerful and enthusiastic, seeing the positive in situations. They enjoy celebrating other people’s and the team’s accomplishments. They are looking out for everyone and tuned in to how their teammates are feeling.

Strengths of Si-style teammates:

  • promote harmony
  • are good listeners
  • like to involve everyone in making decisions
  • value team unity and team morale

Challenges of Si-style teammates:

  • fear that contradicting others may hinder active problem-solving
  • are uncomfortable with conflict and spirited debate
  • tend to overcommit
  • have an accommodating nature, and the desire to help means teammates may take advantage of them
  • lack natural skepticism

Read more: Team building

What if there are many Si people on a team?

Each individual on a team has their own DiSC style. The style makeup of the group will determine a larger DiSC group culture as well. When a group displays an S culture (with many people of S, Si, and SC styles), it tends to be stable, predictable, and friendly. We call this the “get along” team.

Advantages of the Si group culture:

  • cultivates work-life balance
  • works toward dependable and reliable results
  • encourages a strong sense of duty

Drawbacks of the Si group culture:

  • lacks a competitive edge
  • avoids tough decisions to spare feelings
  • discourages strong individual accomplishments

Read more: DiSC S group culture

Which careers are good for DiSC Si personalities?

This is a common question with a complex answer. The truth is that people of any personality type can succeed in any field. Yes, you may find a higher percentage of certain styles in certain job types. Perhaps you meet more i-style people in jobs that involve interacting with lots of people or more C-style people in jobs requiring analysis and research. But basing career decisions (or hiring decisions) on personality type alone is not recommended.

Your DiSC profile can be one data point of many you consider when looking at careers. Review what your DiSC profile says about your priorities and where you get your energy to help frame your search for fulfilling work.

For example, people with Si styles tend to value environments that provide stability and harmony. They want the opportunity to exercise empathy, help people, and collaborate. These folks could explore jobs such as therapist, teacher, doctor, community leader, outreach manager, advisor, designer, consultant, customer service specialist, and many other roles that allow them to build relationships and make a difference.

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

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

Are Si types good leaders?

People of all DiSC styles make good leaders. Your DiSC style informs what your natural leadership strengths are, and which leadership tasks require more energy. Effective leaders know how to call upon all the DiSC styles at different times.

Si-style people are affirming leaders: approachable, upbeat, and caring. They are generally laid-back and patient. They work to create a harmonious environment where everyone feels supported and appreciated.

Si-style leaders are also inclusive. They excel at making people feel heard and incorporating others’ viewpoints into their decision-making.

On 360-degree-type leadership assessments, Si-style leaders tend to earn high marks on being open to input and being supportive of other people. They earn lower marks for creating momentum and setting high expectations.

Read more: Si-type leaders

Affirming leaders: being approachable, acknowledging contributions, creating a positive environment

What are Si-style people like as managers?

Managers with the DiSC Si style:

  • are supportive and ready to listen
  • create a sense of cohesion on the team
  • encourage collaboration, idea-sharing, and brainstorming
  • pride themselves on building team spirit
  • make sure everyone is involved
  • expect those they manage to be group-minded rather than focused on individual egos

Like others with S styles, Si managers tend to look for stability and prefer an orderly, peaceful environment. They may need to remind themselves that a little conflict is a good thing on most teams.

Si-type managers probably enjoy:

  • creating opportunities for collaboration
  • helping others do their best
  • fostering optimism on their team

Si-style managers likely don’t enjoy:

  • giving people unpleasant feedback
  • being forceful or insistent
  • making hard decisions independently
  • prioritizing goals and results
Priorities map from Everything DiSC Management
Priorities map from Everything DiSC® Management

Read more: Management

Do Si-style people make good salespeople?

Every DiSC style has natural strengths and challenges when it comes to sales. That’s why you’ll find successful salespeople with all different styles.

Si-style salespeople are usually good at connecting with customers on a personal level. Their warm and approachable demeanor puts customers at ease. Si folks have a genuine interest in getting to know other people, and customers can sense that.

Other characteristics of Si salespeople:

  • sociable, make time for small talk
  • supportive, want to help solve problems
  • empathetic in nature, allowing them to see issues from the customer’s perspective
  • good listeners, remember details about customers
  • optimistic, positive outlook
  • trusting, willing to give people the benefit of the doubt

The overriding priority for salespeople with Si personality types is relationships.

Everything DiSC Sales priorities
Everything DiSC® Sales priorities

How does the Si personality type deal with conflict?

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 Si styles that are productive during conflict:

  • flexibility
  • empathy
  • diplomacy
  • a willingness to compromise

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

  • giving in to please others
  • taking feedback too personally
  • withdrawing
  • ignoring problems/overvaluing harmony
  • letting issues simmer
  • becoming overly emotional

If you are in conflict with someone with an Si style, try these tips:

  • Address the situation directly, but avoid taking an unnecessarily confrontational approach.
  • Give them time to reflect.
  • Encourage them to share their opinions.
  • Show that you sincerely care about resolving the issues.
Conflict behaviors in the Five Behaviors model
The Five Behaviors® model discusses healthy and unhealthy behavior during conflict. For Si styles, you can see that a healthy behavior is showing empathy and an unhealthy behavior is glossing over problems.

Is the DiSC Si style emotionally intelligent?

There are lots of ways to be emotionally intelligent. It is highly dependent on the situation at hand. For example, in some situations, emotional intelligence (or EQ) means standing firm in your opinion, and in some cases, it means looking for compromise. Like all DiSC styles, Si-type people have both natural EQ strengths and challenges.

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

  • care deeply about the needs and feelings of other people
  • reach out when they see someone struggling
  • look for opportunities to connect with all types of people
  • present a warm and open demeanor
  • stay open and respectful to the perspectives of others
  • strive to create a supportive environment where people feel safe speaking up
  • choose forgiveness
  • give people the benefit of the doubt
Priorities map for Everything DiSC Agile EQ
Priorities map for Everything DiSC® Agile EQ™

What are some growth opportunities for DiSC Si styles?

Unlike many other personality assessments, Everything DiSC is developmental rather than solely descriptive. People who take the assessment gain not only an understanding of their personalities but are also guided through personal development opportunities.

Si-style people may benefit from working on:

  • receiving criticism
  • shaping their own destinies rather than accepting whatever comes
  • holding others accountable
  • standing firm in their opinions when it is important to do so
  • practicing skepticism at times
  • engaging in productive conflict and debate
  • choosing the difficult-but-rewarding path, instead of the path of least resistance
  • calling on stubbornness to push through obstacles

What is my DiSC style?

Do you have the DiSC Si personality type? If so, how does your personality differ from the typical Si style? 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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