Week 4 Part 1: DiSC Assessment

As our first session of week four commenced Monday morning, it’s hard to believe us interns have already completed half of the internship with Bucks Go Pro this summer. When all of us  met in the Franklin/ Hamilton room at 9 a.m., we took our seats at a U-shaped table where the Buckeye Bash group would relay their progress in a professional meeting style. Since the event will be held in a little less than seven weeks, the event management staff noted the importance of hammering down all the details and making sure every aspect of the day gets taken into account. The Buckeye Bash group started off by having Nick Elswick, an intern for camps, lead the meeting and pass out agendas. Then, each person or pair within the group discussed the specifics about what plans had been made regarding food, activities, shirts, facilities and an opening ceremony for the day. When we discovered City BBQ and Graeter’s ice cream would be catered this year, everyone’s stomachs started grumbling because it sounds delicious and is not your standard catering. Once again, student-athletes can play on inflatables and attempt to dunk a staff member in a dunk tank this year, which made everyone smile and laugh. Finally, the huge selling point of their event was how they plan to give each student-athlete a dry-fit t-shirt again this year because everyone loved them in the Bucks Go Pro 11past. Overall, the group presented their plans excellently and all the interns and faculty were impressed by their professionalism and also excited about the fun event they have planned for student-athletes.

After the meeting concluded, we took a small break before beginning a fun activity to increase our self-awareness in the work environment. A couple of weeks ago, an email from the NCAA Leadership Development program had been sent out instructing us to complete a brief test. It interested me since it asked us to choose what most or least described us out of sets of four words: some of these included diplomatic, high-spirited, outgoing, passionate and quite a few more. The test is known as the DiSC Classic 2.0 Assessment, but that was all the information we had been given about it leading up to Monday morning. Dannie Daluisio, associate director of compliance, and her fiancé, Brandon Wright who is the associate director of compliance at the University of Maryland, led the DiSC review. He began by passing around a bag of crispy M&M’s telling us to take one each. Then, we used our candy to participate in an icebreaker because each color of M&M signified a different fact about ourselves we had to answer along with introducing ourselves by name and sport. This icebreaker was extremely enjoyable because the facts we had to answer were funny and we got the chance to learn more about one another. The facts and corresponding candy color went as followed:

Red- An embarrassing family memory

Yellow- A famous person you have met face-to-face

Blue- A go-to activity when you have free time

Green- A TV show you would purchase Netflix to watch

Orange- A song you would crush singing karaoke

Brown- Something about you that no one in the room would know

I got the fortune or picking a red candy, so I got some laughs as I told the room about how my brothers and I have a series of funny YouTube videos about bear hunting, an alien and a burrito and quite a few other embarrassing ones. I won’t share the names of other story tellers, but answers for the various candy colors included someone who accidentally wore his mom’s jeans to school, another person who has accidentally driven off with the gas pump still in his car twice and a girl who got to witness Michael Phelps propose to his girlfriend.

Up next, we participated in a preference icebreaker that split up our group between Facebook or Twitter, cats or dogs, popcorn or candy at the movies and iPhone or Android. This was a great opening activity for the DiSC Assessment review because next we determined if we were outspoken and fast-paced or cautious and deliberate, then skeptical and questioning or accepting and warm. Based on our answers, we split up into four groups (outspoken, fast-paced and questioning, skeptical, outspoken, fast-paced and accepting, warm, cautious, deliberate and questioning, skeptical, and cautious, deliberate and accepting and warm).  Later, we discovered that each of these groups represented D, i, S and C, respectively. We noticed how barely anyone was in the C group and no one was in the D group based off this activity. However, when we got our assessments back, the entire group was split up among the four different types very equally. The four groups were dominance, influence, conscientiousness and steadiness.

After we became aware of our DiSC profile and gathered with the other interns who were our type, we took a piece of newsprint, stuck it to the wall and wrote down words that described a day in the life of someone who is in our dimension. For example, my group was Conscientiousness and we used words like perfectionist, organized, reflective and diplomatic to describe our lives. Each group had the opportunity to present their dimension, and many interns noted the fact that there was an overlap between all of the types, which is what Brandon was trying to stress to us at the beginning. Although the four dimensions are unique in their own way, all are equal and bring something important to the table in a work environment. Overall, the interns really enjoyed this activity for providing us with information about ourselves that helps better our self-awareness and personal effectiveness.  For me, I was surprised at how accurate the test was in regards to myself because almost all of my words described me to a tee and when I took the initial test, I didn’t see how answering whether a couple of words were most or least like you could determine my personality. Now, I can use the assessment’s results to employ my strengths in a valuable way during my future career endeavors and avoid letting them limit me by being aware of them. Nick Elswick spoke of his experience with the activity saying, “I felt that DiSC was a great way to evaluate a group dynamic” and “it provided me with a unique way to view my leadership style and ho wit fits in with a team setting most effectively.”

In case you were wondering more about each dimension, let me provide you with a brief description of each.  A person in the Dominance dimension places emphasis on accomplishing results, the bottom line, and confidence. They see the big picture, can be blunt, accept challenges and get straight to the point. Someone who receives Influence as their dimension enjoys influencing or persuading others, openness, and relationships. They show enthusiasm, are optimistic, like to collaborate and dislike being ignored. Those people in the Steadiness dimension want cooperation, sincerity, and dependability. They do not like to be rushed, have a calm manner and approach, are supportive and show humility. Finally, a person with Conscientiousness desire quality and accuracy, expertise and competency. They enjoy independence, objectively reason, want the details and fears being wrong. The way in which a person’s four dimensions of Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness combine creates a profile pattern that is different for each combination. Research has discovered 15 unique patterns that most commonly occur. These include achiever, agent, appraiser, counselor, creative, developer, inspirational, investigator, objective thinker, perfectionist, persuader, practitioner, promoter, result-oriented, and specialist.

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