Influential Type – DISC
Influential is one of the four main personality types in the DISC personality assessment. It describes behavior that is outgoing, enthusiastic and persuasive. If you’re an Influential type, you tend to care about connecting with and influencing the people around you, and you excel in forming relationships. You may be described as a people-person. You enjoy being the lifeblood of a team.
Influential is useful in roles that require you to bring people together by using your natural warmth and charisma. However, it doesn’t work as well for people who spend a lot of time working on their own. Highly Influential people thrive on human connection and may be frustrated when they are forced to perform isolated, impersonal tasks.
Influential Style Overview
When performing well, Influential types are energetic, passionate and encouraging. They are typically very social and enjoy talking to and motivating people. Collaboration is their strong suit and they excel when working in groups to bring out the best in the team.
In the workplace, Influence people are likely to appear: engaging, persuasive, enthusiastic, friendly, optimistic, active, charming, sociable, encouraging, innovative.
They are less likely to appear: passive, reserved, pessimistic, quiet, inattentive, analytical, precise, skeptical, rigid, modest.
Work Style and Talents of an Influential Type
For Influential types, work isn’t about the task at hand – it’s about the relationships they build in order to get things done. Their enthusiasm and sunny disposition make them excellent team players, and they are at their best when working with others in environments where they can express their opinions and rally people around a goal. Influencers are strong communicators and have a knack for getting people on board with their plans.
On the downside, Influential people can become easily distracted or overwhelmed when faced with a large number of tasks as they may prioritize relationships over actual work. They often need to work on staying on-task and following through on commitments in order to be productive.
Strengths of an Influential type
Influence people tend to be good at:
- Communicating effectively
- Generating lots of ideas
- Motivating others
- Building relationships
- Meeting new people
- Creating enthusiasm
- Bringing teams and groups together
- Brainstorming ideas
- Having a broad network of contacts
- Passionately persuading people to their point of view
Blind Spots of an Influential Type
Influence people may find it difficult to:
- Stay focused on one task for an extended period
- Analyze data in a logical and organized way
- Retain facts and figures
- Make decisions without consulting others
- Enforce rules, regulations or procedures
- Work alone or without support
- Work in a steady environment that lacks excitement or drama
- Say ‘no’ to another project when they already have too much on their plate
- Put results ahead of their own popularity
Ideal Work Environment
Influential types will do best work in a busy environment that allows them to interact with people and collaborate on projects. They thrive in settings where they can express their opinions, get feedback and have the opportunity to influence others. Management styles that encourage their openness and allow them to be creative are essential for Influence types. They should also be given tasks that allow them to use their natural social skills and communicate with people, rather than perform solitary tasks or crunch data in complete isolation.
Influential people tend to work best when they have:
- The freedom to express their own ideas
- A chance to interact with others
- Opportunities to be creative and influential
- An environment that values communication, collaboration and relationships
They may feel drained when they have:
- A lot of data to analyze or processes to manage
- Unclear tasks and expectations
- An environment that is focused on individual performance over teamwork
- Little opportunity for collaboration or influence
Careers for Influential Types
Influence types gravitate towards careers that involve lots of communication and teamwork. They do well in customer-facing roles where they can build relationships and get people on board with ideas. Compatible careers include sales representative, public relations professional, marketing executive, customer service representative, teacher and motivational speaker.