Exercise · Motivation and Inspiration Tools for Leaders
Identify the Style
Practice recognizing an employee's behavioral style using the DISC model from a description, and naming the signs the conclusion is based on.
Time45 minutes
ParticipantsPairs or groups of three
Materials8 case descriptions of employees, answer key
From the trainingMotivation and Inspiration Tools for Leaders
Why this exercise
Managers often motivate everyone the same way — with what motivates them. The cases teach participants to notice the signs of a style in behavior and to match a task or words to a particular person. An important caveat: any conclusion is a hypothesis. "It looks like C, but I need to check with a question" is not weakness, it is care.
How to run it
- Divide the group into 4 pairs or groups of three; each gets 2 cases describing an employee's behavior.
- 12 minutes: identify the likely style of the person, write down 3 signs the conclusion is based on, and suggest what task or words would motivate them.
- Presentations of 3 minutes per case: the case in brief, the style, the signs, the motivation idea.
- Check against the key.
- Wrap up with the quick-reference table of signs for the four styles.
Debrief questions
- Which signs turned out to be the most reliable?
- Where was it easy to make a mistake? Why?
- Which signs can you notice in the first five minutes of a conversation?
Tips for the facilitator
- If a pair argues between two styles, that is good: people often have two noticeable styles. Ask which signs speak for each.
- If someone says "real life is never this clear-cut", agree: the cases are exaggerated for practice. In real life the signs are quieter — which is why a hypothesis is checked with questions.
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