By Julia L. Leveridge, AAML

Let’s start with a confession: Many of us lawyers are convinced we communicate perfectly. Clear. Efficient. Logical. (Obviously.) And yet — mysteriously — our emails get misread, our paralegals look stressed and someone always seems annoyed in meetings.

Enter the DISC Assessment, a behavioral framework that explains why this keeps happening — and why your spouse still hasn’t taken the assessment even though 10 people have asked how to make that happen.

A Quick Primer: DISC measures how we show up, not who we are on the inside. There are four dimensions: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. There are 384 possible combinations, and your team needs all four. Yes, even the one that drives you nuts.

Meet the Styles:

High D – Dominance
High Ds are decisive, results-driven and usually the reason the group actually leaves the rut. They have short fuses and little patience for fluff. Communicate by being direct and getting to the point. Under stress, they become controlling and impatient. These are the jerks, and likely, many of us (yours truly happens to be a High D). I know, big surprise.

High I – Influence
High Is are enthusiastic, optimistic and persuasive. They bring the birthday cake and plan the holiday party. They are trusting or want to trust. Lawyers score 89% on skepticism, so trusting doesn’t come easily. Communicate with friendliness and the big picture. Under stress, they become scattered and joke when things get hard.

High S – Steadiness
High Ss are loyal, patient and consistent. They like routines and need time to process decisions. One-on-ones work better than group settings. Under stress, they withdraw quietly.

High C – Conscientiousness
High Cs want data and accuracy. They double-check everything and fear mistakes. Communicate with details and logic. Under stress, they overanalyze and delay decisions. These people are hopefully your support staff. They are who spreadsheets.

The Leadership Skill
Knowing your style is the starting point. Adjusting to others is the skill. Ask yourself what the people who work for you say about you at their dinner table. Scary, isn’t it?

The Platinum Rule
Treat others how they want to be treated. Prioritizing effective communication pays dividends in morale, efficiency and fewer passive-aggressive emails. Now, I guess I am going to try to be nicer …