Written by DePinkMe

There is great value in understanding people’s personality types.  Many companies use systems like D.I.S.C with great success in training their sales staff, not just Mary Kay.

Have you ever heard anyone make this comment about a workaholic: “He’s such a type A personality.”  There are other analysis systems that use A,B,C,D.  This type of personality analysis is all over the place.  It’s almost like a fun type of astronomy, but there are only 4 instead of 12 “types” to work with.  D.I.S.C is very watered down and simplified for MK people.  Most Human Resource people would laugh at how simplified the D.I.S.C. system is.  Regardless, it’s like the Bible in Mary Kay.  Every director is encouraged to memorize the D.I.S.C. personality types and teach it to their downlines and consultants.

I’ve always been a BIG ‘D’, as are most directors.  We love to get to work and we’ll run over anyone who gets in our way if we’re not careful.  Bulls in the China Shop, that’s us.  We tend to ask for forgiveness rather than permission because we just plow ahead, sometimes without regard for others’ feelings.  Directors LOVE ‘D’ personalities because we “see” the level of success that we want and we are easily convinced that if we just work hard enough, we’ll get it.  And we’re willing to work 24/7.  We see that goal and we GO FOR IT.  Some ‘D’ personalities include:  Madonna, Angelina Jolie, Oprah, Martha Stewart.

Directors like ‘I’ personality types as well because those are the rah-rah, prize-oriented, girlfriend-time, let’s-have-a-party, people.  They can come across as ditzy sometimes because they can be scattered and unfocused, but everyone loves them because they’re FUN!!  Please don’t be offended that I said “ditzy” because these people are EXTREMELY valuable in MK.  They can be very charismatic.  ‘I’ personalities can get people to do things FOR them.  They can create a common goal, build teams and get people to work and generate excitement.  She is not at all like the ‘D’ who wants to do everything herself because she knows she really can only count on herself.  Some ‘I’ personalities include Joel Osteen, Paris Hilton, Pamela Shaw, Rachel Ray.

The ‘S’ and ‘C’ personalities are the ones that directors and recruiters have a harder time with.

The ‘S’ people need to get everyone’s approval for EVERYTHING they do.  This is SO frustrating for someone who is trying to get someone to make a decision!  They don’t want to make impulsive decisions and they are hard to change or move because they are security driven.  You can imagine why MK directors are frustrated with this group.  MK WANTS people who will be impulsive and move FAST.  ‘S’ personalities don’t do that.  ‘S’ people do the right thing in asking their family members what they should do.  They will get everyone’s opinion on anything that requires a decision.  As an MK director we used to joke about our ‘S’ personality customers:  “She can’t even pick out a lipstick, how did she ever choose a husband?!”  It’s a little funny, admit it.  Some ‘S’ personalities are (generally speaking) Soccer Moms, people who have large numbers of children, think Diane Keaton in “First Wives Club”.

The ‘C’ personality questions everything.  E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G.  Analyzes it to bits.  Finds the typos in the Bible.  They will read everything that they can get their hands on before making a decision (including Pink Truth.)  They want answers in writing and they’ll almost always play devil’s advocate on any subject requiring a decision.  For example, a ‘C’ personality will say to her recruiter, “I don’t see how this can work. There are 5 consultants in my church.” and then sit there waiting, and won’t give an inch until that concern is addressed.  This person will treat each of her questions and concerns the same way until the recruiter is exhausted and may just give up.  The ‘C’ personality will say things like, “I read _____.  Justify that!”  or “My husband said ______.  What about that?”  or “This is bad grammar.  Don’t you guys have a decent editor?”  She can be very confrontational when she’s asking her questions.  You can see how the recruiter would find this person exhausting because she’s “just being difficult.”  Examples of ‘C’ personalities are Bill O’Reilly, Nancy Grace, Martha Stewart has some ‘C” in her,

Again, MK directors love ‘D’ and ‘I’ personalities because they don’t have to spend a lot of time with them.  They make their decision and go for it.  ‘S’ and ‘C’ personalities need to be interviewed over and over and over again to make sure their families are on board and to make sure they have all of their concerns addressed. I’s dotted.  T’s crossed.  Nothing left to chance.  A good Director can recruit a ‘D’ in 10 minutes  an ‘I’ after ONE meeting but the ‘S’ or ‘C’ can take weeks.

When you hear MK people saying, “We’re looking for some sharp, strong, business women.”  What they’re really saying is that they’re looking for some ‘D’ and ‘I’ personalities.  They can say they’re looking for “sharp” women all they want, but we all know what they’re really looking for is a human with a pulse and a line of credit.  The D.I.S.C. personality analysis system is just another way to manipulate people into doing what they want them to do.  They even give you words to say to “deal” with whatever personality type you’re talking to.  The real skill comes in being able to get over your OWN personality type and to recognize the type of others’.  Then you’ll know how to “work them” and “get them to sign” and how to best “pull inventory” from them.

The fact is that we all have some of each personality in us.  We are just stronger in one or two areas than the others.  If you are a strong ‘D’ or ‘I’ personality, be careful.  Search out your inner ‘S’ and ‘C’ and ask LOTS of questions before you turn over your valuable line of credit to a Mary Kay Director.  If she’s been in MK for more than a couple of years, she knows all about D.I.S.C. and SHE’S WORKING YOU.