DiSC – Revolutionary Leadership

The United States of America turns 250 years old this year, and such a milestone offers us a chance to reflect upon the people and events that have shaped our history. 250 years is but a prologue in the story of many other civilizations which claim an unbroken thread of continuity, but none have a story quite like ours; full of characters from whose example we can still draw lessons today.  

 Let’s hop in the time-travel machine and head all the way back to June of 1776. The American colonists have just picked a fight with the world’s greatest military and economic power. In response to a series of political and economic escalations by the Crown aiming to bring the wayward colonists back into obedience under British control, Colonial leaders have begun to rally sentiments behind the cause of rebellion. The issue, however, is that each member of this new American coalition brings a different motivation for participation in this fight. Some see economic opportunity; some seek redress for wrongs; others still stand on the principles of freedom, liberty, and justice for all as righteous cause for the independence movement. 

How, then, can these thirteen self-interested actors be unified behind the singular vision of American independence? The answer, of course, is leadership, and the American cause had no shortage of it at the time. Enter John Adams – co-conspirator in the rebellion against the Crown, and future second president of the yet-to-be-born United States. In a letter to Benjamin Kent dated June 22 of 1776, Adams notes:

“That we are divorced… is to me, very clear. The only question is concerning the proper time for making an explicit Declaration in words. Some people must have time to look around them, before, behind, on the right hand, and on the left, then to think, and after all this to resolve. Others see, at one intuitive glance into the past and the future, and judge with precision at once. But remember you can’t make thirteen clocks strike precisely alike, at the same second.”

Even casual students of American history understand the wisdom in these words, as Adams along with his fellow revolutionaries would go on to oversee the birth of a new nation, A nation conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal - to borrow from another president all too familiar with the fragility of the American coalition. 

However, beneath the surface, Adams demonstrates a keen intuition into human nature that scholars and behavioral scientists have since written volumes about. 20^th century psychologist William Moulton Marston developed these insights into the DiSC™ model we use today to understand the various personality types we encounter at work and in life. This model is the foundation for understanding how teams of varying personalities, tendencies, motivations, and preferences can unify behind a vision and accomplish great things together. Without Adams’ leadership based on his intuitive understanding of human behavior, what might have been the fate of our nation?  What might your team accomplish with these same tools of leadership that an understanding of DiSC™ can impart to leaders and contributors alike? The answer might be nothing short of revolutionary.

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