If you have capacity to care deeply about people, enjoy steadily building a few significant friendships, love to come alongside to help people, and enjoy working as part of a positive team where everyone is valued equally, then you could be an S Style based on the Extended DISC model.
S-styles tend to exude calm. They are very patient and like to help people learn new skills or to fit into new surroundings. S Styles are very happy to be in the background, not wanting to be the centre of attention. They are quite modest and laid back. They usually make excellent team players. S-styles tend to be patient listeners, trustworthy, and balanced between tasks and people. They are very persistent.
However, be careful not to underestimate an S style. They have a strong sense of justice! Whereas they might not stand up for themself, they can become highly indignant on behalf of someone they believe has been aggrieved or for a cause about which they feel strongly. The S Style is the typical ‘mother archetype’. They have that warm calm nurturing persona, yet feel and believe very deeply, and can turn into ‘mumma bear’ and rip you apart if you threaten their ‘kids’ or someone about whom they feel protective.
The biggest fear of an Extended DISC S Style is to be unsafe either due to unplanned change or a breach of trust. They build relationships carefully, and once they do trust someone, S Styles are extremely loyal. They feel betrayal very keenly and can struggle with resentment and unforgiveness towards those they perceive to have upset their security.
Their main strengths: Extended DISC S Styles make highly valued team members. They are tireless workers for a team or a cause; often the doers who work late to finish off projects. They don’t look just for their personal benefit and are invaluable on a team. They are very aware of people, how others are going, noticing moods and silences as well as the noisier among us. They remember promises and follow through on details. They will tend to smile, be quiet and fit in, to their own cost at times. They have an ability to say negative things in a constructive way, because they think about the consequences of words, actions and decisions.
Their main challenges: Extended DISC S-styles need stability and security and, therefore, need help with change. They dislike change, and people who bring change (usually D styles with whom they can feel intimidated). They are usually uncomfortable with spontaneity. Their natural style is to think things through and make a considered response. So they are slow decision makers. Some can perceive Extended DISC S Styles as too slow, stuck on the status quo, indecisive, stubborn and even resentful. Since they are such doers, and good at following through on their promises and serving the team agenda, they can be too willing to pitch in and at times are taken advantage of. In a team they tend to be doers more than talkers. And, as already stated, if made angry, S Styles can be formiddable opponents fuelled by deep feelings of injustice, resentment or betrayal.
Extended DISC S Styles make excellent Nurses, Personal Assistants and Carers. They are suited to a whole range of people support and customer service roles, especially where they are part of a team. With a little I in them (SI) they make very good counsellors and teachers.
