After Dominance, the next DISC factor is Influence, also known simply as 'I'. Influence is associated with a sunny, friendly and extrovert approach, warm and open to other people, sociable and gregarious. Influence connects with the Style Card type described as a 'Communicator'. As you might expect from this, people with a high Influence score (called 'High-I's') are gregarious and sociable, and often possess well-developed social skills and an urge to meet and talk with other people.

Influence is the second factor described by a DISC graph, reading from the left. The communicative and socially confident style of those with high Influence tends to be balanced by a rather impulsive and sometimes irrational approach to life. The urge to relate to and impress those around them can lead such a person to act in ways that other less socially-oriented types find very difficult to understand.

The hardest thing for a High-I to accept is rejection. They need to interact positively with those around them, and their friendly, open style usually helps them to maintain relations of this kind. The socially active nature of the highly Influential person is often an important factor in bringing other less gregarious styles together.

By their nature, High-I's are extremely trusting and ingenuous. Their desire to be open with other people can lead them at times to reveal information or express feelings that more staid types might prefer to keep hidden. For this reason, they are sometimes seen as lacking in tact. Nonetheless, their natural communicative abilities often permit them to talk themselves out of any difficult situation resulting from their lack of diplomacy.

See also...
DISC Profile: High Influence Only

	Understanding DISC is part of the Discus Online site. Try DISC for yourself across the Web.
	© copyright Axiom Internet Group Ltd 1995 - 2003. All rights reserved.