What is your behaviour profile?

The concept of a behaviour profile was developed in the late 1920’s as a result of psychologist Dr. William Marston’s theory that there are four basic personality types - D for Dominant, I for Influencer, S for Steady and C for Compliant (or DISC for short).

Over the years, different versions of the same theory developed including BEST (Bold-Expressive-Sympathetic-Technical) and Dr. Gary Couture’s version using bird names (Dove, Owl, Peacock and Eagle).

The ‘bird’ version has become quite popular as most people can relate easier to a visual object like a bird, rather than just a descriptive word. For this reason, we’ll go with Dr. Couture’s ‘bird’ version – besides, wouldn’t you rather describe yourself as an ‘Eagle’ or ‘Dove’ instead of ‘Dominant’ or 'Compliant’?

You and I fit into one of these basic personality types, which define the way we interact with other people, the way we go about life, our personal drivers and how we succeed. We will often relate better to people who have a similar behaviour profile, and find other behaviour patterns annoying and maybe even a little intimidating.

But more importantly, these behaviours have a major impact on how we progress through life.

So what are the 4 behaviour types? In a nutshell they are:

• Dove: The compassionate and peaceful dove. The dove is people-orientated, loyal, friendly, hard working and a great team player but tends to avoid change, confrontation, risk-taking and assertiveness.
• Owl: The wise owl. The owl is logical, mathematically minded, methodical and sometimes seen as a perfectionist. The owl can be slow to make decisions and inflexible if rules and logic says otherwise. Owls are not big risk takers but love detail.
• Peacock: The showy peacock. The peacock loves talking, being the centre of attention, has passion/ enthusiasm and is happy/ optimistic. Peacocks can be accused of talking too much, and aren’t good with detail or time-control.
• Eagle: The bold eagle. Eagles are dominant, stimulated by challenge, decisive and direct. Eagles can be blunt/ stubborn, can lose sight of the big-picture and can be insensitive to other people’s needs. Eagles are natural achievers.

Which bird are you?

Think about yourself for a minute. Do you fit any of the above types? Perhaps you have traits of a couple of profiles (which is more than likely)?

If you aren’t sure, then try using the DOPE Test tool available in the ToolBOX, as part of the FREE Life Planning Workbook. This tool gets you to respond to a series of statements and from your responses, works out the best behaviour profile that suits you.

How your behaviour profile will influence your goal setting

Now that you have an understanding of your behaviour profile, find out what your behaviour means for your goals. Remember that you may have traits from a couple of different profiles.

'Doves' and Goal Setting - find out how being a 'Dove' will influence the way you set goals.

'Owls' and Goal Setting - find out how being an 'Owl' will influence the way you set goals.

'Peacocks' and Goal Setting - find out how being a 'Peacock' will influence the way you set goals.

'Eagles' and Goal Setting - find out how being an 'Eagle' will influence the way you set goals.

Or perhaps you can tell us about YOU and help others understand who they are…