What Does It Mean to Have High Influence and Support in DISC?
The DISC personality assessment can tell you a lot about your work preferences. Of the 12 DISC subtypes, there’s a special relationship-focused combination — the Influence and Support subtypes. Together, Influence and Support combine to form the ultimate “people-person.”
But what does it really mean to score high on Influence and high on Support? Here’s a deep dive into the two Influence and Support subtypes of the DISC personality system.
Not sure what your type is? Take our free assessment here.
What are DISC personality subtypes?
The DISC assessment gets its name from its four behavioral styles — Drive, Influence, Support and Clarity. These four styles have fundamental differences in what drives them and are diagrammatically shown as a circle in quadrant sections.
This circle is organized in two sections: Active/Receptive running from top to bottom, and Skeptical/Agreeable running from left to right. People at the top of the circle are more outgoing and fast-paced in action, while people at the bottom are more reserved and tend to take things a bit slower. People on the left of the circle are focused on tasks, while people on the right are focused on relationships.
Both Support and Influence land on the right side of the circle. This means they value people, relationships and cooperation over tasks and facts. They like working with others and on teams.
The four quadrants are the four main personality types of DISC. But the system is a bit more nuanced than that. You can slice each quadrant into three sections, and that’s because people tend to be a blend of styles. This gives us 12 DISC types in total, which are known as the 12 subtypes.
So, in the Influence quadrant, someone could be a pure Influence style. They could have a lot of Drive traits as well, which would make them Influence + Drive, or I/d. Or they could have a lot of Support traits, which would make them Influence + Support or I/s. The first capital letter describes the main type, and the second lowercase letter describes the second most influential type.
Of the 12 subtypes, the two with high Influence and Support are Influence + Support (I/s) and Support + Influence (S/i). These subtypes sit right next to each other in the DISC graph and on the right side of the circle, meaning they are both people-oriented. But one big difference lies in their activity level — Influence subtypes (I/s) are at the top (more outgoing, quicker-paced), and Support subtypes (S/i) are at the bottom (more reserved, less likely to enjoy fast-paced work).
The two pure styles: pure Influence and pure Support
To comprehend why S/i and I/s subtypes function the way they do, you should first know the basics of these behavioral styles on their own.
Someone with a pure Influence (I) behavioral style is persuasive and enthusiastic. They thrive on connecting with others and influencing them. They’re the quintessential people-person who prioritizes relationships and has a talent for motivating people. They’re also more outgoing and like to take action, thriving in a faster-paced setting. They’re talkative, too – you’ll probably say they have the gift of the gab!
Someone with a pure Support (S) behavioral style is reliable and helpful and seeks meaningful, consistent relationships at work and beyond. They enjoy collaboration and meeting the needs of others. While they are relationship-driven and they love people, they are more reserved in the way they collaborate, preferring to support and help others in the background. They dislike competition and prefer to lend a helpful hand in a supportive team environment, and they also prefer a slower pace at work.
The S/i personality
When someone has a more prominent Support style with a secondary style of Influence, key characteristics of Support shine through. Those with a S/i personality are well-liked, show empathy toward others and often offer support. They tend to be friendly and positive, and they’re big on teamwork and assisting other people with their goals. S/i people can and do work in careers that give them more autonomy, but they still like positions that allow them to use their support skills as best they can (such as working as a counselor or career coach).
The biggest difference between an S/i personality and pure Support type is that S/i types are more outgoing and energetic. They are able to make themselves heard more than a pure S type, who prefers working behind the scenes.
The I/s personality
If you’re typed as an I/s personality, you’re a social creature who enjoys spending time with others. I/s personalities adapt well to different work styles, but like S/i people, they like collaborative environments and don’t function as well in non-team workspaces. These warm personalities lead with Influence, but with Support as a sidekick, they do well leading and creating accepting, inclusive working environments. Rather than forgetting other team members, they like to involve everyone in important conversations about business and beyond.
The biggest difference between an I/s personality and a pure Influence type is that I/s types tend to be more approachable. They are not as frenetic as a pure Influence type can be, and are prepared to slow down and really focus on including others in the team.
How to tell the difference between S/i and I/s DISC personalities
The most obvious difference between S/i and I/s Disc personalities is this — S/i types are more about supporting others than influencing, and I/s types are more about influencing than supporting. But the differences between these two DISC subtypes are much more nuanced than this.
Leading versus following
Each DISC personality can make a good leader, and the DISC doesn’t determine who will lead and who won’t. In this case, I’m observing the likelihood of a subtype seeking leadership positions.
I/s personalities are far more likely to lead than follow, whereas S/i people are happy to follow a leader they trust and lend support to the team. (That doesn’t mean S/i people can’t make great leaders if they choose to follow that path!).
I/s people do well as leaders since they lean on their secondary “Support” style to be more empathetic and understanding of their employees. Because I/s people have the drive to influence others, they seek leadership opportunities more often than their S/i counterparts.
Approaching conflict
A similarity both S/i and I/s people share is their conflict-avoidant nature. They prefer to keep their distance from major conflicts and do better when they’re in a harmonious environment.
That said, I/s types don’t shy away from finding a solution, and they’ll perform due diligence to resolve conflicts to return to peaceful homeostasis. S/i types, on the other hand, may try to find peace in the uncomfortable disharmony but will be more reserved and less direct about addressing the problem head-on. S/i types, however, do make great counselors because of their empathy and they can learn to harness this skill in the workplace to serve as a mediator.
Lending a helping hand versus pushing others to succeed
S/i types like to help and assist others — but this can occur in many ways. While they will lend an empathetic ear and offer advice, they aren’t as “pushy” as I/s types who want to see others succeed. This doesn’t mean S/i people don’t want to watch others do well — but it does mean I/s people are more focused on pushing people to reach their highest potential, while S/i types prefer to assist others in a less aggressive, more attentive fashion.
Facing criticism or aggression
S/i people struggle with asserting themselves because they’re so concerned with others’ feelings. Because of this sensitivity, S/i personalities don’t like dealing with aggression from others and may find it hard to separate their emotions from conflict. This also means S/i types don’t always take constructive criticism well.
On the flip side, I/s people may find addressing conflict problematic because of their desire to be well-liked. Their high Influence means they fear disapproval from others, which can prevent them from logical problem-solving. This discomfort with being disliked can lead them to take constructive criticism personally.
Summing up high Influence and Support personalities
If you have high Support and Influence, you’re a people person who likes working on a team but doesn’t prefer a competitive atmosphere. You like to see people do well and want to support them as they work alongside you.
Although you may have a high Influence and Support DISC type, your subtype makes a difference. The S/i personality is unique from the I/s personality — and each one has its strengths and weaknesses. S/i people are more reserved and less concerned with influencing others to take a particular direction, while I/s people are more extraverted and like to push others toward success.
Like any personality type system, the DISC can tell you a lot about how you function in your life, but DISC is specific to your working style. By understanding what drives you in the workplace, you can better communicate your needs or search for your perfect career fit.
