Learn the S Personality Type
Adam Stamm
S Personality Type: Stable and Patient Team Player
The S personality type is based on the DISC Model of Behavior.
The letter defining this personality stands for Steadiness. People with the S personality type are team players who value follow-through. They approach challenges with a “slow and steady wins the race” approach and try to avoid unnecessary risk or change.
Don’t let this personality style fool you. While individuals with this personality may not take as many risks as those with the other personality styles, they are equally successful.
Academy Award-winning actress Kate Winslet and Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian have the S-personality style.
DISC is a simple but powerful assessment that can quickly identify a person’s dominant personality type. Beyond just assigning someone a personality type, DISC helps people understand how their personality shapes their motivations, stressors, and communication styles.
The ultimate goal is to help people learn more about themselves and others.
In previous blog posts, we wrote about the D Personality Types, I Personality Types, and C Personality Types.
We’re rounding out the series by discussing the S personality type. If you’re new to DISC, learn about all 12 DISC personality types here.
What drives the S personality type?
A personality type is more than just a list of adjectives. DISC takes a deep and nuanced look at what drives people — motivations, dreams, and fears. Once you understand what drives someone, you can better understand their motivations, actions, and communication styles.
A need for security and stability drives the this personality. When someone with an S personality type is in their comfort zone, they can make steady progress toward their goals. Because of this, people with this personality type are excellent at follow-through.
They are easy to get along with. It may seem like they are wishy-washy regarding what they believe because they may not challenge someone’s viewpoint or opinion that goes against their own.
Because the S personality type values security, they tend to be risk averse and prefer to seek consistency in their environment. They dislike pushy behavior that would pressure them to decide or take an action faster than they feel comfortable.
S Personality Strengths
The S personality type is often the team member you can count on the most to see a task through to the end and be a true team player.
Calm & Patient
This personality type is the peacemaker. They don’t often seek aggressive action, and they are likely to take a back seat in decisions. However, when a conflict arises, they will be on either side of the argument giving an ear to both member’s sides.
Reliable
The S personality type rarely strays away from their routine and consistent environment, making them extremely reliable. You always know where they’ll be, and what they are capable of contributing to the team.
Collaborative
People with this personality type want to keep things moving forward and will do anything they can for the good of the team. While they don’t tend to be innovator in group situations, they will make sure that everyone is working together to get things done.
S Personality Areas for growth
No personality trait is inherently good or bad, but it’s always useful to have an understanding of which personality traits invite growth. These are some of the growth areas for the S personality type.
Lack of assertiveness
The S personality type prefers to keep the peace and make sure everyone is happy, but this can come at the expense of their own needs, or happiness. People with this personality type often have difficulty speaking up, or prefer to go along with a plan they disagree with, for the sake of peace. This can open them up to be taken advantage of by those that are more assertive and have no difficulty making their opinions known.
Risk averse
The steady nature of the S personality type ensures that people with this type are always inching closer to their goals, but their aversion to risk can keep them from taking leaps of growth. People with this personality type risk staying “stuck” in their own comfort zone and missing out on opportunities for change.
Communication style
We all have different styles of communication that develop based on what drives us. Adapting your communication style to improve communication with other personality types can go a long way toward smoother communication.
When communicating with someone with the S personality type, it’s important to give them plenty of opportunities for them to speak their own mind. People with this personality type tend only to speak up once they’ve thought about exactly what they want to say. If you don’t give them the time to formulate their thoughts, you may miss out on their valuable insights.
Similarly, it’s important not to tone down any aggression when communicating with this personality type, as they will not meet any level of aggression or assertiveness and will instead shut down.
When presenting ideas to someone with an S personality type, focus on the parts of your idea that minimize risk, and focus on the parts that maintain stability. Offer someone with this personality type plenty of opportunities for collaboration, and trust that they will organize their time efficiently.
Find your DISC Personality Type
Are you steady, collaborative, and prefer security over risk? Then you may have the S personality type. Take the DISC free personality assessment to determine if you’re an S or a different personality type.