Behavioral flexing is the conscious adjustment of your natural behavioral tendencies to improve interactions and outcomes. Unlike permanent change, flexing is a temporary shift that helps you communicate more effectively with different personality types.
Key Concepts:
Flexing: Temporarily adjusting behavior to suit a specific situation
Morphing: Long-term behavioral change resulting from consistent flexing
Driving Factors: Your naturally dominant DISC factors
Opposing Factors: The DISC factors you find more challenging to display
When and Why to Flex
Strategic Flexing Situations:
During job interviews and recruitment processes
When communicating with team members of different styles
During conflict resolution or negotiations
When leadership requires different approaches for different situations
When building relationships with diverse stakeholders
Benefits of Effective Flexing:
Improved communication and fewer misunderstandings
Enhanced team collaboration and cohesion
Increased influence and persuasiveness
Better adaptability to organizational changes
More successful recruitment outcomes
The Six Sub-Factor Spectrums
Understanding these spectrums helps you identify which specific behaviors to adjust:
Efficiency (D) → Friendliness (I): Balancing task focus with relationship building
Self-motivation (D) → Patience (S): Balancing drive for results with thoughtful consideration
Independence (D) → Cooperativeness (C): Balancing autonomy with adherence to standards
Enthusiasm (I) → Thoughtfulness (S): Balancing expressive energy with careful reflection
Persistence (S) → Sensitivity (C): Balancing steady follow-through with adaptability to feedback
Practical Flexing Techniques by DISC Type
Flexing in Recruitment and Interviews
For Recruiters & Hiring Managers
Recognizing Candidate DISC Styles:
Pay attention to communication pace, focus, and expressiveness
Notice emphasis on results, relationships, consistency, or accuracy
Observe how they structure responses and what details they include
Adapting Interview Style:
When Interviewing High D Candidates: Be direct and focus on challenges and results, demonstrate competence, respect their time, highlight achievement opportunities, be straightforward.
When Interviewing High I Candidates: Allow rapport building time, show enthusiasm, provide expression opportunities, discuss collaboration, maintain positivity.
When Interviewing High S Candidates: Create low-pressure environment, explain processes clearly, allow response time, discuss stability/team dynamics, provide reassurance.
When Interviewing High C Candidates: Provide detailed info, be prepared, respect analysis needs, discuss standards/processes, avoid generalizations.