Using DiSC Personality Tests to Develop Leadership Skills in Internal Medicine Residents

Abstract

Effective leadership requires self-awareness, which requires an understanding of a variety of personalities. The DiSC® personality test can be used to teach individuals about their own personality type and how to best communicate with others. The DiSC tool assesses how individuals fit into four domains and has been shown to improve connections between nursing staff and patients and improve interpersonal communication among surgery residents. The authors created a curriculum to teach the intersection of personality and leadership styles to medicine residents during one half-day session. Residents completed the DiSC assessment and divided into groups based on their personality type. They then discussed how their personality types help them interact with people and what challenges their personality types pose. This curriculum provided residents with insight into their own leadership skills and how to best adapt when leading others. In a survey delivered a few months later, all respondents were very, quite, or somewhat prepared and confident to use the skills they learned.