Cattle Prods Are a Thing of the Past

Earlier this year, I was asked to provide a program that focuses on The Platinum Rule and specifically not to include any training on the DiSC® Behavioral Theory. Many of us are probably familiar with The Golden Rule – treat others like you prefer to be treated. The Platinum Rule, on the other hand, focuses on treating people how they want to be treated. Coined in 1996 by Tony Alessandra and Michael J. O’Connor in their aptly named book, The Platinum Rule, they delineated four types of people – Directors, Socializers, Relaters and Thinkers.

As I thought more about this client’s request, I realized that it would be impossible to present the basic concepts of The Platinum Rule without incorporating DiSC. In fact, the four types discussed in their book directly correlated to the four dimensions of behavior – Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientiousness. Once I convinced my client of the connection between the two, we had a viable program.

Ironically, around the time that The Platinum Rule was published, I attended my very first workshop on DiSC and the title was “Cattle Prods Are a Thing of the Past”. The presenter’s message was that motivation is personal and different for each individual. If a leader tries to motivate each of their team members with the same approach, it will work for some and not for others.

Therefore, an understanding of each team member’s unique style will help a leader know what motivates that employee, i.e., whether they prefer public recognition or more private praise.

Our training program on understanding not only your own behavior style but the styles of others would most benefit a leader motivate their employees per The Platinum Rule.