If you're running a senior living community, you’ve likely felt the weight of staff turnover, tense communication, and team burnout.
But what if a simple, people-focused tool could help you build a stronger, more engaged team?
That’s where DISC comes in.
DISC is a behavioral tool that helps people understand how they and others naturally communicate, make decisions, and respond to pressure. It groups behavior into four core styles:
- D – Dominance: direct, driven, competitive
- I – Influence: social, optimistic, energetic
- S – Steadiness: calm, reliable, team-oriented
- C – Conscientiousness: analytical, detailed, thoughtful
When leaders and staff understand these styles, they stop taking things personally and start communicating more effectively.
DISC is easy to learn, practical to apply, and powerful in a team environment—especially in the senior living sector, where success depends on clear communication, trust, and collaboration.
Senior living is a uniquely human business. You’re managing care teams, dietary staff, housekeeping, families, and residents, all with different needs, personalities, and priorities. Miscommunication and tension are inevitable.
DISC helps you:
- Reduce misunderstandings by recognizing how different people process information
- Coach staff more effectively by tailoring your approach to their style
- Avoid team conflict by setting expectations and creating psychological safety
- Improve retention by making staff feel seen and supported
This doesn’t take hours of training. Even a basic DISC introduction can change how your team interacts and how you lead.
Let’s say you manage a nurse supervisor who is an S-style: steady, dependable, and change-averse. You’re a high-D executive director: fast-paced, goal-driven, and focused on getting results. Without realizing it, your quick decisions and push for change can feel overwhelming to that team member.
With DISC, you can learn to slow down, offer context, and involve her early in the process to build trust. She, in turn, gains confidence and clarity in what you expect.
Multiply that by your whole leadership team, and the cultural impact becomes noticeable.
Many communities struggle to keep new hires. DISC can be used to personalize onboarding, build faster connections, and give leaders a guide for how to support each team member.
When people feel understood, not just trained-they stay.
You don’t need to overhaul your organization or send everyone through formal training.
Start small:
- Introduce DISC to your leadership team
- Use it in one-on-one meetings to guide coaching conversations
- Reference DISC styles during team huddles to build awareness
Over time, DISC becomes part of your leadership language and a valuable tool to shape culture, resolve conflict, and build stronger teams.
You already have policies, tools, and systems in place. DISC helps you lead the people who make those systems work. It’s not about putting people in boxes. It’s about giving them a better chance to thrive. And in senior living, where relationships matter most, that’s what leadership is all about.
-Nicole Belanger
