Frequently Asked Questions
When meeting with potential clients, you’ll often be asked questions about DISC, our company, and what makes our approach unique. These FAQs are designed to prepare you with clear, confident responses to the most common queries you’re likely to receive. Use these answers as a guide, not to memorize word-for-word, but to help you explain key concepts in a way that’s accurate, approachable, and aligned with our values. The better you understand these responses, the more naturally and effectively you’ll be able to communicate what we do and why it matters.
And remember, if you’re unsure of any answers when asked a question – don’t fake it! Simply say that you will need to confirm with another member of the team and you’ll get back to them. And then, make sure you do!
Who is Athlete Assessments?
Athlete Assessments are the experts in the ‘People Side’ of sport. We help athletes, coaches, and sports professionals understand and improve how they work with others, and ultimately improve their performance on and off ‘the field’.
Since 2007, we’ve worked with some of the world’s best sport psychologists, performance consultants, coach developers, and universities; along with some of the top Olympic, Paralympic, National, Professional, State, and US College Athletics Departments and teams.
What makes Athlete Assessments different?
Athlete Assessments was created to provide a suite of behavioral profiling tools for athletes, coaches, and sports administrators to improve performance and reach their true potential.
We want to help athletes enjoy their sport while achieving the best results possible. We know from personal experience that so much enjoyment in sport comes from making small improvements to performance. More often than not, this means winning more.
For coaches, Athlete Assessments recognizes the incredible contribution every coach can make to the lives of the athletes they train. Not only are coaches the mentors and role models who shape young athletes’ commitment and enthusiasm for a sport, they also impact athletes’ lives outside of sport as well.
We also recognize and value the people behind the scenes in sport. We provide the same level of dedication and services to sport management and administrators as we provide to those competing in the sporting arena.
Our overall goal from our service offering is to provide coaches, athletes, and administrators with excellent tools and resources to support their development and performance potential. We provide full support to our clients as our success is measured through theirs.
In addition to behavioral profiling and performance reviews, we also provide extensive articles, video resources, webinars, workbooks, and free newsletters. We absolutely pride ourselves on providing relevant and useful information, to everyone who comes into contact with us.
Are you an Australian Company?
Yes, we are! However around 80% of our client base is located in the United States, and the other 20% are all around the world in over 40 countries including clients in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Europe, UAE, Singapore, and more!
Why DISC?
DISC is simple four-quadrant model that provides a practical, easy-to-understand framework to better understand yourself and others. It helps develop self-awarness, improve communication, build stronger relationships, and enhance team performance, making it an essential tool for sport, business, and life.
What is DISC?
DISC is a behavior-based assessment tool that identifies how people prefer to behave and communicate and provides insights into how they are likely to operate in different environments. The assessment measures degrees of behavior in four primary styles, these being Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientious.
What is the purpose of DISC?
The purpose of DISC is to improve self-awareness, enhance communication, and build stronger relationships. It’s a tool for understanding behavior and using that knowledge to perform better, individually and as a team.
What is the history of DISC? Did you create it?
DISC is based on the work of psychologist William Moulton Marston, who developed the model in the 1920s. Following his creation, DISC was never copyrighted so the model is able to be built upon and further developed over the last century. DISC gained popularity in the 1950s in business, a testament to its longevity and continued relevance.
While we didn’t invent DISC, Athlete Assessments developed the first sport-specific versions, applying this proven framework to the unique needs of athletes, coaches, and sports professionals.
What is the sports version of DISC? How is it different?
Our sport-specific DISC Profiles, the AthleteDISC, CoachDISC, and Sports ManagerDISC, are designed with the language, scenarios, and challenges of the sporting world in mind. They make DISC more relevant, relatable, and applicable to those in high-performance environments. Traditional DISC Profiles use business language which are not directly applicable to the sporting context. We take the need for translation away, making a tool that is immediately applicable with for visible impact.
Isn’t DISC just something someone made up? Or any other insulting put down!
DISC is backed by nearly a century of theory and decades of real-world application. While it’s simple to understand, its power is in how effectively it can be applied, especially when customized for specific environments like sport.
What is the difference between DISC and other assessments?
Many assessments focus on personality traits or abilities, while DISC is purely behavior-base. It’s about what you do, not who you are. It’s also highly practical, easy to apply, and doesn’t label or limit individuals.
What is the difference between personality and behaviour?
Personality is who you are at your core, meaning it’s more rigid and stable over time. Behavior is how you act and interact, which can be observed and adapted depending on the situation. DISC focuses on behavior because it’s what others experience and what we can influence.
Note, we also would never say to someone that their personality doesn’t suit their role or team, but we can ask people to change their behavior in order to achieve desired outcomes or work better together.
What can ‘doing’ DISC lead to?
‘Doing’ DISC can lead to greater individual self-awareness, leading to greater self-management, managing of stress, and ultimately improved performance. When used with teams, it supports greater cohesion, better leadership, reduced conflict, clearer communication, and improved results.
DISC is very simple, how can it be any good?
Simplicity is one of DISC’s greatest strengths. The framework is easy to grasp, which means people actually use it. Behind its simplicity is a deep and proven model that supports real behavior change and performance outcomes.
Is it going to mess with my head? Is it dangerous?
Absolutely not. DISC doesn’t tell you who you should be, it helps you better understand and appreciate who you are. It’s a non-judgmental tool designed to support personal growth, stronger relationships, and team success.
What is the difference between the AthleteDISC, CoachDISC, Sports ManagerDISC Profiles?
Each Profile is tailored for the unique roles within sport. AthleteDISC helps athletes understand how they prefer to behave which translates as to how they will best train, compete, and interact. The CoachDISC supports leadership, communication, and coaching style. The Sports ManagerDISC is built for those in supporting and administration roles within sporting organizations or environments.
What are the other capabilities and features?
Beyond the individual reports which have immense value, we offer Team Dynamic and Summary reporting, DISC 360 Observer Feedback, DISC Collaboration, and Career Management reporting capabilities.
These additional tools support coaching, recruitment, and team development, giving insight into team dynamics and how to build more effective working relationships.
What other reporting can we get done?
In addition to the DISC Profiling, Athlete Assessmenets offers 360 Performance Review tools including the Athlete Leader 360, Coach 360, and Sports Manager 360.
Can I get access to a non-sporting DISC?
Yes, our related company Team8 People, provides DISC assessments for business, education, and other industries beyond sport.