Making Performance Reviews More Effective with DiSC: 

Performance reviews are rarely one size fits all. Your team members are motivated differently, receive feedback differently, and think about development differently. When we treat every review the same, we miss the chance to have conversations that truly resonate.

This is where Everything DiSC® on Catalyst™ becomes a powerful support.

When you bring DiSC into your performance conversations, you can:

  • Ask questions that fit each person’s working style

  • Frame feedback in a way they can actually hear

  • Shape development conversations that inspire action

  • Set goals that align with how they work best

DiSC is not an excuse for poor performance and it doesn’t put anyone in a box. It is a lens for understanding how to coach each person more effectively.

Before the Conversation

A more effective review begins before you sit down together.

Using Everything DiSC on Catalyst, you can:

  • Review your team member’s style and notice what motivates and stresses them

  • Reflect on your own DiSC style and how it influences your tone and approach

  • Choose a few thoughtful questions that will open up real dialogue

If you have access to the WorkSmart series, the “Giving Constructive Feedback” module offers specific strategies and language you can tailor for each team member. It acts like a just-in-time guide as you prepare.

During the Conversation

In the conversation itself, DiSC helps you:

  • Start with their perspective, not your assumptions

  • Adjust your pace and tone to their style (for example, some prefer direct, efficient conversations while others need warmth, time, or more detail)

  • Focus on growth, not labels or personality

  • Ask more questions than you think you need to, so the review becomes a dialogue rather than a download

The Performance Review by DiSC Style Quick Reference Guide is especially helpful here. It gives you ideas for:

  • Opening questions that feel natural to each style

  • Ways to explore challenges and development that they can engage with

  • Feedback approaches and motivators that make the conversation more productive


Content adapted from Everything DiSC® on Catalyst™, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

After the Conversation

What happens after the review matters just as much.

You can:

  • Capture goals in language that matches their style, so they feel realistic and meaningful

  • Use Everything DiSC on Catalyst as an ongoing reference to support your check-ins and coaching throughout the year

  • For managers with WorkSmart, explore additional modules such as feedback, conflict, motivation, and change to continue strengthening your skills

The aim is not simply to complete a form, but to create productive, personalized dialogue that supports performance and strengthens the relationship.

If you would like to explore how Everything DiSC on Catalyst and how the WorkSmart Feedback series can support you and your team with upcoming performance reviews, I would be honored to partner with you. Click this link to get started!

With gratitude,
Sheeba Varghese

Mini Leadership Challenge:

This month, I’m inviting you into a simple practice that can transform your performance conversations and one-on-ones.

The challenge:
In your next one-on-one or performance review, pause before you respond and ask one more curious question.

Instead of jumping in with advice, evaluation, or reassurance, try questions like:

“Say a little more about that.”

“What feels most important for me to understand here?”

“What would support you best going forward?”

Then, notice what shifts in the tone and depth of the conversation when you listen just a little longer. Small practices like this build trust, create psychological safety, and make room for more honest dialogue, all of which are essential for effective feedback and for tailoring your approach to each person’s DiSC style.

 

Leadership Spotlight: Portland Repair PDX  

This month, I’m highlighting Repair PDX, an organization whose mission is to "spread repair culture". Since 2013, they’ve been hosting Repair Cafés where volunteers fix broken household items for free, reducing waste and building community connection.

Repair PDX is also expanding its impact through hands-on workshops that teach people how to repair their own items, empowering individuals with practical skills and confidence.

Watch a video about this incredible organization here!

 (Source: Facebook)

  

Sheeba Varghese is a strategic partner for your talent development solutions and the author of Confidence, Clarity & Ease: A Guide For Emerging Leaders To Thrive. Her passion is to inspire and equip men and women to lead with excellence and authenticity within the spheres of influence that they are called to impact in life. The spheres may be in a home, on a team, in a classroom, among partners in a firm, or within management, to name a few.

Sheeba works with: 

Senior Leaders and professionals who want to develop stronger leadership skills, have impact, and move forward in their careers

Teams who want to work cohesively within their organizations

Coaches who want to renew or apply for certification with ICF

If you want to improve your leadership skills, transition from managing to leading, ensure your team is amazingly successful, increase your self-awareness, and progress your career, or aspire to be a masterful coach for your clients, then Sheeba would love to support you. She works with clients globally, both face-to-face, by phone, or by Zoom.

In her time apart from clients, Sheeba enjoys time with her husband, Santosh, and their 2 sons, Sam and Steven. She loves great movies, a good book, decorating, and dining at the wonderful restaurants in the Bay Area.