Our D Styles' Favorite Reads | DiSC Personality Types

Oh, hey. Are you a D style on the DiSC? (You can click here to take the DiSC personality test.) If so, you’re probably a challenge-seeker and results-producer who craves innovation. And you probably want to get right down to business. We respect that—and know some really cool people just like you. Books are one way we continuously foster personal growth here at redpepper, so we’ve pulled together some book recommendations from redpepper’s D styles:

The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

Ministry of the Future showcases the power of direct action AND collaboration.

Karla Jackson, Marketing Practice Creative Director

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

My DiSC style is a Di, which is a combination of Dominance + Influence, with traits including being creative, inspirational, results-oriented, and persuasive. I felt connected to Daughter of Smoke and Bone because the main character also embodies these characteristics.

Set in Prague, Karou fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

This trilogy was full of twists and turns and emotional highs and lows that kept me on my toes! It is full of vivid landscapes and unique magic and a depth of world building that I haven’t read before. As well as a heroine who is both a creative young art student and an inspiration to her people in the middle of a brutal otherworldly war.

Abigail Timms, Jr. Designer

What Works by Cam Marston

I recently picked up a copy of What Works by Cam Marston, a book that covers successful traits and ideas from business owners interviewed on his radio show, What’s Working with Cam Marston. The 4th chapter “Be Persistent” really grabbed me, as someone who is a D on the DiSC assessment. One of the end quotes of the chapter is, “If the first attempt or approach doesn’t work, there is probably another path, or two or three, to your goal.”

Indeed, one of the joys of working in our industry is that there generally isn’t a fixed way to solve a problem. I love achieving results as quickly as possible, but not every problem can be solved with a hammer. Sometimes you need a scalpel, a shovel, or a lot more hammers.
Also, shamelessly shilling this Mobile-native's book. Buy it on Amazon!

Hunter Collier, Sr. Account Executive

Atomic Habits by James Clear

As a high D, I value productivity, results and efficiency. I love this book because it illustrates how habit forming can be the basis for success. Sometimes as a high D, I tend to value action above all else, but this book opened my eyes to the fact that a system and consistency can be just as important - if not more.

Samara Anderson, VP of Sales & Marketing

The Lady Hardcastle Series by T.E. Kinsey

I don't have a single book, but a whole series. The Lady Hardcastle Mystery Series, which just had a new entry called Rotten to the Core come out this year, is a fun, exciting series of Holmesian stories. The protagonist, Lady Hardcastle, is a retired secret agent for the British crown who routinely finds herself embroiled in some sort of derring-do and uses her powers of reasoning and skills as a secret agent to solve any number of mysteries. As a DC, I'm primed to enjoy catching errors or flaws in design, analyzing problems, and improving on others' ideas, all of which are core tenets of how Lady H goes about solving the mysteries she encounters.

Sterling Crawford, Project Manager

Want to check out some recs from other DiSC styles? Right this way.