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Hey my friend,

Hope last week was good!☕️

On my side, we got some serious unpacking done.
Car arrived, dog arrived, appliances arrived. Wifi is still🤬 though.
It’s a new province, a new company, new people. A culture shock, and I need to adjust.
To the business, the people, and the unwritten rules of how things get done.

Lately, I’ve been revisiting Emotional Intelligence to help me with this.
And one of my favourite frameworks: DISC.
The same one popularised by Thomas Eriksson’s “Surrounded by Idiots”.

I thought it would be good to apply it to one of the most fascinating leadership contrasts in pop culture: Tywin vs. Tyrion Lannister.

Same role.
Two wildly different styles.
Who was the better Hand of the King?

Grab your coffee.

Let’s chat!

Context - The COO of the Seven Kingdoms

In Game of Thrones, the Hand of the King is basically the COO of Westeros.

Running the strategy, finance, operations, and incident management while the King plays figurehead.

If things go well, the King gets the credit.
If things go badly, the Hand gets the blame…
Possibly their head on a spike.

It’s the ultimate high-stakes leadership gig.

Tywin and Tyrion both held the role at different points in the series.

But who was better?

The DISC Model in 60 seconds.

DISC comes in handy in assessing the style used by each Hand.

The point isn’t to pick your favourite colours on the chart.
It’s to realise you probably have a default style…
And so does everyone you lead.

And this knowledge can help you work better with them.

Ok, let’s see where Tyrion and Tywin end up on this model.

Tywin Lannister - Red Blue (Dominant, Conscientious)

“A lion does not concern himself with the opinion of the sheep.” - Tywin Lannister

Tywin was decisive, disciplined, and ruthlessly strategic.

A classic Red–Blue DISC blend.

• Red (Dominance): Direct, results-driven, unafraid to make hard calls.

• Blue (Conscientiousness): Analytical, structured, and disciplined.

This style delivers short-term wins through clarity and control, but often creates long-term instability by alienating allies and fostering fear.

Tyrion - Yellow Green (Influential, Steady)

“I try to know as many people as I can. You never know which one you’ll need.” - Tyrion Lannister

Tyrion leaned on charm, empathy, and adaptability.

A Yellow–Green DISC mix.

• Yellow (Influence): Persuasive, charismatic, socially agile.

• Green (Steadiness): Patient, supportive, relationship-focused.

This style builds loyalty and resilience, creating networks that survive political storms.

But, it sometimes avoids necessary confrontation.

How can you use the DISC model?

The first step is to recognise that everyone is a mix of all 4 colours.

But there are usually 2 “dominant” colours.

DISC can help you spot your natural default, and show you which style you might need to flex into for the situation in front of you.

So Who Was the Better Hand?

The truth? Neither.

If you run everything like Tywin, Red–Blue all the way:
You’ll drive results, but burn people out.

If you float through as Tyrion, Yellow–Green all charm and connection":
You’ll build loyalty, but risk missing hard deadlines.

In the modern workplace, the best leader isn’t 100% Tywin or 100% Tyrion.
It’s the one who can switch hands when the game changes:

• Think like Tywin when discipline, decisiveness, and execution are needed.

• Influence like Tyrion when empathy, diplomacy, and trust will win the day.

Key Takeaway

Your default leadership style might get you far.

But your range, your ability to shift gears, is what will keep you in the game.

In the corporate Game of Thrones, the real power belongs to the leader who knows when to change hands.

Hope the DISC model helps you understand others better and build stronger relationships at work!

Till next week, friend ☕️ 

Vaugan

Chess Puzzle

White to play and force mate.

Move the pieces and try to solve here.

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