PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS FOR LEADERSHIP POSITIONS

Leadership development courses are an important area of focus for any L&D function. Effective leadership development courses lead to improved business outcomes, a more cohesive organization, and greater business adaptability. As a result, it is critical to ensure that leadership strengths are effectively leveraged and that challenges are addressed through initiatives such as training and leadership development courses. The first step in leadership development is to better understand leaders – what motivates them, their strengths and challenges, and others’ perceptions of the leadership inventory. This is where psychometric assessments for leaders come in handy. 

Wiley’s Everything DiSC has a suite of leadership assessments focused on four key leadership perspectives: business, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and team. Wiley’s three different psychometric assessments aid in understanding these leadership perspectives and creating better leadership development courses: 

Everything DiSC Work of Leaders – The DiSC Model and the VAE framework are used in the Everything DiSC Work of Leaders to help leaders understand their leadership preferences, strengths, and challenges, as well as where they stand in terms of leadership best practices. Julie Straw and colleagues conducted four years of research on 300 leaders from 150 organizations. The assessment defines leadership as a one-to-many relationship that proceeds through a three-step process.: 

• Crafting a Vision 
• Building Alignment  
• Championing Execution 

Each stage of the leadership process has three motivations and two behavioral best practices. The assessment assists leaders in determining their DiSC style. This allows them to better understand their own leadership preferences, strengths, and challenges. The VAE Model and its associated behavioral best practices provide specific insights into each leader’s position in relation to global leadership best practices. This assists leaders in developing effective leadership development courses. 

Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders – The 363 for Leaders is Wiley’s second leadership assessment. This is a 360° survey that provides valuable feedback to leaders on eight leadership dimensions and the practices that go with them. The survey solicits responses from the respondent, direct reports, manager, peers, and others. This assists leaders in determining how various stakeholders perceive their leadership style. To identify gaps in the leadership brand, an analysis of self-vs. others feedback is provided. The assessment is based on the DiSC Model, but the results focus on the leadership dimensions rather than the leader’s individual DiSC style. The survey is called a 363 rather than a 360 because it offers three improvement strategies. 

Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team – Wiley’s third leadership assessment focuses on developing cohesive leadership teams. This assessment combines the DiSC Model and Patrick Lencioni’s Five Behaviors Model. The assessment is divided into two parts. The first focuses on identifying each team member’s DiSC style through a self-assessment. The second component is the team survey, which collects feedback from all team members and rates the team on the five behaviors of a cohesive team, which are trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results. The report also discusses how each team member’s DiSC style affects the five behaviors. This leadership team assessment assists them in identifying dysfunctional team behaviors and developing an action plan for building a cohesive team. 

Psychometric assessments for leaders provide evidence-based and unbiased insights into leadership behaviors. Such insights are invaluable and an effective first step in creating impactful leadership development courses through leadership coaching or training.