Leadership Assessment and Development Tools Explained

Senior leaders know that leadership capability and good leadership is not about inherent ability alone. They also recognise that the days of a senior title commanding respect have gone, and instead each leader at every level of an organisation is being assessed based on their ability to lead and how supportive they are of their teams and others across the business. But why do some leaders make it look so easy and others find it a constant struggle? One of the reasons for this is because the most effective and influential leaders understand the necessity of continually improving their own leadership skills. It isn’t just about inspiring teams, it’s about knowing yourself first. The best leadership assessment tools provide valuable insight into how leaders perform and, in some cases, why they favour particular behaviours. However, when you dip into assessing leadership and assessment profiling tools it can be quite confusing as to which one to use.

DiSC

The DiSC profile is designed to help participants build more effective relationships through engaging with a deeper understanding of themselves and others. It is a leadership assessment tool that offers insight into engaging individuals, tackling workplace conflict, and teaching leadership skills to managers. Your DiSC assessment will fall into one of four profile types that indicate whether a person is more task or people oriented. Some may criticise this as being a generalisation of personality type, or somewhat of a “labelling” exercise, but knowing your DiSC profile can be helpful in understanding how you approach certain challenges.

Hogan 360º Report

The 360º Degree Feedback tool is one of the top ways to profile leaders to help them understand their leadership style. It involves collecting feedback from colleagues and team members about the individual’s strengths and weaknesses. From this, they are able to gain insight into how they are perceived in terms of their attitude, behaviour, and performance. As this assessment can be answered anonymously, honest feedback is invited though there is a possibility of also receiving unconstructive comments due to personal bias. To get the most out of the Hogan 360º Report, it is best to get as many responses as possible to better identify any recurring trends. 

Human Synergistics

The Human Synersistics Circumplex measures constructive, passive, and aggressive behaviours. It is used in both the Life Styles Inventory and Group Styles Inventory assessments. The LSI is a leadership assessment tool for individuals that helps them clarify their personal understanding of their own behaviour and the thinking behind their actions. The GSI can be used for teams to assess behaviours during team decision-making processes. It provides insight into how the group functions as a whole, allowing them to clearly identify what helps or hinders their performance. Leadership assessment tools for teams serve as a means of demonstrating where improvements can be made in order to build successful high performing teams. 

Regularly reflecting on past behaviours and performance is key to strengthening weaknesses and improving existing strengths. There are numerous tools available that leaders and teams can participate in to identify their leadership style. We have spoken about a small number of them here, and to discuss them all could become overwhelming. Each person or organisation will have different reasons for choosing to use tools like these. Selecting the leadership assessment and development tool, or tools, that best suit your needs is vital to achieving your desired outcome goals.

How do you incorporate reflection and development in your leadership practices?

About the Author: The Leadership Sphere

The Leadership Sphere helps small and medium businesses and larger organisations in Australia, in creating value through leadership. The Leadership Sphere provides a humanistic approach to the way it delivers leadership, performance, and coaching services. We work with leaders and senior teams who need to gain increased clarity, build capability and ensure contribution at every level in the organisation, and enable a safe, inclusive and high trust organisation.

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