Personality Assessments Help Managers Discover Their Innate Leadership Traits
What skills are needed to lead during times of disruptive change? Does your personality and management style match up with those skills?
These questions have become increasingly relevant across industry sectors as organizations confront the digital era.
"The same talents and skills that got you over as a leader 10 years ago, those have totally changed. There are new things that you need to be bringing to the table," said Larry Olmstead, president and executive consultant for Leading Edge Associates. "If you're not aware of who you are and what you're bringing, you're going to all of a sudden find yourself saying, 'Hey I was succeeding five years ago and now I'm failing.'"
This is particularly true of the media industry. Last year, Leading Edge released a competency model for transformational leadership in media, developed in collaboration with ASSESS Systems - a psychological assessment company operated by Bigby, Havis & Associates - and the Newspaper Association of America.
The model outlines the skills needed to succeed in the new fast-paced environment. The top four:
- Vision - identifying strategic goals and championing innovation;
- Customer focus - identifying customers' needs and anticipating new markets;
- Championing change - promoting and implementing change initiatives;
- Driving results - pushing the organization and self to excel and achieve.
The model was based on a review of research, online surveys and several dozen interviews with leaders in news media and other industries that have experienced organizational transformation.
JoAnn McMillan, chief operating officer of Dallas-based ASSESS Systems, said a competency model is important because "it conveys expectations about what is important in that job." The model can be used to develop hiring and selection criteria and to help determine an employee's developmental needs.
While a person's experiences, education and concrete accomplishments might be easily measured, a person's innate traits are more difficult to identify. Leading Edge uses ASSESS Systems's psychological assessment tools to help guide leaders toward a better understanding of how their personality traits and management style match up with the skills needed to lead in the industry today.
One of those tools is the ASSESS Personality Survey, a 350-question, 45-minute assessment that individuals take online. Another is the ASSESS 360 feedback tool, a survey of co-workers, supervisors and subordinates that asks questions about that individual, geared toward the targeted leadership model for the company.
"These tools have been very well received," Olmstead said. "And the reason they have been is that they give participants some very specific objective feedback and insights, which help them have a good conversation about themselves and others. For most people, that's a fascinating discussion."
Olmstead advises managers and individuals to keep in mind that a person's personality profile is just one facet of a person's background.
"What we tell people is never to make a decision solely on a personality test," he said. "It's just another piece of data."
The data can be used to help managers determine whether they are good fits for the positions they hold; whether there are other roles they can better play in the company, or whether they need to find ways to compensate for weaker areas.
"If you're a manager or a leader, those are tough roles," Olmstead said. "Anything you can get to give you insight on how you can do your job better is good stuff."