I saw a social media post recently from a job seeker who shared that the hiring company had asked him to take a personality assessment – after sharing with him the specific personality profile from that assessment that they were looking for in their leaders.
Several things about that story made me go, “Hmmm??”
For now, I’ll concentrate on this: I am not a fan of using simple assessment profile labels to determine fitness for a position or role.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not opposed to assessments. I use one as part of my standard coaching package. But the assessment I used doesn’t just give someone a single number or set of letters as a label to define their identity. Instead, it reports their preferences and tendencies across a wide array of leadership-specific competencies. This gives us a screening tool to help us determine where to invest our time together to help them grow in the leadership areas that matter most to them.
As you evaluate your own leadership skills, don’t be tricked in to comparing your personality with that of another leader you respect. Don’t fall prey to identifying yourself as a label or archetype from an assessment of personality or characteristics. Those labels can be helpful, but they don’t define you.
Any personality type can become an effective leader, as long as you’re willing to develop the skills.
If you’d like to learn more about the leadership competency assessment I use with my clients, let’s talk. Visit stevedwire.com/talk to start the conversation.
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