Discover Your Leadership Style with Personality Assessments
Great leadership begins with self-awareness. Understanding your strengths, weaknesses, and how you naturally interact with others is key to becoming an effective leader. This is especially true for new leaders, first-time leaders, and new managers who are just starting to develop their leadership skills. One of the best ways to gain this understanding is through personality and leadership assessments. Tools like The 5 Voices by GiANT Worldwide, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), DISC assessment, and StrengthsFinder provide valuable insights into your personality traits and leadership style, helping you lead more authentically and strategically.
Why Take Personality Assessments?
As a leader, especially if you're a new manager or first-time leader, you're constantly interacting with people—whether it's your team, peers, or other stakeholders. How you communicate, make decisions, and handle stress are all influenced by your personality. However, we don’t always see ourselves clearly, and that’s where assessments can be incredibly helpful.
Personality and leadership assessments are designed to reveal your natural tendencies, highlighting how you approach challenges, build relationships, and lead others. These insights can transform the way you lead by helping you leverage your strengths and improve in areas that may be holding you back.
Four Powerful Tools to Better Understand Yourself
The 5 Voices by GiANT Worldwide
The 5 Voices helps you discover your leadership voice among five types: Nurturer, Creative, Guardian, Connector, and Pioneer. This tool helps you understand not only your natural voice but also how to communicate with those who may speak a different "voice." By identifying your primary and secondary voices, you can recognize how you lead and how others perceive you. Understanding these voices enhances team dynamics, helping you collaborate more effectively and ensuring that all perspectives are heard.
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The MBTI is one of the most well-known personality assessments, and it classifies individuals into one of 16 personality types based on how they perceive the world and make decisions. The MBTI explores key dimensions like introversion vs. extroversion, thinking vs. feeling, and sensing vs. intuition, helping you understand how you gather information and interact with others. Knowing your type can help you play to your strengths and identify areas where you might need to adapt as a leader.
StrengthsFinder
StrengthsFinder, developed by Gallup, helps you identify your top five strengths out of 34 potential areas. Instead of focusing on weaknesses, this assessment encourages leaders to build on their natural talents. By knowing your strengths, you can focus on what you do best and align your leadership style to maximize your impact.
DISC Assessment
The DISC assessment focuses on four primary personality traits: Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness. This tool is especially helpful for understanding how you communicate and collaborate with others. By knowing your DISC profile, you can become more aware of how you come across to your team and make adjustments to improve your communication and leadership effectiveness.
How These Assessments Improve Your Leadership
Gain Self-Awareness
Assessments give you a clearer understanding of your personality traits and how they affect your leadership. You’ll learn how you respond to different situations, how you prefer to communicate, and where you might struggle. This awareness allows you to be more intentional in how you lead, making it easier to adapt your approach based on the needs of your team or organization.
Improve Team Dynamics
Understanding your own leadership style also helps you understand the dynamics of your team. For example, if you know you’re more task-focused (as revealed by DISC or MBTI), you can make a conscious effort to connect with team members who value relationship-building. By understanding both your strengths and the strengths of those around you, you’ll be able to foster stronger collaboration and trust within your team.
Lead Authentically
When you know your strengths and natural tendencies, you can lead in a way that’s authentic to you. Assessments like StrengthsFinder encourage leaders to lean into their talents rather than trying to mold themselves into someone they’re not. Authentic leadership builds trust and credibility with your team, making you a more effective leader.
Develop a Growth Plan
Leadership assessments don’t just show you where you excel—they also highlight areas for growth. With this knowledge, you can create a targeted development plan to improve your leadership skills. Whether it’s improving communication, decision-making, or conflict resolution, these insights give you a roadmap for continuous improvement.
Final Thoughts
Taking personality and leadership assessments is a powerful step in your leadership journey, especially if you're a new leader or first-time manager. These tools help you gain a deeper understanding of who you are, how you interact with others, and where you can grow. The more you know about yourself, the better equipped you’ll be to lead with confidence and clarity.
So, whether you’re new to leadership or a seasoned pro, consider investing time in assessments like The 5 Voices, MBTI, DISC, or StrengthsFinder. The insights you gain will help you unlock your full potential and lead more effectively.