This is a review of a new assessment tool for those who, like me, use them in coaching, leadership development, change management, Board room facilitation and succession planning. It explores The GC Index® – a Leadership and Board Assessment tool. An overview of other frequently-used assessment tools appears as an introduction for context and comparison.
Individual assessment tools
I’ve written before about some commonly used assessment tools. For example, in this article on creativity I provide overview tools such as:
- MBTI (Myers Brigg Type Indicator – based on Jungian psychology)
- DISC (Dominance Influence Steadiness and Conscientiousness)
- HBDI (Herrman Brain Dominance Instrument)
- KAI (Kirton Adaptation-Innovation Inventory)
- ECCI-I (Epstein Creativity Competencies Inventory)
I explore these and other assessments in my book on Better Business Relationships too.
I am qualified in the British Psychological Society’s (BPS) NEO PI-R personality inventory which explores the “Big Five” personality traits of: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.
This short fun video talks about dogs, cats and bear personalities and motivations but mentions some other personality assessment tools such as the much older 16PF , the more modern Hogans and Deloitte’s Business Chemistry® for business relationships.
There are also assessments to consider how people learn best – like Kolb so that you can design effective learning programmes. NLP also provides a framework for assessing the sensory preferences of people so that you can tailor your communication style accordingly.
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is an important measure of a set of intrapersonal and inter-personal skills. It is also a predictor of many other soft skills – and an important requirement for leadership. Whereas personality is relatively fixed, emotional intelligence can be developed and enhanced. There’s a short introductory video on empathy and emotional intelligence and this book on emotional intelligence comes with an online EQ assessment. Emotional intelligence featured strongly in my 2020 research publication on “Essential Soft Skills for Lawyers”.
Team assessment tools
There are tools available for assessing how people behave in a team. Probably one of the most famous is Belbin. This sees people assessed against the following roles:
- Shaper (Task focus)
- Co-ordinator (Leads)
- Plant (Has ideas)
- Resource Instigator (Gets things)
- Monitor Evaluator (Checks/asks questions)
- Team Worker (Promotes harmony)
- Implementor (Systematic)
- Completer Finisher (Does the job)
- Specialist (Expert knowledge)
I have used Belbin successfully when supporting the development of leadership teams. You can access online Belbin tests for your team here.
Another test that I use regularly is Colour Insights. This helps you to see how fiery red, cool blue, earth green or sunshine yellow you are – and can be valuable in understanding the way that different people within a team interact. I used it recently as a preparatory exercise for a Board away day – using an external assessor – and it led to helpful insights and a more productive dialogue between Board members.
Someone recently mentioned a book “It’s a zoo around here – the new rules for better communication” by Nigel Riser which categorises people into lions, monkeys, elephants and dolphins. It’s fun but not evidence-based.
As an introduction to facilitation, here are some ideas on how to facilitate groups.
The GC Index®
For those in the legal sector, this has nothing to do with GC for General Counsel. Although I think many law firms – most of which are partnership structures – would find the tool helpful.
The GC Index was created by Nathan Ott (co-author of two studies: The DNA Of A Game Changer and The DNA Of A Game-Changing Team) and Dr John Mervyn-Smith (a clinical and occupational psychologist and coach) in a collaboration with Professor Adrian Furnham (a professor in both psychology and management who has written over 700 scientific papers and 57 books). It explores the idea of multi-dimensional leadership.
“An Organimetric (organisation metric) is a measurement framework and language that identifies individual and collective impact and how people contribute to the achievement of organisational goals.” This assessment tool profiles your proclivities – the ways in which you feel most engaged and energised when it comes to making an impact on the world. It aims to help people “play to their strengths” and maximise their contribution to a role, team and organisation.
These differences in people’s proclivities for making an impact are underpinned by an individual’s:
- Capacity for original thought (imagination)
- Drive to turn ideas into reality (obsession)
The short online assessment looks at spectra relating to:
- idea focused and task focused (many leadership models consider task focus and relationship focus)
- imagination and action
- pragmatism and obsession
This results in five categories:
- A drive to create collaborative endeavour and collective contribution. (The need for collaboration in the future was made abundantly clear in the book “The Human Edge” )
- The Play Maker – Orchestrates the future
- Ideas and possibilities:
- The Game Changer – Transforms the future
- The Strategist – Maps the future
- Tangible outcomes in the pursuit of excellence
- The Implementer – Builds the future
- The Polisher – Creates a future to be proud of
It is particularly useful at assessing whether individuals will thrive in a large, corporate organisation or a smaller business. And it could help identify what adaptations were required if adjusting to a different environment. So I can see its value in assessing Board level hires.
I liked that the model extends the concept of visionary and integrator leaders which is described by the authors of the book “Rocket Fuel” which is excellent for two-person, dual leadership teams in entrepreneurial companies which I have found invaluable in many of my smaller property clients.
It seems like the Game Changer is an “outside the box”, thought leader who has inventive ideas about the future and the vision. The Strategist identifies the options for how to get there, the Implementer makes it happen and the Polisher makes it all work and finds better ways to do things. The Play Maker focuses on getting the best from others, individually and collectively, in support of agreed objectives.
I was pleased (relieved!) to learn that I am equally strong as a Strategist and an Implementer – which makes sense when much of my work is as a pragmatic strategy consultant. And this combination is similar to that of Anna Patricia Botin – Executive chairman of Santander Group and highly ranked amongst the most powerful women in the world. That’s a motivating exemplar for me.
The cost of individual assessment reports and individual and group feedback sessions are on a par with other assessment tools – i.e. remarkably good value.
You can obtain more information on The GC Index® game changing impact tool. Or get in touch and I will direct you to an assessor who has huge experience of accountancy and law firm cultures and leaders.
