In my years working with teams and organizations, I’ve found that self-awareness is perhaps the most underrated leadership skill. The better you know yourself, the more effectively you can navigate the world as a leader, colleague, and human being. While some dismiss personality assessments as simplistic or reductive, I’ve seen firsthand how these tools can provide valuable insights that help us understand our natural tendencies, strengths, and blind spots. When used thoughtfully, they offer a framework for personal growth and improved team dynamics.
Three personality assessments stand out as particularly valuable for leaders who want to deepen their self-awareness and enhance their ability to connect with others. Each offers a different lens through which to understand yourself and those around you.
The Power of Personality: Myers-Briggs
The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) remains one of the most widely used personality assessments. It classifies people into 16 different types based on four key dichotomies: Extraversion/Introversion, Sensing/Intuition, Thinking/Feeling, and Judging/Perceiving.
This assessment helps you understand your fundamental personality traits – how you gain energy, process information, make decisions, and structure your life. Knowing whether you’re an ENFP, ISTJ, or any other combination provides insight into your natural preferences and how they might differ from others on your team.
Behavioral Patterns: The DISC Assessment
While Myers-Briggs focuses on personality, the DISC assessment examines behavioral patterns. It categorizes behavior into four main styles:
- Dominance – direct, results-oriented, and decisive
- Influence – outgoing, enthusiastic, and optimistic
- Steadiness – patient, reliable, and team-oriented
- Conscientiousness – analytical, precise, and detail-focused
The DISC assessment is particularly useful for understanding how you respond to challenges, influence others, maintain stability, and follow rules and procedures. This knowledge can help you adapt your communication style when working with different team members.
Leveraging Natural Talents: StrengthsFinder
The third assessment I recommend is StrengthsFinder (now CliftonStrengths), which identifies your top natural talents from a list of 34 possible strengths. Unlike assessments that might highlight weaknesses, StrengthsFinder focuses on what you do best.
My own results revealed that strategy, activation, maximization, and positivity are among my top strengths. This explains why I feel energized when thinking through processes, developing strategic plans, and taking action. When I’m working within these strengths, I enter a state of flow that feels fulfilling and productive.
Understanding your strengths allows you to structure your work and leadership approach around what you do naturally well. It also helps you recognize and appreciate the different strengths others bring to the table.
Building Stronger Teams Through Self-Awareness
The value of these assessments extends beyond personal insight. When team members share their results, it creates a common language for discussing differences in work styles, communication preferences, and decision-making approaches.
For example, knowing that one team member is highly analytical while another is more intuitive can help you understand why they approach problems differently. Rather than seeing these differences as sources of conflict, you can leverage them as complementary perspectives.
Some benefits of using personality assessments with teams include:
- Improved communication through understanding different styles
- More effective delegation based on natural strengths
- Reduced conflict through greater empathy for different approaches
- Enhanced collaboration by leveraging diverse perspectives
The key is using these assessments as starting points for conversation rather than rigid boxes that limit potential.
Moving Beyond Labels
While these tools provide valuable frameworks, they should never be used to pigeonhole people or excuse behavior. Your Myers-Briggs type doesn’t determine what you can achieve, and your StrengthsFinder results don’t limit what skills you can develop.
The most valuable aspect of these assessments is how they prompt reflection and discussion. They give us language to talk about differences in a non-judgmental way and help us recognize that there’s no single “right” way to think, communicate, or lead.
In leadership positions especially, this knowledge is crucial. Understanding your natural tendencies helps you recognize when to lean into your strengths and when to adapt your approach to meet the needs of different situations and team members.
The ancient wisdom to “know thyself” remains one of the most important principles for effective leadership. These three assessments—Myers-Briggs, DISC, and StrengthsFinder—offer practical paths toward that knowledge, helping you become not just a more self-aware individual but a more responsive, adaptable, and effective leader.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How often should I retake personality assessments?
While your core personality traits tend to remain stable, your behaviors and strengths can evolve over time as you gain new experiences and skills. I recommend revisiting these assessments every few years or after significant life changes to see how you’ve developed. This can be particularly valuable when taking on new leadership roles or facing unfamiliar challenges.
Q: What if I disagree with my assessment results?
Trust your own self-knowledge. These assessments are tools, not definitive judgments. If certain aspects don’t resonate with you, that’s valuable information too. Consider discussing the results with trusted colleagues who know you well to gain additional perspective. The goal is increased self-awareness, not perfect alignment with a predefined type.
Q: How can I introduce personality assessments to my team without creating division?
Frame these tools as opportunities for mutual understanding rather than ways to categorize or label people. Start by sharing your own results and what you’ve learned about yourself. Emphasize that different types and strengths are all valuable and necessary for team success. Use the results to foster appreciation for diversity rather than creating an environment where certain types are seen as “better” than others.
