Increase your self-insight with personality tests

Understanding assessments

Personality tests and assessments are widely used tools in psychology and human resources to measure and evaluate an individual's behavioral traits, preferences, and motivations. They provide valuable insights into your behavioral tendencies, allowing you to better understand your strengths and weaknesses. This self-awareness can guide career choices, improve job performance, and enhance personal satisfaction. Additionally, personality assessments can help you identify areas for further development and growth, enabling you to maximize your potential and achieve success in different roles.

Know thyself

Science or bogus?

Personality tests and assessments have been a topic of disagreement among psychologists and HR professionals. Some people think they don't fully show the details of a person's character. This could result in unfairness and misunderstandings.

It is important to note that interpreting these assessments by trained professionals is crucial to ensure accurate and meaningful results. Additionally, personality tests should not be used as the basis for making important decisions, such as hiring or promotion, but rather as one tool in a comprehensive assessment process.

A 20-year collection of tests and assessments

Aside from the debate about scientific validity, personality assessments are an excellent resource for increasing my self-insight. Only by knowing myself can I lead myself. Self-leadership is the conditio sine qua non of leadership.

I did my first personality test, the MBTI, in 2003 on paper. I can't even remember all the tests and assessments I took over the next few decades, but here's a non-exhaustive list of the ones I find valuable. The order does not indicate a ranking or a chronology.

01.

Not your traditional personality test but an action-mode assessment. Thirty-six questions assess your instinctive way of doing things, resulting in your MO (operation method).
You can read more in my blog post here.

Kolbe A Index

02.

Enneagram

This widely used personality typing system focuses on nine personality types and their motivations. I would strongly suggest that a certified Enneagram professional interpret your results. Contact my ex-colleague Nadine at TalentHike for a comprehensive discussion.

03.

DISC (free)

A behavioral assessment tool that measures an individual's dominance, influence, steadiness, and conscientiousness.

04.

StrengthsFinder

A test that identifies an individual's top strengths out of a list of 34 themes. Understanding your strengths can help guide career choices, improve job performance, and enhance personal satisfaction.
Here, I also advise you to seek the guidance of a professional coach. Reach out to my former coach, Veronika Wuyts.

05.

The Big Five Personality Traits (free)

A comprehensive assessment that measures five critical aspects of personality: how open-minded and curious you are, how organized and responsible you tend to be, how outgoing and sociable you are, how friendly and cooperative you are, and how prone to negative emotions and anxiety you are. Supposedly, this is the only scientifically valid personality test.

06.

Emotional Agility (free)

Navigating and adapting to your emotions effectively allows you to manage stress, make better decisions, and build positive relationships. It involves being aware of and accepting your emotions while also being able to regulate them healthily and productively. Developing emotional agility can lead to greater resilience and overall well-being.

07.

Core talents

This assessment gauges your natural talent, intrinsic motivation, and development potential based on how you liked to play as a child. Your 23 core talents give a precise and complete insight into what you want, what you can do, and what suits you. So you know exactly what gives or costs you energy, what makes you happy or exhausts you. Now, tomorrow, and in 20 years.
Read more in my LinkedIn post here. Find a certified CoreTalents analyst here. For the Flemings, you can use VDAB loopbaancheques to pay for this coaching.

08.

Predictive Index

This behavioral assessment tool provides insights into your work-related behaviors and drives. It can predict job performance and compatibility with different roles within an organization. PI distinguishes 17 reference profiles, each representing a distinct combination of behavioral characteristics.
Contact a certified PI practitioner, i.e., Philip Verlinden or Jan Scheck.

09.

Lencioni's Working Genius

This assessment tool helps you understand your unique working genius and how you can contribute most effectively to a team or organization. Each of us has two areas that are considered our true geniuses or gifts. These are the activities that give us joy, energy, and passion. These are your areas of Working Genius. Two of the six types are your Working Frustrations, activities that rob you of joy and energy. Most of us aren’t very skilled in these areas. The final two are the Working Competencies, activities that neither feed nor drain us and which we can do fairly well for a limited period of time.

10.

Daring Leadership (free)

The incontournable Brene Brown assesses four skill sets that are teachable, observable, and measurable: Rumbling with Vulnerability, Living into Our Values, Braving Trust, and Learning to Rise.

11.

MBTI

Ray Dalio's test helps you understand deeply how you prefer to think, engage, and apply yourself across the 17 core dimensions of your personality. Principles You groups 28 archetypes into 10 categories representing a larger theme.

12.

Insights

This well-marketed test helps you understand your style, strengths, and the value they bring to the team. The color energies determine how and why people behave the way they do.
You'll need a certified Insights practitioner to interpret your results. I did Insights twice, many years apart. My changed working context resulted in the dominant colors, blue and red, switching positions.

13.

Principles You (free)

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is another famous personality test that provides insights into your preferences in four key areas: extraversion/introversion, sensing/intuition, thinking/feeling, and judging/perceiving. It categorizes individuals into 16 different personality types based on these preferences, allowing you to understand your natural tendencies and interactions with others better. You'll need a certified MBTI coach to interpret your results.
I have also done the MBTI twice over a few decades. One letter changed.

An opinion

After doing plenty of tests and assessments, you'll have a pretty good idea of who you are.

If you have to choose, start with CoreTalents, Enneagram, Predictive Index, and Strengths Finder.

I find the most added value in those tests when a subject-matter expert thoroughly explains the result. And it becomes genuinely transformational if a coach can work extensively with you on this. A coach who is well-versed in these assessments helps you navigate the results and apply them effectively in your personal and professional lives.

Final thoughts

There is no doubt personality tests and assessments help you understand yourself better. Combining these tests with other assessments helps you succeed better in different roles. You can make informed decisions about your career path and personal development by understanding your strengths and weaknesses. These assessments can also improve your relationships with others by providing insights into how you interact and communicate with different personality types.

What's holding you back?

Nothing changes unless you change.

14.

Innduce me

An objective situational judgment test on 20 innovation abilities using 15 real-world examples to determine your current innovation profile.

1. Ideation: Can you come up with and choose unique solutions?

2. Championing: Can you locate the resources for implementation?

3. Implementation: Can you put new ideas into action?