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    Interactive assessment

    Leadership Development Needs Profiler

    Identify which area of leadership capability needs the most development attention right now, across five dimensions that determine leadership effectiveness.

    This profiler helps leaders and their organisations understand where to focus development investment for maximum impact. Research by DDI (2025) and McKinsey (2025) shows that targeted, prioritised development produces significantly better outcomes than generic programmes. Your lowest-scoring section identifies your most important development priority.

    Questions or items
    20 questions or items
    Completion time
    Around 10 minutes
    Dimensions
    Self-Leadership & Emotional Intelligence, Leading People & Teams, Communication & Influence, Strategic Leadership & Change, Coaching & Performance Development
    What you receive
    Personalised results with configured interpretation bands, section scores and development guidance.

    What it covers

    • Self-Leadership & Emotional Intelligence
    • Leading People & Teams
    • Communication & Influence
    • Strategic Leadership & Change
    • Coaching & Performance Development

    Rate each statement from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree) based on how consistently you demonstrate this capability right now, not how important you believe it is or how well you understand it intellectually. Your lowest-scoring section is your highest development priority.

    Results: Personalised results with configured interpretation bands, section scores and development guidance.

    How this interactive diagnostic works

    This page provides the documented overview before the interactive experience is loaded. It lets you read the purpose, the material covered and the way the result is presented without entering answers or sending a request. When you choose to continue, the interactive version uses the same material shown here. It records your selections while you work and only calculates its result when its required items are complete.

    Analytics consent is required before the interactive experience is mounted. Declining consent does not start the diagnostic or its tracking. If you continue, the existing experience remains responsible for its own input, score and lead-capture step. Where the route requests a first name and work email, its existing form handles validation and submission. This overview does not replace those steps or submit a lead.

    Statements in this diagnostic

    The interactive version groups the statements below by section. Read them in relation to the situation named in the instructions, then use the response scale shown by the diagnostic. The section descriptions are part of the existing configuration and explain the aspect each group is intended to examine.

    Self-Leadership & Emotional Intelligence

    Effective leadership begins with self-awareness and emotional regulation. Leaders who cannot lead themselves consistently underperform as leaders of others.

    1. I have strong self-awareness, I understand how my emotions, reactions, and moods affect the people around me
    2. I manage my reactions effectively in high-pressure or conflictual situations, consistently choosing response over reaction
    3. I can identify when I am operating from fear, ego, or anxiety rather than from purpose and principle
    4. I have a clear, honest picture of my leadership strengths and where my blind spots are most likely to show up

    Leading People & Teams

    The most critical leadership skill is the ability to build genuinely high-performing teams where trust is real, standards are clear, and people develop.

    1. I build genuine trust within my team through consistent, transparent, and vulnerable behaviour
    2. My team feels psychologically safe enough to raise problems, challenge decisions, and share bad news without fear of consequences
    3. My 1-to-1 conversations develop the people I lead as well as managing their performance
    4. I address underperformance directly, honestly, and supportively, rather than avoiding difficult conversations

    Communication & Influence

    Leadership is ultimately an act of communication. The ability to influence without authority, present with clarity, and adapt to different audiences is fundamental.

    1. I communicate complex ideas and strategic priorities clearly and compellingly to different audiences
    2. I can influence decisions and outcomes effectively without relying on my formal authority or position
    3. My presentations and written communications generate genuine engagement, alignment, and commitment
    4. I adapt my communication style deliberately and effectively to suit different people, contexts, and cultures

    Strategic Leadership & Change

    Strategic leaders translate ambiguity and complexity into clear direction and lead their organisations through change without losing people along the way.

    1. I think strategically, I understand the broader context and translate it into clear, actionable priorities for my team
    2. I lead change effectively, helping people understand why change is necessary and what it means for them personally
    3. I make good decisions under ambiguity and time pressure, with imperfect information and competing priorities
    4. I maintain strategic focus on the long term even when short-term pressures and operational demands are intense

    Coaching & Performance Development

    The most impactful leaders develop the capability of the people around them. Coaching and performance conversations are learnable, and underinvested in most organisations.

    1. I coach team members regularly in a way that builds their capability rather than solving problems for them
    2. I hold people to high performance standards in a way that feels motivating, fair, and clear, not punitive
    3. I create meaningful development plans with my team members that are followed through and revisited regularly
    4. My team members consistently grow and improve under my leadership, I can point to specific development I have enabled

    How the result is read

    The interactive diagnostic totals the selected item scores by section and across the whole assessment. It then matches those totals to the configured interpretation bands and shows the section-level results alongside the overall result.

    • Significant Development Opportunity, 20 to 44: Multiple leadership dimensions need focused attention. Your lowest-scoring section is your highest priority. A structured development programme targeted to your specific gaps will produce rapid progress. Begin there.
    • Developing Leader, 45 to 64: You have real leadership strengths alongside clear development priorities. Your lowest section score reveals where to focus first. Targeted development in 1-2 dimensions will lift your overall effectiveness significantly.
    • Capable Leader, 65 to 84: You lead effectively across most dimensions. Focus on the 1-2 sections where your score is lowest, closing these gaps will move you from capable to genuinely outstanding in your leadership impact.
    • Highly Effective Leader, 85 to 100: You lead with strength across all five dimensions. At this level, your development focus should be executive leadership challenges, coaching others to this standard, and nuanced situations where small improvements create disproportionate impact.

    Sources named in this diagnostic

    • DDI (2025) Global Leadership Forecast 2025. Pittsburgh, PA: Development Dimensions International.
    • McKinsey & Company (2025) The State of AI: How organisations are rewiring to capture value. McKinsey Global Institute.
    • Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. and McKee, A. (2002) Primal Leadership. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
    • Kotter, J.P. (1996) Leading Change. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
    • Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B.Z. (2017) The Leadership Challenge, 6th edn. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

    Where to take the next step

    Our leadership development programmes are bespoke and built around the capabilities your organisation needs.

    Explore Leadership Development

    Frequently asked questions

    What does the Leadership Development Needs Profiler measure?

    This profiler helps leaders and their organisations understand where to focus development investment for maximum impact. Research by DDI (2025) and McKinsey (2025) shows that targeted, prioritised development produces significantly better outcomes than generic programmes. Your lowest-scoring section identifies your most important development priority.

    How many questions are in the Leadership Development Needs Profiler?

    It contains 20 questions grouped into 5 dimensions: Self-Leadership & Emotional Intelligence, Leading People & Teams, Communication & Influence, Strategic Leadership & Change, Coaching & Performance Development.

    How is the Leadership Development Needs Profiler scored?

    Responses are scored within each section and totalled across the diagnostic. The total is compared with the configured interpretation bands.

    What happens after I complete the Leadership Development Needs Profiler?

    After the required items are answered, the existing first-name and email gate is shown before the results are displayed. The result includes an overall interpretation, section scores and development guidance.

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