I’m a big fan of assessment tools – anything that helps us get a better grasp of who we are, how we function, and what we do best SHOULD (all other things being equal) lead to better work outcomes.
It won’t change a wobbling company, or a bad manager, but a solid self-awareness should help professionals improve performance and make better decisions.
Recently, I took the SDI (Strength Deployment Inventory) and it was eye-opening. Years ago, I went through the StrengthsFinder exercise and I have to say, it was life-changing. Finally, many of my drives, abilities, and weaknesses came into focus. It helped propel my journey into realizing that I was more a consultant than a salesperson.
I just finished reading a book on my iPad for the first time (always have favored real paper, but the e-book was actually quite a pleasant experience) – the folks that put out the SDI (Personal Strengths Publishing) just published a book called Have A Nice Conflict, which is about our motivation styles (in general, and then in conflict – interesting thesis). They are now an Impactiviti partner, so if you’d like to find out more, let me know.
What assessments have you found helpful, for you and for your sales/management teams? Everyone uses DISC, it seems (I have partners who can help with this, too, by the way!). Has your department used assessments in such as a way as to drive significant change in training, and behaviors? What approaches seem to work best?
If you have any particular program or provider you would most highly recommend, what/who would it be? Let me know in the comments or in a private e-mail (stevew at impactiviti dot com) – I’d love to get feedback on your experiences.
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Impactiviti is the Pharmaceutical Connection Agency. As the eHarmony of sales/training/marketing, we help our pharma/biotech clients find optimal outsource vendors for training, eMarketing, social media, and more.
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