People who know me, know that I love talking about my favorite topics of leadership development and closing the talent capabilities gap. So when Gene Hammett asked me to be a guest on his podcast “Leaders in the Trenches,” it was a no brainer.

We had a great time, and we really got to the heart of the benefits of using a data-driven approach with an assessment tool to drive leadership development. The podcast is live now, so check it out at http://www.leadersinthetrenches.com/213

We also talked about companies who promote people who are really good at what they do and ask them to be leaders, but don’t give them the tools. They need to learn a completely different set of skills. In my 15 years of doing this, I have had great success using the Everything DISC family of assessment tools from Wiley to help organizations close talent capabilities gaps and build strong leadership teams. It takes a village to develop talent, and companies who commit to it at every level with every leader and incorporate it into their culture, have the most success.

Some of the topics we covered include:

• How to guarantee ROI on using assessments like DISC. Oftentimes, companies invest in tools but the actual data ends up unused, in a drawer. We talked about the best ways companies can get the most out of the investment.
• The benefits of a data-driven approach. Emerging leaders need real information to understand who they are – how they process information, how they communicate, their stressors and motivators – and to better understand these same factors in the people around them. DISC helps leaders understand how to get the best from people and how to leverage it – not try to fix or change people.
• Best uses of DISC. There are several recommended ways to use an assessment tool like DISC, based on your organization’s goals and its size. We talked about these applications, which include integrating it into your existing leadership development program, as an onboarding tool and as a pilot program with one team or department in your company, before expanding it to the larger organization.

If you are interested in getting your internal training team certified to use DISC, visit our Everything DiSC Certification Workshops registration page.. If you need help closing the talent capabilities gap or enhancing your leadership development program, contact us at www.powersresourcecenter.com/contact/