How can you use psychometric tools to gain insights into a coachee's personality?

There are multiple psychometric tools that exist, each measuring some aspect of personality. First, define what's that you want to measure Second, identify a tool that can help you measure Third, map the findings with your observations and see if they correlate Fourth, reconcile multiple aspects of the personality to get a complete picture

One of the things I have found helpful about using a psychometric tool in coaching is that it can allow me to fast forward uncovering insights that may take time to emerge in the coaching relationship. When I use a psychometric tool, I prefer a 360 that allows the data to show where there is a difference in how someone experiences themselves versus how they are experienced by others. This can help with building self-awareness especially when someone has a blind spot to their impact.

I believe that psychometric assessments have great value to add to the coaching relationship. Particularly those assessments like the Five Lens Enneagram, which is a self-development tool and behavioural assessments which gives great insights into many facets of the coachee's personality and self/ leadership style. It is a holistic report which covers 5 areas (Lenses) - Personal Mastery, Emotional Resilience, Social Drives, Energy Centres and the Enneagram. These types of assessments would be beneficial in coaching as they would assist the coachee to understand their behavioural responses to the environment and thus be able to identify what issues they are facing and be able to find effective solutions.

Using psychometric tools like Hogan assessments provides deep insights into a coachee's personality and behaviors. These tools offer a comprehensive understanding of their work style, potential concerns, and values. Interpreting results within the coachee's goals and organizational context allows a nuanced understanding, contributing to targeted coaching strategies and the coachee's professional success. These tools form a foundation for personalized coaching, aiming to leverage strengths, tackle challenges, and align with the coachee's values. By addressing strengths and challenges revealed by assessments, coaching strategies can be tailored to foster a more effective leader.

As certified assessor I can assure that psychometric tools can be useful for coaching because they can: Uncover what may be inner blocks or blind spots that hinder the coachee’s performance or development. Correlate personality with work and life skills and identify areas for improvement or enhancement. Uncover hidden strengths and talents that can be leveraged or developed further. Enable monitoring progress and evaluating the effectiveness of the coaching intervention. Support customization of the coaching process to the coachee’s needs, goals, and learning style.

For those who find most tools outdated and archaic, I recently discovered System-3. Their assessment process is an engaging simulation that is minimally biased compared to most tools, and the report is extremely insightful.

In my experience, the Gallup StrenghsFinder also works as a great tool to start coaching conversations and discussing Talents at work. Effort towards natural talents, can give exponential results on performance. Also, there are various exercises that can be done with the coaches during the sessions to get into deeper depths of reflection.

I use Stakeholder Centered Coaching for executives. It has it's own measurement tools to determine if leaders have improved. The only use I have for psychometric tests is prior to embarking on a coaching engagement. I want a tool that will measure the leadert's level of Courage, Discipline and Humility, if such a tool exists. And the only tool that comes close to giving me such information is Harrison InnerView.

Most of the commercially available tools are well validated and stand for reliability. However, no two tools are created equal, hence depending on the client’s coaching needs and context selecting the right tool is important. I prefer values in action (VIA) character strength and Hogan inventories for their robust scientific rigor and widespread use over the decades

Regardlress of the tools you have at your disposal, the ultimate value of any tool you use is going to vary based on the person you're coaching because personality is a fluid concept. The outcome of each tool that is most important is how the person taking the test views themselves. Often, psychometric tools become most valuable in helping a person craft a narrative for themselves and others. Spend time to discover through coaching what resonates with the person the most and use that as a launching point for further conversations about how best to use the results of the tool you're using. If you have access to multiple tools or platforms, consider the end goal for each person or team when picking and choosing.

In my experience... using psychometric tools is key to understanding a coachee's personality. Administering Tools: Start by choosing the right tool for your coachee's needs. Ensure they're comfortable and understand the purpose. Using Hogan Assessments: For example, the Hogan Personality Inventory provides insight into everyday personality, aiding in predicting job performance. Interpreting Results: Analyze the results to identify strengths and areas for growth. This helps tailor coaching strategies to the individual's unique personality profile.

As a business coach, when providing feedback on psychometric tools to a client, it's important to explain the tool and its purpose before use, then discuss the results in a detailed and objective manner. Emphasize that these tools aren't fully accurate but can provide helpful insights. Personalize the feedback to the client's context, focusing on their strengths and areas for improvement. The results should help establish future goals and improvement plans. Finally, ensure confidentiality and offer follow-up discussions to address any questions or concerns.

This is the most crucial purpose psychometric tools serve. The question is how do we use them to extract relevant topics to create relevant questions, use the responses to move the coachee forward & weaving have feedback from the test all through the conversations is crucial to success.

Debriefing based in the findings of a particular inventory is super critical and many practitioners struggle in doing this effectively. In my coaching practice, I follow these 1- I use the tools which I have been properly trained on 2- I am super cautious not to sound judge & jury while debriefing ( thee are shades of grey in all such tools) 3- Actively listen for any dissonance and disagreement from the client with the results ( if so, explore them thoroughly and supply the perspective, context of such assessments) 4- Help the client relate to the findings by soliciting background stories and anecdotes Open communication in such debriefing sessions are very important. I even leave a disclaimer that it’s likely every tool has limitations

The first critical thing in my view, is that the psychometric insight is for the individual receiving the coaching, not the coach themselves. I'm sure Coaches will agree! Good psychometrics (including personality and motivation in particular in this setting), chosen well, and deployed in a best practice way, can be a wonderful gift for an individual seeking to improve self-awareness and explore new routes to growth. Certainly, a trained user in psychometrics (perhaps a Coach) can help facilitate an enlightening conversation using these insights. I've seen many people really benefit through the insight gained. But, it belongs to the individual themselves and it is their choice to use as they feel fit.

Responsible use of any outputs provided by a personality profiling tool is essential. If the adage is true that ‘knowledge is power,’ then it is quite possible for any individual to potentially use the insights gained in a negative, manipulative or disempowering way. To help avoid this, interpretations should be presented and discussed in open conversation rather than dictated as irrefutable truth, as no profiling tool can account for the whole picture. Like adherents of the Hippocratic oath, all those involved in handling personality profiling data should promise to ‘Do No Harm’ to those involved. So, a desire to use all insights in an honest, open and empowering way will help all concerned maintain a solid ethical stance.

Also making sure the coachee is aware that this is for their betterment and everything will be confidential. I also take the results with assumptions that output can be impacted by the coachee mindset at the time of taking the assessment. And it doesn’t reflect ?? of the coachee relfections too

The market is always being peppered with the latest bright, shiny object profiling tool, whether psychometric, behavioural, personality ... the list goes on and on. Typically they are touted to as 'the' cutting edge tool compared to 'blunt instruments' from days gone by. Some enjoy flavour of the month status, but are soon last years model, while others stand the test of time. Like any tool, they are only as good as how you use them. If I had to pick one red flag to focus on, it would be: Be wary of people using them just to gather more psycho biographical information about themselves ( or others ) and their 'story'. You must help them not get stuck on the labels, so they can actually break through and move towards who they want to become.

For using psychometric tools sufficiently, you need to be sure about validity and reliability of them. Especially when the questionaire is translated and is going to be used in different culture. It may has lost the ability of predicting behaviors and attitude during transformation.

Psychometric tests have been proven to have a very little impact on performance improvement. Behavioral attitude assessments can be more beneficial from a performance standpoint compared to psychometric tests because they directly focus on observable behaviors and attitudes relevant to the specific job or role. Unlike psychometric tests that often measure general traits, behavioral assessments provide insights into how an individual is likely to behave in real work situations.

I feel nothing works unless the person is able to identify for himself or herself what are the challenges they are currently facing and how is it impacting them and their career? To be able to have an open conversation wherein the Coachee is able to reflect and share such that they feel Zero / Nothingness within, that is when the real journey would begin ... as Mindset is the supporter or sabotager even if the areas to be leveraged or worked upon further fall in the Capability / Interactive Skills / Soft Skills / Ability to deliver Outcomes etc.

Two schools of thought on this one: School 1: Go by what you discover about the coachee - keep your curiosity high. As you partner on the journey the Coach and Coachee both discover more. A psychometric tool may in fact colour your opinion at the beginning itself and may hamper a journey of discovery. School 2: The Psychometric tool helps gain some good insignts into the leader's personality, their drive and their motivators. In discussions like career transitions etc. these can particularly be useful when used correctly. Tools like Hogan are powerful when used for leaders. Across both though, the core point remains that the coachee is all resourceful, and is able to bring about change in themselves, despite what their personality may be.

To be honest, I just call them life assessment or personality assessments vs psychometric as it has some negative connotation to the word psycho. I do think these tools in coaching can provide a coachee’s personality by assessing traits, preferences, and behaviors. Start by selecting reliable tools like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or the Big Five Personality Traits. Administer the assessment, interpret the results, and use them as a foundation for discussing strengths, challenges, and potential areas for development with the coachee. It helps self-awareness and tailor coaching strategies to align with the coachee’s unique personality characteristics. And I have used this with success but I also try not to rely fully on them