TTI Success Insights Assessments
95% of people think they’re self-aware…but only 10-15% actually are.
This is why more people rate themselves as “above average” than is statistically possible, like the 93% of drivers who say they’re better than average. Or why employees with reputations for coming in late will say they’re “usually on time.” Humans are terrible at self-awareness, and at work, that can cost you, cutting your chances of success in half.
How can you cultivate self-awareness on your team as a leader? One proven way to do so is through a TTI Success Insights Assessment. At CEO Coaching International, we help our clients work through DISC and Driving Forces profiles to help teammates understand themselves and one another better:
- DISC analyzes behavioral style, or the “how” behind the work. It measures how you respond to problems and challenges, how you influence and interact with others, and what kind of work environment allows you to thrive.
- Driving Forces looks at the different areas that motivate you, or the “why” behind the work. It evaluates your motivational factors, such as a love of learning, satisfaction in achieving practical results, or an impulse to help others succeed.
Here are 4 reasons why CEOs should use Driving forces and DISC assessments for their teams.
1. Evaluate job fit among your team
DISC and Driving Forces assessments can help you piece together exactly what kind of job and work environment is best for you, so you can evaluate job fit.
“We can readily see that some profiles, such as those that are fast paced, are more naturally aligned with sales roles,” says Chris Larkins, Senior Partner and Chief Growth Officer at CEO Coaching International. “Other positions require a steadier hand capable of accurately performing repetitive activities and carefully considering quantifiable data, like finance and engineering positions.”
That’s not to say that your team values one kind of profile over another, but rather recognizing that certain skillsets and dispositions naturally gravitate toward certain positions. Take sales vs. finance, for example. Great sales leaders are always part of the action, have a competitive drive, and thrive building relationships with others, while great finance leaders take a more methodical, task-oriented approach to their position.
Says Larkins, “Do you need a precise, systematic leader in the CFO seat, but have someone who is fast-paced and people-oriented? Among the top two mistakes we have seen companies make are placing a sales profile in finance and placing a financial role in sales.”
As your organization grows and changes, these requirements might grow and change as well. It’s up to you to evaluate your leadership team and what kinds of profiles might be a best fit for them, or to invest in coaching and help individuals cultivate those skills within themselves.
2. Build a more balanced team
In this way, you can start to evaluate what type of position best suits your current employees, and whether or not you have any gaps. The key is that you need every type of profile in order to be successful, just as you need a mix of defensive and offensive skills on a sports team. It’s not just about how talented each individual is, but how they can work together to win.
The more you know about your team’s strengths and weaknesses, the easier it will be to build a more balanced team. “You want a team whose behaviors complement your own in pursuit of your goals, can help you fill gaps on your team, and improve your chances of success,” says Larkins. “Appreciate how the profiles of your leadership team align with the behaviors that your vision and goals require at this moment in time. You must have the right person in the right seat for the right task.”
This is especially important for your leadership team. When your top team is working together on a shared vision, you’re 1.9 times more likely to have above-median financial performance.
3. Improve team communication
We’ve all been to one of those meetings that deteriorates after it’s clear that teammates have competing interpretations of the plan or have multiple high performers competing for airtime and interrupting one another.
Another key insight from the Driving forces and DISC TTI assessments is how individuals process and communicate information differently, and how to adapt your own style of communication to be better seen and heard. This is especially relevant as your workplace flexes into remote or hybrid options, where it’s more difficult to pick up on body language and other, more subtle ways we communicate with one another in person.
“The TTI reports offer specific, customized guidance to help each party communicate with the other and a common language that coordinators can use to get through to persuaders when it really matters, and vice versa,” says Larkins. “At the same time, your people deserve to understand how best to communicate with you. If you are a task-oriented person, it might behoove you to ask your head of sales to slow down, stop ‘selling you,’ and offer details and evidence to back up her requests. Their natural inclination will be to convince you with words, not data. By contrast, if you are fast paced, you need to know that the trains will be arriving on time but not be bothered by how the schedule is built.”
Take, for example, that same dichotomy between a fast-paced, people-oriented profile and a more task-oriented and methodical one. “I used to have an operations leader who was a coordinator, which contrasted sharply with my own style of persuader,” says Larkins. “Every morning, when he would report in, it would feel like it took him ten minutes to tell me he had no news, which I found incredibly frustrating. It wasn’t until I learned how to articulate what I needed from him and set expectations that he didn’t need to check in unless he had news that things went much more smoothly working together.”
Become more self-aware with CEO Coaching International
With TTI Talent Insights assessments and debriefings moderated by a certified professional, you’ll discover new things about your behavior, your motivators, and how your team can better work together. At CEO Coaching International, we recommend Driving forces and DISC assessments for everyone, at every level of the company — because the more each individual knows themselves, the better you’ll perform.
Learn more about TTI assessments and how we can help bring out the best in your team.
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About CEO Coaching International
CEO Coaching International works with CEOs and their leadership teams to achieve extraordinary results quarter after quarter, year after year. Known globally for its success in coaching growth-focused entrepreneurs to meaningful exits, CEO Coaching International has coached more than 1,000 CEOs and entrepreneurs in more than 60 countries and 45 industries. The coaches at CEO Coaching International are former CEOs, presidents, or executives who have made BIG happen. The firm’s coaches have led double-digit sales and profit growth in businesses ranging in size from startups to over $10 billion, and many are founders that have led their companies through successful eight, nine, and ten-figure exits. Companies working with CEO Coaching International for two years or more have experienced an average revenue CAGR of 31% (2.6X the U.S. average) and an average EBITDA CAGR of 52.3% (more than 5X the U.S. average).
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