Be Careful Not to Let Self-Assessments Harm Your Personal Development

The good news about self-assessment tools like Hogan, DISC, Calipers, the Big Five, and MBTI, among many others, is that they provide an important lens into how we orient ourselves to the world. 

The best self-assessments reveal how we learn, make decisions, approach relationships, and respond to situations. They clarify our tendencies and preferences for why we do what we do. 

Leaders can capitalize on the understandings self-assessments provide by playing to their strengths and finding ways to offset their weaknesses. 

The bad news is that all too often, people take these assessments as the definitive guide as to who they are. 

Rather than appreciating their uniqueness and utilizing the findings of an assessment to make changes, they view the qualities measured as fixed and immutable. 

For instance, once a leader learns they are truly introverted and find their energy inward, they have a built-in excuse as to why they don’t need to develop relationships or speak in public.

Viewing any proclivity or predisposition as unalterable lets the subject off the hook for becoming the kind of leader and person they can and should become.

Statements like “I’m an SJ, so I’m going to learn from watching others do the task rather than doing it myself” or “I argue defensively because I’m low on Agreeableness” illustrate the point. 

Once we see ourselves as having unchangeable qualities and attributes, we naturally give up on trying to change them. 

When it comes to personal development and growth, people who take a rigid view of what assessments reveal don’t feel compelled to work on themselves, at least not in the areas they believe are fixed. This is a grave mistake and injustice. 

No matter how much we would like to believe our personalities and other traits are permanent and resistant to any change, the evidence suggests just the opposite. 

In fact, many of our strongest tendencies evolve as we get older and gain more experience.  We owe it to ourselves and to others to do better than throwing up our hands and saying, “That’s who I am!” 

We can improve and get better at making decisions, giving feedback, building relationships, and a myriad of other essential leadership activities by adopting new behaviors and habits. 

Nothing is so fixed or permanent about you that you can’t push beyond your so-called personality and learn how to do things in a more effective way. 

It is a tragedy when the results of a self-assessment test rob people of the desire and willingness to do better. 

Do your best to learn everything you can about yourself. A deeper understanding is essential for becoming the best version of yourself, and self-assessments can assist you in that process. 

But don’t allow what you learn to dissuade you from the need and opportunity to grow and develop. Even a High D and Low C can learn how to respectfully disagree. Don’t let anyone tell you differently, especially yourself.