Assessments:  So Many Choices

by Cindy Stradling

When I meet with clients and they are interested in conducting an assessment for their organizations I am very careful to find out why they want to conduct and assessment and what information they intend to  obtain.  There are so many choices, I could write blogs for the next six months and still not have explored all of them.  For the month of April I am going to share with you my experience of four of the assessments that I have personally taken. 

Week One – Lumina Spark Portrait

This particular assessment is a new offering for the alliance and I was excited to participate in the online questions.  I found it very easy to answer all of the questions and found myself  a little excited to see the results. 

I really liked how it explained in that no one quality was more important than another.  I thought this was important because we can sometimes think that there is something wrong with us if we don’t fall into a particular category.  At the heart of this assessment is a questionnaire which measures different aspects of your behaviour.  This portrait, based on years of psychological research, will give you some indicators about how you behave, acknowledge your strengths (and how you overplay them sometimes) and identify behaviours that your rarely display.  It will also make distinctions between your behaviour and your motivations.  The portrait is really an aid to guide you towards a better sense of self-awareness to allow you to recognize your strengths and possible areas for development.

When I sat down with Eva Gutsche (the alliance partner who is certified to deliver the Lumina programs) the first thing she said to me was that she could see how much self development I had done over the years.  As we went through the pages of the assessment and she explained the details about who I am, I was surprised at the accuracy.  The assessment uses a full color Mandala to show the results of the questionnaire.

The assessment is based on four archetypes.  These four archetypes are Inspiring, Commanding, Empowering, Conscientious and the results show how I use these four archetypes.  The assessment then shows how this translates into eight aspects in the form of a Mandala.  The top five aspects of my Mandala said I was Accommodating, Reliable, Imaginative, Demonstrative and Purposeful.

The assessment then goes into detail about me personally in each of the archetypes, followed by graphs that showed how I scored in relation to the general population.  I loved this part of the assessment.  I am a visual person and really liked how easily I was able to understand the information.

The assessment then looked at three perspectives on who I was based on my three personas

1)      My underlying persona (this is my most natural me, motivating)

2)      My everyday persona (how I tend to behave and how others might see me)

3)      My overextended persona (who I am while under stress, how I react to unexpected events)

The assessment also highlighted some of my possible blind spots and areas to consider for improvement.  I agreed with the results that I sometimes take on too many projects and can cause me stress, sometimes have a tendency to get distracted, I can expect others to produce/work at the same level of intensity and energy as I do, sometime can make snap decisions and need to give myself more time to examine all the facts.

I felt this assessment was very accurate and provided me with some concrete recommendations for improvement.

There is also a Lumina Leader and Lumina Team assessment available.

Next week:  My results from taking the Insights Assessment.

Coaching for Accelerated Results

by Cindy Stradling CSP, CPC

As a coach I work with many people who are employed in a variety of jobs.  I coach salespeople, entrepreneurs, executives, managers and homemakers.  Everyone’s situation is unique and yet similar.  The people I work with have one thing in common, they have areas of their lives that do not work as well as they would like.  I love working with people as they create their goals and work week by week to achieve them.  Sometimes there is a misconception initially where the coachee thinks the coach is going to tell them what to do.  I explain to them that in coaching, the coach asks questions so the coachee can arrive at their own conclusions and discover their own insights.  The real coaching is in holding the coachee accountable to produce the results they say they want in their lives, even when they don’t feel like doing the work they committed to.  I have included below an outline of what coaching is, what it isn’t and the roles and commitments of both the coach and the coachee.

What is a Coach?

Professionals in all sectors require a coach for many reasons.  One-on-one coaching is a powerful way to support people to provide objective analysis, constructive support and accountability so they can achieve the goals they set for themselves.

Your coach is your champion and provides a structure to hold you accountable to do what you say you are going to do even when you don’t feel like it.  In other words support you to “Plan your work and Work your Plan.”

What a coach does:

• Mirroring-reflecting back
• Listening without judgment and beyond what they say (listen from the place of their commitment)
• Ask hard powerful reflective questions to help the client gain clarity
• Hold client accountable by telling the truth and by endorsing and validating them
• Create a safe environment
• Help client identify strengths and possible blind spots
• Partner with the client – celebrate their successes
• Conduct all interactions with complete confidentiality
• Does not council (i.e. legal)

What the client does:

• Set goals and be goal oriented
• Does the assigned homework and projects
• Honest and tells the truth
• Willingness to be coachable and move forward with their commitments
• Prep-work – Coaching Call Prep Form
• Willingness to move through fears and be open to change
• Commitment to the process

Commitments of the Coaching Program

 My commitment as your personal coach: I will exercise the highest degree of professionalism, integrity and honesty.  I am committed to your success.  I at all times with maintain the highest ethical standards and diligently respect your confidentiality.

Your commitment as my Client:  I request that you also bring a high degree of professionalism, integrity and honesty to your coaching sessions.  I request that you be open to new possibilities, fresh ideas and unique ways of approaching solutions.  I request that you be accountable and committed to producing your results.  Foremost, be prepared to have fun and enjoy the coaching.

Getting the Most from Your Coach

• Lead our session, know what you want.  The Coaching Call Prep Form is designed to assist you to do so.(sent in a separate file along with this agreement)
• I am professionally trained to help you discover your own answers; I do not tell you what to do.  Use me as a resource, not as an answer.  Said another way, I will support you with all of the resources, training and experience I have, but ultimately only you are responsible for getting the results you want.
• Enjoy our calls, personal and professional development is fun.
• Be fully human and communicate authentically, I respect your needs.
• Make sure you are fully heard and have the courage to express yourself.
• Double your level of willingness.
• Be prepared to be challenged, raise your standards, redesign your time, remove all sources of stress from your life, change your behaviors and discover more about yourself.