WHY BOTHER WITH PSYCHOMETRICS?
Why do we need Psychometrics?
I often joke that personality tests can give you a carte blanche to be however you want to be. I’ve seen people claim “I’m such a visionary, my psychometric result proves it,” and then I go on to realise they have zero vision! To challenge them is complex because their argument is founded upon “My psychometric says so.” so it must be true.
The opposite can be true as well, whereby people can hear that they score low on ‘attention to detail’ and so not doing thorough admin then becomes a get out of jail free card.
Another issue I come up against is how it can change from one day to the next and so it becomes inconsistent and unreliable and why would we bother with a system like that?
I’ve taken part in about 4/5 different personality profiling tests and the results for me have been mostly consistent. I remember about 5 years ago, my top strength in Gallup Strengths finders (out of 36) was Communication 1st and 2nd was Strategy. The type of communication I was mainly doing then was public speaking so my talent in this area was validated by my test result. However, did that mean that I’m automatically gifted at communicating with a highly complex team, or with culturally different individuals?
My high strategy reading gave me the confidence to know that I can think 1 step ahead (plus I love chess, a bit of a giveaway for strategists) but did that mean I could rock up to a PLC and give them the best strategy? Of course not.
I realise that for these reasons Psychometric tests can be problematic.
However, the journey of EQ – (emotional intelligence) MUST be developed in the work and home space. Gone are the days of just staying the same or thinking "I’ve always been like this" and that’s the end of it. The world around us is constantly changing and we cannot remain static or else our mental health, psychological performance and relationships will pay the price.
We must be mentally agile, learning along the way where our gaps are, where our struggles are and where our strengths can be leveraged. We need this to be a normal narrative at work and home. Our kids need to learn to be this way as well if they are going to handle the decades of change ahead.
Change can be scary, unknown and create all kinds of indecision within us. However, having anchor points will keep us grounded. This is where I’m coming back to psychometric profiling. If taught well, they can be seen as a sort of anchor point for where you are right now, where your family are, your colleagues etc.
My suggestion would be to find one that’s accessible - quick to do, easy to understand and memorable.
Some are extremely detailed, giving a 30-page PDF review (which is great in certain circumstances). However, to have an agile thinking team or family, I’d recommend finding one that speaks a language you can relate to and that you can remember. One where you can find your voice. Not only that, one that you can grow in learning from so that it’s a journey you stay with to develop your EQ.
The one I prefer is called The 5 Voices. It is to the point, easy to remember and easy to take with you. It’s transformed how I understand myself, my husband, and my kids (especially one of them). At work with execs, leaders and teams, it always gives me a ballpark figure of how someone else sees the world. It enables me and them to see those anchor points on which to hang the other objectives at play. For me, it’s enabled me to communicate much more effectively and increase my empathy for others’ views and characteristics. It’s also humbled me to see areas I thought of as my strengths as being sometimes oppressive to others and given me the confidence to leverage the things I thought were “normal to everyone” as in fact being rare and valuable.
What personality type are you? Seek one for your company today, for yourself or your family. If you want to do the 5 Voices, create a free account from this link and take the 5 voices Assessment. It's 84 questions which you can follow up with a complimentary 20 min discovery chat with me. It may be the beginning of a new and stronger future for you where you will become mentally more agile to manage and perform within change.