What Are Companies Using to Select Winning Leaders?

Of all the decisions a company’s board makes, the most critical could be the choice of their leader. Among a variety of well-experienced potential candidates, how do you select wisely?

Of course there are a number of tools available through training needs assessment services. The question is…how effective are these tools in zeroing in on the best person for the top position in your organization?

Here is what the Institute for Corporate Productivity learned in a recent survey of 610 respondents that compared various assessment tools as a measure of leadership potential:

• Over three-quarters of respondents from high performing companies prefer using a 360° assessment. Close behind were the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and DiSC assessments.
• The 360° survey was generally considered to be the best at predicting future leaders.
• Many high performing companies had their own internal assessment tool.
• Almost all recommend using more than one tool to get a more comprehensive measure of a candidate’s potential.
• Only 1 in 5 companies actually measured the effectiveness of their selection process.

To select leaders well, the challenge is to apply a combination of tools to find the best leader for your organization…and follow up.  The more important the position, the more important the process.