Leadership Development Solutions

Q: Why should organizations invest in leadership development?

Strong leadership development programs help organizations build effective teams, improve culture, retain high-potentials and plan for long-term success.

Q: Are leaders born or made?

Research shows that while some traits may make leadership come more naturally, effective leaders are developed through experience, feedback, and targeted development programs. In other words, leaders can definitely be made.

Q: How long does a leadership development assessment take?

There's about 2 hours of online assessments, followed by a 1 hour interview.

Q: How does 360 feedback fit into leadership development?

360 feedback gives leaders input from peers, direct reports, and managers. Reports can reveal blind spots by showing where self-ratings were higher that those of other groups. And while ratings can be helpful, comments about what the person can start, stop, and continue doing to elevate their performance are especially helpful.

Q: What role does coaching play in leadership development?

Coaching builds on assessment insights by helping leaders think differently about things, stay accountable to their development plan, and learn new skills.

Leadership development is most effective when it is grounded in data and tailored to the individual leader. PCI’s leadership development solutions are designed and delivered by organizational psychologists to drive measurable behavior change and performance outcomes.

What Effective Leadership Development Looks Like

Leadership development is the process of building self-awareness, changing behavior, and strengthening leadership effectiveness over time. It is not the same as leadership training. Effective development focuses on the individual leader’s strengths, gaps, and behavioral patterns, using data to prioritize the changes that will have the greatest impact. At PCI, leadership development begins with an objective assessment, is targeted through feedback, and is accelerated through coaching.

Core Solutions That Power Effective Leadership Development

Leadership development is most effective when supported by integrated, customized solutions that diagnose needs, target development goals, and activate change. PCI delivers three core leadership development solutions that can be tailored to your organization and embedded into existing development efforts.

Psychometric Assessments

Use scientific, psychologist-led, data-driven assessments to diagnose natural strengths and areas for growth.

360-Feedback

Pinpoint behaviors that your leaders need to start, stop, and continue doing to elevate their performance.

Coaching for Growth

Accelerate development with coaches who know how to use assessment and 360 data to activate change.

Leadership Development Begins with Psychometric Assessments

Leadership development is a lot more than training. Training programs typically assume that everyone has the same level of knowledge and skill development needs. However, in reality, everyone's personality, leadership style preferences, and cognitive abilities are different. And, all of these things are strong predictors of leadership effectiveness. Our assessment-first approach ensures leadership development efforts are focused, individualized, and aligned with performance expectations.

At PCI, we use validated psychometric tools and a structured interview as the starting point for leadership development. Then, our psychologists write a report that describes the individual's strengths and growth opportunities, which can be mapped to the organization's values and competencies. This foundation ensures every development plan is tailored to the individual, not built on generic assumptions.

Our CF Values are core to everything we do. The PCI team have been incredible partners in aligning insights and reports to reinforce our Values Behaviours that support our OneCF Culture and enable business performance.

SVP, Human Resources & Change Management Cadillac Fairview

Talk with an Organizational Psychologist

The Participant Experience

We understand that some people are hesitant to take an assessment and speak with an organizational psychologist. That's why we take extra steps to ensure that participants understand the purpose, feel at ease during the process, and are inspired to engage in self-development after reading their report. Here's an overview of what the participant experiences and receives:

Leadership Development psychometric assessment from PCI

Psychometric Assessment Deliverables

To ensure alignment and follow-through, we provide deliverables designed for the participant, their manager, and HR/L&D leaders.

Developmental Report

The leader receives a custom-written report with actionable insights and tools for implementing a development plan. This is shared with their manager so they have a common framework for discussing development goals. Request a sample report.

Assessment Debrief

We talk with the participant after they read their report to help them identify development goals. Also, we debrief with the person's manager and HR to discuss how they can support the leader's growth.

Competency Ratings

Whether you have a competency model of your own or want us to recommend one, we can map our data to it. These are shared with your HR leaders to support talent reviews, plan for succession, and identify gaps that need to be filled.

Prioritize Leadership Development Goals with 360 Feedback

360 feedback plays a critical role in leadership development by supplementing assessment insights with observable behaviors. When implemented poorly, 360-feedback can demotivate the leader and waste time and money due to the lack of actionable next steps. When done right, it uncovers rich insights that pinpoint critical gaps and accelerate growth.

Interview-based 360 for senior executives.
Customized online tool that measures your leadership competencies.
Off-the-shelf 360's for ease of set up and quick results.

Every 360-process is followed by a debrief with the leader to ensure they understand their results, see patterns, and feel motivated to act on the feedback. Effective debriefs are also crucial to the process. Our leadership development consultants are trained psychologists who know how to help the person interpret the information objectively, focus on themes, and feel motivated to use the information productively.

Integrating Psychometric Assessment and 360 Results

There's nothing more powerful than two independent sources saying the same thing. However, it's not easy for leaders to objectively review two very different assessment reports and prioritize areas for development . So, our psychologists can write a 1-page summary that points out consistencies and inconsistencies across the two assessments. This helps the leader focus on broad themes and pinpoint the one or two growth areas that will have the greatest impact on their performance.

Download a Sample Integrated Summary

Coaching That Accelerates Leadership Development

Every coaching engagement starts with a psychometric assessment. We often supplement this with a 360-feedback survey. This dual-data approach gives leaders and coaches what they need to prioritize growth areas and set development goals.

Organizations partner with PCI for leadership coaching in two ways:

Coaching Provider. We conduct the assessments, debrief results, and provide the coaches.
Coaching Partner. We provide assessments for firms who specialize in executive coaching.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help your leaders grow or accelerate the pace at which your coaches activate change.

The PCI team has served as a great partner in my executive advising and coaching work. Their objective and holistic assessment approach allows my clients and me to focus on their most impactful strengths to leverage and their development needs that require the most attention. The executive report is personalized and actionable and serves as a critical component in creating a development plan.

Marty Gervasi, Senior Advisor MyNextSeason (Former CHRO, The Hartford)

Maximize leadership development ROI with hard data and deep insights.

Talk with a PCI Leadership Advisor Today

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Are Leaders Born or Made?

There’s been much debate for decades over the question, “Are leaders are born or made?” Recently, the question is more specific. “Can introverted leaders can be as effective as extraverted…

Participants in high-potential leadership programs
Leaders who are on your succession plans
First-time managers transitioning from doer to leader
Senior leaders and executives preparing for a new role or facing novel challenges
HR/OD leaders tasked with strengthening their internal bench
Transition teams responsible for onboarding leaders post-acquisition or merger

Leadership Development - FAQs

Why should organizations invest in leadership development?

Are leaders born or made?

What makes PCI’s leadership development solutions different?

PCI’s leadership development solutions are designed and delivered by organizational psychologists and built on validated psychometric tools, structured interviews, and psychologist-written reports. This data-driven approach allows us to identify strengths, pinpoint gaps, and create actionable development plans tailored to each leader. We can also customize assessment deliverables, 360 feedback, and coaching support to align with your organization’s programs, priorities, and budget.