As coaches and trainers, our job is to help organizations develop healthy, synergistic teams that produce skyrocketing results.  To do this, we bring tools that show team members what their “team culture” really looks like (from all sides) and how they’re all experiencing it. From there, we assist in making that culture healthier, stronger and more creative so those workers are better able to get the results they want.

To accomplish all this, we utilize a tool called the Leadership Circle Culture Survey. This tool moves beyond individual scapegoating to the team’s culture and dynamic. Rather than have outside consultants evaluate the team, the team evaluates itself. Using this tool, the team defines itself as Creative or Reactive. It identifies what’s getting in the way and also points out the pathway to success. We help everyone see their role in the dysfunctional dynamic—and what they can do to move the team out of it.

This approach is so much more effective because there’s no one from the outside to tell them what’s “right and “wrong” and reinterpret how things work. Everything is self-reported, so team members assess what needs improvement but also get a chance to identify the ways they’re creative and strong together.

Then as a coach and team together, we can look more deeply into those strengths and how to leverage them in a way that “unhooks” the team from reactive tendencies and unwanted culture dynamics.

In essence, a positive work atmosphere leads directly to high productivity. And this tool is designed to quickly fast-forward a team into a culture they can enjoy and in which they can be creative and successful.

This cultural shift is put to work pursuing a vision for the future: What do you all want to create … and how do you work together and collaborate as a team to make that happen? We enjoy bringing great assessment tools to the table that facilitate that shift and help that vision for the future take clear shape.

Leading Spirit is certified in an assessment tool called the “Leadership Circle Profile,” which measures leadership effectiveness. It empowers an individual to take a hard and honest look at what’s really going on. It works because it’s not just measuring you against yourself; it rates your performance against the very best leaders in the world. Those examples make it much easier to distinguish a highly effective leader from one who is just doing “okay.” That creates the awareness necessary to prime breakthroughs. The assessment even corrects for the answers leaders feel “expected” to give and cuts through to the truth … and its inherent opportunities.

It’s natural that all of us have blind spots in the places we need to change. In fact, the data proves that, too. We tend to critique other people’s behavior and justify our own. But an unbiased and comprehensive tool such as the Leadership Circle Profile shows you to what degree you’re operating as a creative leader and to what extent you’re operating in a reactive, kneejerk manner.

The goal is creative leadership because that means you are actively creating desired outcomes. A reactive leader could be highly skilled and successful at “putting out fires,” but that mode of problem solving fails to advance an organizational agenda or enhance return on investment.

So, the question becomes, “As a leader, are you creating success, or are you protecting yourself from damage and harm?” The leaders who achieve outstanding results—the ones who score off the chart on the Leadership Circle Profile—are those operating in a highly creative fashion.

It’s possible for leaders to not just understand how they get in their own way, but also what they need to do differently in order to create the outcomes they want. The beauty is leaders don’t need to correct weaknesses; they just need to better understand how to leverage their strengths to be highly effective. And that’s what Leading Spirit helps people do.