Three marks of the leader and why 'Myers Briggs' won't find you one.

In Leading out of who you Simon shares his dislike of psychological tests, as does Eugene Peterson in Soul Craft (I listened to almost every teaching from Peterson that was in my college library -I should have probably gone to Regent but they don't train Church of England Vicars!)

Here is how Simon sums up his concerns-personality tests discourage responsibility, discourage change and discourage truth. The reality is that leadership is about:

1. Taking responsibility

2. Embracing change

3. Telling the truth

'Taking responsibility, embracing change and telling the truth are three of the fundamental requirements of a leader; yet these processes [personality tests] encourage almost the opposite. In fact, the more one looks at them, the more one sees that their interest may lie less in encouraging change of responsibility, but in giving their clients something which they need and value: Control . Control of who they employ, where they employ them and how to get rid of them if they need to......Tens of thousands of people are recruited against such measures-measures which are measuring something, arguably, false; a concept that personality is fixed and can be put in a test tube and measured, a concept that was, by and large, rejected by academics decades ago.'

He concludes with this great observation,

'Perhaps that is why corporate organisations are not interested in leaders whose character has been formed by long suffering; instead, they are interested in people who fit into their boxes. Would Mandela or Ghandi or Churchill fit well on the Board at Disney? Or Microsoft? Or HSBC? I suggest they would they would not even get appointed; they would be opposed at every vote. They would fail every test, be registered as risk takers, radicals mavericks and black balled. Jesus was after all-it was the religious board members who killed him'

[p.40]