As mentioned a few posts back, I was fortunate to attend this year's Towers Watson HR Service Delivery and Technology Forum, of which one of the major highlights was getting to hear Sally Hogshead speak. But I'm getting ahead of myself, prior to the conference all attendees were emailed a link to take a short assessment - The Fascination Advantage; as an HR professional I'm no stranger to assessments, as one working in higher education I'm a bit of an expert in finding out more about myself. Let me run down the list: DISC, MBTI Short Form, MBTI Long Form, StrengthsQuest, TalentPlus, a variety of 360 degree tools, Leadership EQ, FIRO-B - and those are just the ones I've participated in during the last 36 or so months. So to say I was a bit skeptical as my mouse hand started to click on the link is something of an understatement.
A few minutes later - The Fascination Advantage is lean and mean - I was done, I received my report, and started reading.
The thing is, The Fascination Advantage assessment attempts to do something a bit different from the laundry list of "tests" listed above, it isn't so much focused on how you see yourself but rather on how others see you (i.e. how you are perceived, how you behave, how you actually engage with others) and as I read through this snapshot of me a number of things started to ring true and I was intrigued to hear what Sally Hogshead had to say at the conference... Sally had a lot to say. She was insightful, engaging, entertaining, witty, and spot on with her ability to shed light upon the results of those in attendance. One of the most consistent things I heard over the course of the conference from other attendees was how on point their assessment was, a notion I couldn't agree with more.
But the fun wasn't done, Sally and Towers Watson gifted everyone with two additional complimentary assessments (along with galleys of her latest book - How The World Sees You - and a hard cover edition when it hits shelves this July) - a gift that's been highly insightful for both me and the managers on my team I was able to share the resource with.
Long story short, The Fascination Advantage is one of the most intriguing professional/personality assessments I've ever come across and if the brief time we were able to spend listening and interacting with Sally (a Speakers Hall of Fame inductee) is any indication, then her full-on workshops must be something to marvel. Is your curiosity peeked? Not yet - then check out the clip below?
Need more to be convinced? Probably not, but like I said, Sally is an outstanding speaker - here she is at TEDx Atlanta.
I don't want to overpromise, but if nothing else The Fascination Advantage (and its 49 Archetypes - I'm "The Royal Guard") is something I'd recommend to any HR/OD team that's looking to help their organization understand itself better, become better engaged, and create operational efficiencies. The tool is easy to use, quick to finish, and deep with insights - a combination that can't steer you wrong.
Header Photo Credit: Doug Kline via Compfight cc
