Assessments
📊 Assessments
Know yourself first. Everything else follows.
These are the instruments Dr. Kershner uses in his leadership courses at Miami Dade College, in conflict management workshops, and in executive coaching. Each one was selected for one reason: it produces insight you can actually act on.
📋 Field Notes from the Classroom
“I’ve run assessments with thousands of students, executives, and entrepreneurs. The ones on this page are the ones I actually trust — instruments with peer-reviewed validity, not personality quizzes. Start with Thomas-Kilmann if you’re a leader. Start with Know Yourself if you want to understand what drives you at a foundational level.”
— Dr. Claude B. Kershner IV
Curated Instruments
Each assessment below is vetted, evidence-based, and chosen for practical utility. The Free/Paid column reflects what’s available without a certified practitioner. This list is updated regularly as Dr. Kershner discovers and tests new tools.
| Instrument | What It Measures | Best Used When | Free / Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI) | Your default response across 5 conflict modes: Competing, Collaborating, Compromising, Avoiding, Accommodating | Before a difficult conversation, team conflict, negotiation, or building a conflict-capable culture | Paid (~$25) |
| Know Yourself — Big Five Personality Assessment (Jordan Peterson) | The scientifically validated Big Five personality dimensions: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism — and their 10 sub-traits | Deep self-understanding, leadership development, team composition, understanding why you respond the way you do | Paid (~$10) |
| Dweck Growth Mindset Scale | Fixed vs. growth orientation — how you respond to challenge, failure, and feedback | Career inflection points, team culture diagnosis, coaching conversations | Free |
| Wealth Dynamics | Your entrepreneurial archetype (Creator, Star, Supporter, Deal Maker, Trader, Accumulator, Lord, Mechanic) — where you naturally create value and how to build a team around your strengths | Entrepreneurs and business owners, team design, identifying your highest-value activities | Paid (~$97) |
| CliftonStrengths (Gallup) | Your top natural talent themes from 34 dimensions — what you do best without effort | Team building, hiring, self-leadership, strengths-based management | Paid ($20–$50) |
| EQ-i 2.0 — Emotional Intelligence Inventory | 15 EI competencies across Self-Perception, Self-Expression, Interpersonal, Decision Making, and Stress Management | Leadership development, executive coaching, high-stakes team dynamics | Paid (practitioner-administered) |
| DISC Behavioral Assessment | Communication and work style preferences across Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, Conscientiousness | Team dynamics, onboarding, manager-employee alignment, communication coaching | Paid ($15–$40) |
| Entrepreneurial Orientation Self-Assessment | Risk-taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness — the three core EO dimensions (Miller, 1983; Covin & Slevin, 1989) | Entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs testing their mindset; leaders assessing their team’s entrepreneurial health | Free |
| Organizational Life Cycle Scale | Where your organization currently sits in its lifecycle — startup, growth, prime, decline — and what that means for you as the leader | Business owners and operators making strategic decisions about direction, structure, or succession | Free |
Coming to the Lab
This page is the permanent home for validated instruments as Dr. Kershner develops and publishes proprietary assessments for the show’s community. On the horizon:
- Leadership Effectiveness Self-Assessment — a custom instrument built on the show’s research base
- Organizational Agility Index — a team-level pulse check on adaptability and AI integration capacity
- AI-Era Leadership Readiness Assessment — are you leading in a way that compounds in the age of intelligent machines?
Want to Debrief Your Results?
Dr. Kershner has spent years using these instruments in workshops and one-on-one coaching. If you want to talk through what your results mean in the context of your leadership or business — that’s a conversation worth having.