How to interpret the report
According to substantial research, certain leadership behaviours come more naturally to people with certain personal characteristics. Few individuals are likely to be strong in all areas - your personality gives you a unique set of strengths and challenges in leadership.
It is important to note that personality is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to leadership. Leadership skills can also be acquired through training and experience. In other words, a personality test only gives a general indication of where strengths and challenges lie, and should be taken as one valuable data point among several others.
Part of being a mature leader is also understanding how you are perceived by others. Therefore, this report depicts not only your likely strengths and challenges, but also how you are likely to come across to your team in each area.
How results are categorised
Alva's Leadership Report assesses nine areas of leadership behaviour, grouped into three domains: Achieving results, Influencing others, and Navigating.
Each area is categorised into one of five levels:
A clear strength is an area where your characteristics give you a strong natural head start. The behaviours included come very easily to you, and you are highly likely to excel.
A likely strength is an area where your characteristics generally work in your favour. The behaviours come naturally to you, and you are likely to perform well.
Likely satisfactory marks an area where your personal qualities work moderately in your favour, or where you have a combination of strengths and challenges. These are areas where you have a good chance of improving with training.
A likely challenge is an area where you may struggle a bit, since it does not fully play to your natural strengths. You may need to make a conscious effort in related situations.
A clear challenge is an area where your natural tendencies work against the behaviours required. You may need to make a considerable effort to change your behaviour in these situations.
đĄNote: A challenge is not a verdict. Most leaders have a mix of strengths and challenges across the nine areas - that's expected. The point of the report is self-awareness: building on your strengths and choosing a few specific behaviours to develop.
How the results are calculated
Each area is based on two to three personality facets from Alva's five-factor personality test.
Behind the scenes:
Each facet score is compared against standardised cut-offs and converted to a high, average, or low range value.
These values are summed to give an overall score for the area.
The score maps to one of the five labels above.
The report text you see is tailored to your exact combination of facet results - so two people with the same label in an area may still receive different descriptions, reflecting the different ways they got there.
đĄLeadership benchmark: Results are compared against a large group of people who have specifically applied for leadership positions, rather than the general working population. This gives more relevant results in a leadership context.
Keep in mind
Results are indications, not a full picture. Culture, organisational context, learned skills, and experience all influence how a person shows up in a leadership role.
Use it as a development tool. The report is designed to support self-awareness, development conversations, and coaching - not as a pass/fail assessment.
One data point among several. Combine the report with interviews, references, and other assessment results for a well-rounded evaluation.
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