I recently took the CPI 260, apersonality test designed to assess leadership potential, and one piece of feedback I received was a report comparing my characteristics to those of successful leaders.

The report, which includes clients’ ratings in 18 key areas such as decisiveness and the ability to handle sensitive problems, is based on years of research on the factors that go into effective management. The CPI 260 and the reports that come with the results are used by major companies including Red Cross, AIM Investment Services, and Delta Associates.

We spoke to Rich Thompson, divisional director of research at CPP, the organization that publishes the CPI 260, about how the report is produced. (You can see a sample report here.)

In the 1990s, 5,610 managers and executives participated in leadership-development programs at The Center for Creative Leadership. All the execs — a group of mostly white men from a wide range of industries — took the CPI 260 and received 360-degree feedback from managers, peers, and subordinates.

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