Beyond the Cosmo Quiz: Using Assessments as Leadership Tools - Jen Fox
Effective leadership today requires more than industry knowledge and technical skills. It demands self-awareness, understanding of interpersonal dynamics, and the ability to adapt communication styles to diverse team members. Leadership assessments play a crucial role here – not as rigid boxes that define people, but as practical tools that provide insights and shared language for growth.
I invited Jen Fox to discuss assessments with me. Jen is an executive coach and certified Everything DiSC facilitator known for her direct, no-nonsense approach. She says the things that other people want to say but don’t, specializing in the challenging conversations that drive real change. Her assessment journey began at Starbucks corporate headquarters in 2002, where she experienced firsthand how powerful these tools can be for self-awareness.
In our conversation, we explore practical applications of assessments, common myths and misuses, and how leaders can leverage these tools to build more effective teams. Whether you’re familiar with DiSC, StrengthsFinder, Myers-Briggs, or my Leadership Archetypes framework, this discussion offers valuable perspectives on using assessments to drive organizational change.
The key takeaway? Assessments aren’t about putting people in boxes. They create shared understanding that helps us appreciate differences and leverage diverse perspectives. Understanding various strengths and styles within a leadership team helps identify gaps and create development pathways for well-rounded organizational capabilities. When used properly, assessments don’t limit potential – they expand our collective ability to work together effectively.
Suzan: I would love if you could introduce yourself for people who don’t know you.
Jen: I would love to. I’m an executive coach and Everything DiSC facilitator, specializing in leadership development that requires honest, challenging conversations. People often say I’m the person who says the things that other people want to say, but don’t. A little more about me personally - I’m a mother, a dog and cat mom, a dual Canadian-American citizen, and an insatiable learner, which often looks like learning while walking, podcasting, and drinking a ton of Starbucks coffee.
Suzan: I have to ask the really hard-hitting question. Are you a dog person or a cat person?
Jen: I’m definitely not a cat person, but I’m a “my cat” person. I’ve fallen in love with my cat despite all my best intentions not to. I also love most dogs, but not all. I’m kind of partial to my own dog and cat.
Getting Into Assessments
Suzan: How did you get into assessments in the beginning?
Jen: If I trace back where my interest in assessments came from, I grew up on Cosmo quizzes in the 80s! But in the corporate world, my first experience was at the Starbucks corporate office in Seattle in 2002. They were paper-based assessments - pencil, circle the dots, connect the line kind of thing.
I remember having this experience the first time I did it for myself thinking, “Holy crap, this thing really knows me!” It almost knew parts of me that I didn’t know myself yet. I was about 27, in a phase of personal growth and transformation work. Bringing that non-work dimension into a work setting felt like a more holistic view, and I saw the value immediately.
I could see other people having those light bulb moments too. I’m a very practical person by nature, so I appreciated that these weren’t just ideas but practical insights I could use to do something different immediately if I wanted to. I haven’t looked back - that was over 23 years ago.
Suzan: I love that you brought up the Cosmo quizzes. My story is different - I first heard about assessments in high school when my dad, who was a design engineer for GM, made me take the Myers-Briggs. I mostly agreed with it, though it typed me as more extroverted than I actually am. I’m more of an ambivert.
Then in college, I was a psychology major trying to decide between social psychology and industrial-organizational psychology. Later as a coach, I discovered StrengthsFinder and got hired at Gallup as a leadership development coach, which deepened my involvement with assessments.
Types of Assessments and Their Value
Jen: I think all assessments have value. For me as a practitioner helping people get results, I’m always looking for what simplifies. Life and work are complex enough, so anything that harnesses something simple is valuable.
That’s why DiSC underscores my work. I also work with clients using StrengthsFinder. It comes up in almost all our conversations - “What are their strengths?” That’s helpful information for me to know how to show up in that interaction. That’s where the real value comes - it moves from a conceptual, often misused label to a practical tool in our toolkit.
Suzan: When I started dating my husband, I made him do StrengthsFinder! I also made him do love languages. It helped us because I’m strategic first and foremost, while he’s high in adaptability. Those are quite different approaches, and the assessment gave us a language rather than arguing about who’s right. We could recognize our different ways of processing without making each other wrong.
Jen: I couldn’t agree more. DiSC has a profile called Productive Conflict that helps with relationships. People often ask if we’re different at work than at home. Generally, we’re the same person everywhere, but there are exceptions. With my own husband, his assessment results came back completely opposite to what I expected because he was thinking about his non-work life. When I had him retake it thinking of a work setting, he came out where I expected.
It’s rare that happens, but it can, which is why it’s important to remember that assessments are contextual, self-reported and therefore, can be misused. We have to hold two things true: we don’t want to label people and put them in boxes, but we also want to use the shorthand language to develop shared understanding to make progress quickly.
Look for the gold in whatever assessment you use. You can find value if you’re looking for it.
Avoiding Misuses of Assessments
Jen: One dangerous thing is over-indexing on labels - “They’re a D, so therefore they must be like this.” Also, these are not hiring assessments. It’s natural for a leader to look at team results and think, “We don’t have any Cs, I’m going to hire a C.” That’s not what they’re meant for.
What I work with people on is understanding that even if you don’t have representation of a certain style on your team, once you understand the styles and behaviors, you can role-play and take the perspective of someone with that natural style.
Suzan: Gallup actually used to use StrengthsFinder in hiring, which is how I got hired, but they moved away from that eventually. I agree these assessments are contextual.
One reason I love StrengthsFinder for my coaching practice is that it gives us language. I tell people it’s like reading the Matrix - I can understand them better. And because the top five or ten combination is so unique, people don’t feel boxed in. There’s richness inside all these assessments.
Understanding Your Style and Stretching
Jen: In DiSC, everybody has a bit of all the styles. Your dominant style is your comfort zone, but you can stretch outside of that. I’m a high Di - dominant influence - off the chart. On a good day, I get stuff done fast, I’m decisive, clear, and inspiring. On a bad day, I railroad people - I’m still getting stuff done, but people feel they can’t get a word in edgewise.
When I have to do tasks that aren’t natural to me, like detailed administrative work (more of a C activity), I don’t get to say, “I’m a DI, I’m out.” Instead, I recognize it will stretch me and set myself up for success - I’ll go to Starbucks with headphones to get into the zone.
The same is true for someone who prefers to work independently and analytically but needs to present to the company. They don’t get a pass to avoid it, but their leader should support them in preparing and recovering afterward.
Suzan: Can you guess what my DiSC profile is?
Jen Fox: You have a very strong I, but I also know you have an analytical part. I would peg you as maybe a Di with a C extension.
Suzan: I am off the charts D and I. My C is in the toilet! My S is actually pretty high, over 50%.
Jen Fox: That’s interesting! People sometimes have extensions where their comfort zone extends to another category. For you, that’s S - steadiness, collaboration, inclusion.
We have to hold two things true: we don’t want to label people and put them in boxes, but we also want to use the shorthand language to develop shared understanding to make progress quickly.
No Good or Bad Types
Suzan: Let’s talk about this idea that there are no good or bad types, and also the concept of balance. With StrengthsFinder, I believe your assets in excess can become liabilities. I talk about “clumps” in strengths - like someone with eight of their top ten in relationship building. I think about balance - how are you in balance with something?
There’s a misnomer sometimes that we have to be a certain type to be a leader. Do you hear that?
Jen: That’s another common question: is there a particular type for organizational hierarchy or industry? DiSC research suggests that generally, there’s an even distribution of types in the population. But that hasn’t been my experience.
Corporate America has historically rewarded a particular profile - white male charismatic energy, which in DiSC tends to be D and ipersonalities, favoring D. So people conclude that those behaviors - dominant, fast-paced, direct, truth-telling - are necessary for success.
Across industries, I find salespeople are D’s and I’s, finance and engineering are largely C’s, marketing and HR have lots of I’s and S’s. But the important thing is that no style is better than another. The goal isn’t to become another style - you couldn’t if you tried - but to learn to flex.
When you appreciate that others bring entirely different perspectives, it changes the conversation. Having ten of me in a room would be a disaster! Two D’s will just fight for airtime. The question is: where are the gaps, and what strengths aren’t being brought to the table?
Assessments & Team Composition
Suzan: Well, yeah, and I love that. Like you, I’m sure, I work with a lot of leadership teams, and they’ll say, “What should be the right expression?” And I’m like, “Well, what types?” For example, I have my own thing called Leadership Archetypes, which is a framework. I wouldn’t call it an assessment, but it basically works on interpersonal, interpersonal and organizational levels. It’s really built for leadership teams to help them have a common language and work together as a unit.
They’ll often ask me like, “Oh, should we have all Olympians or all Glues or whatever?” And I’m like, “Well, not necessarily, but also what are you doing? What phase of business are you in? What’s the team up to and what do you want next?” I think it’s that conversation about what we need at the table. And I 100% agree.
I’m working with teams on offsites that have a lot of Olympians, which is not exactly like the D energy, but you can kind of have a similar feel in that direction. They’re like, “We’re going to get things done” kind of energy. And a lot of that on a team can really have some deficits in other ways. Like how are you building up your leadership pipeline? Because in my model, Olympians aren’t necessarily thinking about that - they’re like, “Get it done. I could be the lone wolf.” They’re not thinking about how to bring up the next generation of leaders, so their leadership pipelines are missing. For me, I’m a lot about balance and what’s going on in the organization and what we need.
Jen: So good. I love looking at that. When I look at a team or organization’s overall culture, especially in tech startups, there’s usually a lot of D and I energy. That’s the startup vibe - seeing possibilities, conquering challenges, pivoting constantly. But at some point, you need to recognize that 25-50% of your workforce likely operates at a slower pace, looking for stability and consistency.
Executive teams need to be responsible for the culture they’ve created. If they design policies, norms, and meeting rules only for their own style, many people won’t fit in. There’s a clear through-line from personal insight to organizational design when we understand this. The question becomes: how do we make space for everybody to show up with their style?
Suzan: I agree. People sometimes dismiss assessments as “business astrology” or think they’re just warm and fuzzy. But for those of us who’ve been doing this work a long time, it’s very pragmatic and practical. It’s not squishy - it’s about tracking goals and performance.
Myths and Misuses
Jen: Let’s talk about myths and misuses:
The labeling myth: Use assessments as a shortcut for common language, not as a label that explains everything about a person.
Starting with others instead of self: When we learn these things, our mind naturally goes to explaining others’ behavior. We need to start with self-awareness.
The “just team building” myth: Yes, it can be fun, but if you take that insight and put it in a drawer, never looking at it again, that’s a missed opportunity. How can it inform your strategic planning?
A client I worked with said doing DiSC led to some of the most honest conversations they’d ever had in their company. If we can shift from seeing assessments as fun or fluffy to seeing them as critical self, team, and organizational awareness tools, it’s game-changing.
Suzan: 100% I want to say one thing on that note too. I do a lot of leadership offsites. What I notice is that they bring me in, they have two days of planning, and then they bring me in and I’m like, “Actually, bring me in first. Bring in the, you know, if I’m doing strengths or I’m doing my Leadership Archetypes, bring me in first because it will inform how you have those conversations, how you plan, how you make decisions.”
I actually think it’s more powerful that way. Most of the time they’re like, “We’ve already slotted it.” I’m like, “Great. Next time just...” because I think your point is really important. The way we have the conversation is just as important as the content of the conversation.
Jen: Yes, front-load the insights in a coaching engagement, an offsite, or a curriculum. As soon as you have that understanding, it can inform everything else.
Closing Thoughts
Suzan: Thank you so much for being here. This was such a fun conversation!
Jen: I love that we both have common opinions about assessments but specialize in different ones. There’s no “better” assessment - it depends on the purpose and how you’re using it.
Look for the gold in whatever assessment you use - you can find value if you’re looking for it.