Lead Smarter: Use Psychometrics To Elevate Your Team

As a leader, you’re likely juggling a hundred things at once: performance issues, strategic alignment, team morale, client satisfaction—the list goes on. But amidst all the moving parts, one thing quietly determines whether your team thrives or struggles: how well you understand yourself and the people you lead.

Great leadership starts with self-awareness. But it doesn’t stop there.

To lead effectively, especially in today’s fast-paced, high-expectation environment, you need to deeply understand:

How you naturally communicate and make decisions
How your team members prefer to operate and interact
Where your strengths shine, and where others complement you

And here’s the key: you can’t guess your way to this kind of insight.

The Human Element: Why Personality and Communication Style Matter

Every person on your team brings a unique combination of personality traits, motivators, and working styles. What energizes one employee may drain another. What feels like clear direction to you might come across as micromanagement to someone else.

When you don’t know these differences, misunderstandings creep in. Conflict brews. Productivity stalls. Turnover rises.

But when you do understand how people are wired to work?

You create an environment where everyone can show up at their best.

Imagine being able to quickly see:

Who thrives with autonomy and who needs structure
Who makes fast decisions, and who needs time to reflect
Who prefers written communication, and who does better in person
Who gets energy from solving problems, and who loves organizing processes

Now imagine understanding your own preferences with the same level of clarity—so you know where your leadership instincts help the team, and where you might need to flex.

The Problem with “One-Size-Fits-All” Leadership

Too many leaders rely on instinct, trial and error, or generic team-building exercises. While those have their place, they often leave us scratching the surface.

Real leadership effectiveness comes from measurable, reliable insight. Not assumptions.

That’s why tools like MPO (Management & Performance In Organizations) exist—to help leaders decode their own leadership style and the personalities, motivations, and behaviors of their teams in a way that’s practical and actionable.

I’ve worked with many psychometric tools over the years—DISC, Predictive Index, Enneagram, and others—all of which offer valuable insights into personality. But the one I’ve found to be the most practical and impactful is MPO. It stands out because it goes beyond just personality—it also assesses communication style and provides a detailed talent report for each individual. It’s the only tool I’ve come across that gives such a well-rounded, actionable profile, making it an invaluable resource for leaders who want to truly understand and develop their people.

Want to See It in Action?

If you’re a leader who wants to make better people decisions, increase team trust, and lead with more precision and confidence, I’d love to show you what MPO can do.

I would gladly offer a short, personalized demo of the MPO solution—no pressure, just a real look at how it works and how it could support you as a leader. You’ll walk away with at least one powerful insight about yourself—and probably a few about your team too.

If that sounds helpful, let’s connect. Sometimes the smallest shift in understanding can create the biggest change in performance.

Reach out here john@johnbarrettleadership.com to connect, and we can set up a time to show you what it does.

Leadership isn’t just about driving results. It’s about knowing your people well enough to bring out their best—and knowing yourself well enough to lead with intention. Tools like MPO make that possible.