A Practical Leadership Self-Assessment Based on Emotional Intelligence Research

A practical, research-informed self-assessment based on Daniel Goleman’s six leadership styles, designed to help you understand your default leadership patterns and where greater flexibility could strengthen your effectiveness.

This free self-assessment is designed to help you reflect on how you currently lead, using Daniel Goleman’s six leadership styles as a framework.

It brings together:

  • A structured self-assessment

  • Clear explanations of each leadership style

  • Guided reflection questions to support development

It is intended as a starting point for increasing awareness of your leadership approach and how it influences people, performance, and outcomes.

Why This Matters

Leadership is often discussed in terms of strategy and decision-making. In practice, how you lead on a day-to-day basis shapes:

  • How people experience their work

  • How teams communicate and perform

  • How effectively organisations deliver on their goals

Research shows that leaders who can adapt their leadership style based on context tend to create more positive organisational climates, which are linked to stronger performance and engagement (Goleman, 2000). This assessment supports you in identifying where you are now, so you can make more intentional choices about how you lead.

What You’ll Gain

By completing this assessment, you could gain:

  • Clarity on your default leadership style(s)

  • Insight into how your approach may be experienced by others

  • Awareness of where you may be over-relying on one style

  • Direction on where expanding your range could improve effectiveness