The 8 Dimensions of Leadership

To be an effective leader you need to know your strengths—but that's only part of the story. You also need a broad perspective on all the behaviors needed to be an effective leader. This book provides both.

Using the third-generation DiSC® online assessment—one of the most scientifically validated tools available—The 8 Dimensions of Leadership helps you identify your primary leadership dimension. Whether you are a Pioneering, Energizing, Affirming, Inclusive, Humble, Deliberate, Resolute, or Commanding leader, the authors help you understand the psychological drivers, motivations, and "blind spots" characteristic of your style.

But no single style will take you all the way. A Humble leader may have a hard time making tough decisions. A Commanding leader may run roughshod over potential allies. The authors detail the lessons all leaders can learn from each style, enabling you to craft a multidimensional approach to becoming the leader you aspire to be.

The 8 Dimensions Development Process
We hope that you're excited about the opportunity before you—the chance to expand your leadership framework. We'll help you do this by walking you through a four-step process:

1. Discover your primary leadership dimension
2. Learn about the psychological drivers, motivations, and "blind spots" typical of leaders with your style
3. Reflect on what really matters most in your leadership development right now
4. Once you identify the dimension(s) in which you'd like to grow, learn leadership lessons to help you get there

 

The Authors

Jeffrey Sugerman, Ph.D.
Jeffrey Sugerman, Ph.D., is the president and CEO of Inscape Publishing, a leading provider of training materials for the corporate market. Sugerman brings 20 years of experience in senior management, marketing, and business development in the technology, training, and publishing industries. He joined Inscape Publishing in 2001 to lead its transformation into an independent company after Carlson Companies sold the Carlson Learning Company to Riverside Company, a New York-based private equity firm.

Sugerman received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and his B.A. from Northwestern University. He was an Assistant Professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, before joining Sirota and Alper Associates, a consulting firm that provided organizational development consulting services to Fortune 500 companies. Sugerman has worked in corporate publishing since 1988, when he joined a subsidiary of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. From 1992 to 1999, he served in various senior executive roles in the Assessments Division of National Computer Systems, now a subsidiary of Pearson PLC.

Sugerman is past-President of ISA, the trade association for training and development industry suppliers. He is the 2009 recipient of ISA's prestigious Broomfield Award. Sugerman currently serves as a Board member for Coffee House Press, an independent, not-for-profit literary press based in Minneapolis. He serves on the Advisory Boards of Experiencepoint, a creator of computer-based leadership development simulation systems, and Management Concepts, a leading provider of training services to the federal government. Jeffrey's non-work interests include playing upright bass in a jazz quartet and practicing yoga.

Mark Scullard, Ph.D.
Mark Scullard, Ph.D., is the director of research at Inscape Publishing. At Inscape, Scullard is responsible for product development, research strategies, and data analysis. He has over a decade of research and data analysis experience developing psychological evaluation tools and methods.

Scullard has provided industrial organizational research and development consultation to a variety of organizations within the Twin Cities area, most recently at Martin-McAllister Consulting Psychologists. Project areas have included a range of topics, such as the development of client satisfaction measures, the design of personnel selection instruments and structured interview protocols, the assessment of employee attitudes and employee performance, the evaluation of personnel selection procedures, validation of psychological instruments, and the development of return on investment calculators. His research has been published in both academic and trade journals, and he has also given research presentations at national and local professional conferences.

Scullard has provided personal and group psychotherapy in a variety of settings. His experience as a therapist includes conducting mental health workshops and seminars. Although he no longer counsels, he is still very passionate about helping people to understand the cognitive and emotional patterns behind their behavior, particularly in the area of leadership.

Scullard received his doctorate in psychology from the University of Minnesota, with a supporting program in statistics. He has also been an instructor at the University of Minnesota. In academia, Scullard's teaching curriculum has included general psychology, experimental psychology and research methods and statistics.

Emma Wilhelm, M.S.
Emma Wilhelm, M.S., serves as senior writer and product developer at Inscape Publishing. Wilhelm has a passion for product development and human development, so her current role provides the perfect opportunity to develop innovative corporate training and development products that, in turn, help develop people. Her publishing career has included work at several niche publishers, with responsibilities ranging from research, to content development, to acquisitions.

Wilhelm left publishing for several years to pursue a career in collegiate coaching and teaching. She enjoyed her time on small college campuses teaching undergraduate courses, leading cross country and track and field teams, and advising student leadership groups through NCAA and YMCA programs. She coached at St. Olaf College, Smith College, and North Park University, and she served as an instructor at Smith College, North Park University, and the University of Minnesota.

Wilhelm holds a B.A. in English Literature with a Concentration in Media Studies from Carleton College, as well as a M.S. in Exercise and Sport Studies from Smith College. In her graduate studies, she was particularly interested in the sociology of sport and wrote a qualitative thesis, "Competitive Weightlifting for High School Females as a Platform for Identity Formation." When she isn't developing new products for Inscape, she enjoys motherhood, fitness, and writing creative nonfiction.

Excerpts

To get a sense of what The 8 Dimensions of Leadership has to offer, we invite you to read some excerpts. Keep in mind that because the book is assessment-based, each reader's experience will be unique. Once you've taken the assessment, you'll know which chapters are most relevant to you.

Introduction to Part 1; Chapter 1: This excerpt will give a broad overview of the model and how the book works.

Part 1
The 8 Dimensions of Leadership Model

The 8 Dimensions of Leadership is meant to provide a highly personalized leadership development experience. Part 1 helps you get the most out of the book by providing
important background information on DiSC®, describing the 8 Dimensions of Leadership, and explaining the value of this multidimensional model. In essence, you'll get a big-picture sense of how this model can help you bypass some of the trial and error often involved in leadership growth. Once you understand the central themes of the book, you'll discover your primary leadership dimension through an online assessment or an alternative method in Chapter 2. Most leaders enjoy learning about the characteristics associated with their primary leadership dimensions, and we hope that this process will whet your appetite for deeper insights into your behavior.

While we have a central argument to share with you— that all leaders need to be able to stretch beyond their primary leadership dimensions—the experience will be unique to you. We provide specific steps to help you put this model into action, but your experience will also be shaped by your leadership style, your current role, the culture of your organization, and your personal goals.

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Endorsements

"The quest for leadership is first an inner quest to discover who you are, and one of the best places to begin that quest is with The 8 Dimensions of Leadership. Jeffrey Sugerman, Mark Scullard, and Emma Wilhelm challenge the widely accepted, but fundamentally flawed, assumption that you should lead only with your strengths. They argue most persuasively that you must stretch yourself beyond your primary dimension in order to meet the demands of today's multidimensional environment. This highly personalized book is based on solid evidence, crammed with real-life examples, and full of practical suggestions that you can use immediately. You will be, as I was, richly rewarded when you read it and apply it."
—Jim Kouzes, Dean's Executive Professor of Leadership, Leavey School of Business, and coauthor of the bestselling The Leadership Challenge and The Truth about Leadership

"For a fresh outlook on what it takes to be a great leader, read this book. The 8 Dimensions of Leadership is an insightful, practical guide—a leader could spend ten or twenty years learning some of the lessons you'll take away. Don't wait."
—Keith Ferrazzi, bestselling author of Never Eat Alone

"The 8 Dimensions of Leadership is a treasure trove of practical leadership advice. Built upon a solid research-based foundation, the book is a remarkable collection of proven developmental strategies. Clear and engaging, it is a must-read for those who aim to sharpen their leadership skills and improve their interpersonal effectiveness."
—Steven Snyder, founder and Managing Director, Snyder Leadership Group, and former CEO, Net Perceptions Inc.

"It is always refreshing to read a research-based book on leadership that presents convincing evidence that the best leaders are not 'single celled' or 'one-trick ponies.' The book guides all leaders to discovering new behaviors that enable them to go beyond their autopilot approaches and the ultimate ruts that so many leaders dig for themselves."
—Jack Zenger, CEO, Zenger Folkman, and coauthor of the bestselling The Extraordinary Leader and The Extraordinary Coach

"An enormously valuable book for anyone interested in greater effectiveness in the new era of leveraging relationships! So much of what many of us want to get done these days requires an understanding of what makes us more or less comfortable as we engage with our world and the key people in it, and this should be considered a prime resource. Don't let the simplicity and easily intuitive quality of its contents fool you. This is a power tool. As a more than twenty-year DiSC profile user and advocate, I was already familiar with and sympathetic to the basic model. But as I engaged with its simple but subtle concepts and suggestions, I was stunned by its ability to hit home for me in so many aspects of my own current leadership challenges and opportunities. It delivered instant validation and inspired direction for me. Bravo!"
—David Allen, Chairman, David Allen Company, and author of Getting Things Done

The Assessment

After you purchase The 8 Dimensions of Leadership book, you will receive an access code to complete the online assessment.

It takes approx 15 minutes or less to complete. You'll receive your one-page Leadership Dimensions summary immediately upon completion. Your summary will tell you your primary leadership dimension—Pioneering, Energizing, Affirming, Inclusive, Humble, Deliberate, Resolute, or Commanding. It will also identify two of these dimensions that you may need to work on right now and provide specific chapters in the book that are most relevant to your leadership development at this time.

This assessment harnesses the power of the third generation of the DiSC® model of human behavior—one of the most widely used, scientifically-based approaches to assessing human behavior and improving interpersonal skills.