Leadership Archetype Questionnaire (LAQ™)

Most people now acknowledge that successful organisations are built on shared, collaborative, and complementary leadership. A diverse group of carefully selected individuals can be structured to become a highly effective team that delivers much more than the sum of its parts.  

There are a number of recurring patterns of behaviour that influence an individual’s effectiveness within an organisation. These patterns can be categorised as a number of Leadership Archetypes. A Leadership Archetype characterises the way in which a leader deals with people and situations in an organisational context.

The Leadership Archetype Questionnaire (LAQ) is a 360° feedback instrument designed to help executives identify their dominant leadership archetypes, match strengths and competencies to particular roles and challenges, and identify organisational situations in which a particular leadership style could be most effective. Used within teams, the LAQ can be used to identify complementary roles in order to build effective high-performance teams.

The Archetypes

1 – The strategist – leadership as a game of chess
2 – The change-catalyst – leadership as a turnaround activity
3 – The transactor – leadership as deal-making
4 – The builder – leadership as an entrepreneurial activity  

5 – The innovator – leadership as creative idea generation
6 – The processor – leadership as an exercise in efficiency  
7 – The coach – leadership as people development
8 – The communicator – leadership as stage management  

Who is it for?
The LAQ is designed for a broad range of leaders, including CEOs and top executives, junior executives, mid-level managers, and organisational directors working in profit and non-profit organisations.

Questionnaire completion:

  • 48 questions, including a comments section for observers
  • Takes 10-15 minutes to complete
  • Psychometrically-validated and normalised against global executives
  • 360° feedback from between 7-15 observers that you select from your teams (members from two different teams are required, and an optional third category for people inside or outside the organisation, for example, clients or people from other departments or subsidiaries)
  • All feedback remains anonymous
  • KDVI will manage the administration, and when all the questionnaires have been completed, provide a feedback report for each of the participants

What outcomes can I expect?
The LAQ serves as an essential resource on your leadership journey and is an ideal tool for examining your leadership strengths, role in the team as well as the leadership configuration of your team and then taking steps toward improvement.

As a result of the LAQ you will be able to:

  • Understand the eight leadership archetypes
  • Assess your strengths and weaknesses against those archetypes
  • Explore gaps in perceptions between the Self and Observers’ scores in order to determine “blind spots”
  • Develop a personal action plan to improve leadership effectiveness
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of your team’s role configuration
  • Work with your team to develop an action plan for improving team effectiveness

Language:
English, French, German, Dutch

Pricing:
£170 per report

To purchase the LAQ or find out more about how it can benefit your clients and organisations, please send us your details and one of the team will be in touch.

Next steps

Our team are happy to help you with any questions you may have on how the LAQ works, how to get the most from it and guide you in the process.

GET IN TOUCH

Download a sample report

Contact us

Margot Schumacher:

Senior Associate at KDVI, Adjunct Professor of Leadership Development at TIAS Business School, and executive coach at INSEAD. Margot has coached senior leaders across global organisations following senior roles at Unilever and Kraft Heinz. Since 2010, she has advised multinationals on leadership and organisational development, with a focus on enhancing effectiveness at the top team and board levels. She also serves on the Supervisory Board of Thales Netherlands. Her global perspective is shaped by living and working in Shanghai, Pittsburgh, and London before returning to the Netherlands

Oriane Kets de Vries:

Oriane Kets de Vries is CEO and owner of the Kets de Vries Institute. She leads a global team of coaches, consultants and educators dedicated to developing reflective, emotionally intelligent leaders and cultivating workplaces where people can thrive. In her faculty role, she draws on extensive experience designing and directing leadership programmes for senior executives, contributing her expertise in psychodynamic coaching, organisational culture, and transformational leadership development.

Oriane has served as consultant, coach, and programme director for clients including Pictet, Deutsche Bank, Merck, UBS, Mishcon de Reya, and Engie, and she has taught on open-enrolment programmes with leading institutions such as Cambridge Judge Business School, Oxford Saïd, INSEAD, ESCP, ESMT and CEDEP. Her interests centre on the human side of leadership, particularly identity, creativity, entrepreneurship and gender dynamics. She holds an MBA and Executive MA in Coaching and Consulting for Change from INSEAD, has trained at the Harvard Kennedy School, and brings more than a decade of professional experience in creative and entrepreneurial industries into her work with leaders.

Manfred Kets de Vries:

Manfred Kets de Vries is a pioneering authority in leadership development, coaching, and organisational change. He is a founder and director of the Kets de Vries Institute (KDVI) and served as Distinguished Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and Organisational Change at INSEAD. With academic credentials in economics (University of Amsterdam), management (MBA and DBA, Harvard Business School), and psychoanalysis (trained in Canada), he brings a uniquely interdisciplinary perspective to leadership. His work bridges management theory and clinical insight, establishing him as a global thought leader in executive coaching and transformation. At INSEAD, he founded the Global Leadership Centre and led the flagship programme The Challenge of Leadership for 31 years. He also served as scientific director of Coaching and Consulting for Change, an 18-month Executive Master’s programme that has shaped over 3,000 senior leaders and executive coaches worldwide. He has advised and coached senior executives at global firms including Goldman Sachs, BP, Shell, Unilever, McKinsey, and Volvo. A prolific author of over 60 books and 400 articles, his work appears regularly in The Financial Times, The Economist, and Harvard Business Review. Recognised by Le Capital, Wirtschaftswoche, and The Financial Times as one of the world’s top 50 management thinkers, he is widely regarded for advancing more human-centred approaches to leadership.

Yulia Chupina:

Senior Adviser (Luminary) at Accenture and executive coach with over 12 years of board experience. Formerly a banker and McKinsey consultant, Yulia has led banking transformations in digital, agile, organisational change, and talent development. Her coaching spans the finance, tech, and consumer goods sectors, blending technological insight with emotional intelligence to guide leaders through transformation. Recently, she advised BBVA on agile methodologies and senior talent development. Influenced by thought leaders such as Manfred Kets de Vries and Gabor Maté, Yulia brings an analytical, reflective approach to leadership. She has lived and worked across the UK, Spain, the US, and Russia.

Elizabeth Florent:

Elizabeth has worked closely with Manfred Kets de Vries for many years and has served as a Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow at INSEAD. Her extensive background in leadership development spans organisational consulting, executive coaching, and academic research. She holds advanced degrees in Organisational Development and Clinical Organisational Psychology and is a certified Coaching Supervisor through the Tavistock Institute. Her doctoral research explored experiential domains in executive education, and she has authored or co-authored numerous academic articles, case studies, and books on leadership and organisational dynamics. Elizabeth led the development teams behind KDVI’s diagnostic instruments, including the GELM, OCA™, and ITI. Drawing on her diverse training and global experience, she brings deep cross-cultural insight to her work with leaders worldwide. Originally from California, Elizabeth has made France her home for over 30 years.