Diagnostic tools

Our world-leading diagnostic tools are used by coaches, leaders and organisations across the globe to inform transformative development journeys.

Knowing where to start with leadership or organisational development is always a challenge. But that challenge is made easier by diagnosis and feedback, which can set in motion honest self-evaluation. This self-exploration can help executives with one of the most difficult leadership tasks they may ever face: changing themselves.

Feedback from different stakeholders provide a useful way for leaders to compare their self-perceptions with the observations of colleagues or others who know them well. They help executives make connections between patterns of conflict at work and interpersonal issues in their private lives.

Ultimately, the feedback enables us to tie the learning and development journeys to specific goals, objectives and interventions.

Professional woman with laptop presenting to colleagues

Holistic Diagnosis

Tools for every organisational level

Leaders and organisations are unique and complex, which is why we offer a wide variety of solutions including stakeholder interviews, psychometrically validated 360º feedback tools and immersive simulations on leadership, group and organisational dynamics.

Our diagnostics support leadership development and organisational effectiveness on three levels:

KDVI diagnostic tools diagram

Leaders

The journey begins

Whether it’s helping a leader truly understand their impact on the organisation around them, gain a deeper understanding of their strengths, or begin to develop a work/life balance that fits with their belief systems, our diagnostic tools can be the beginning of an introspective journey.

Tool

Global Executive Leadership Mirror (GELM®)

Examining leadership behaviour roadblocks and taking steps toward improvement.

The Global Executive Leadership Mirror (GELM) questionnaire is the result of an ongoing decade-long research project at INSEAD’s Global Leadership Centre (IGLC), investigating the behaviour patterns of effective global executives. ​​

The questionnaire, which consists of 110 statements and feedback from up to 15 observers, was developed to: ​

  • Help executives evaluate their performance in carrying out the twelve primary tasks of global leaders​
  • Cover a number of indicators such as life stressors and coping mechanisms to determine their ability to manage stress in their life​
  • Ensure sustained leadership performance​.

​Starting price: £270

Languages: English, French, Russian, Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese

Next steps

Our team are on hand to support you in utilising the GELM® in your organisation or coaching practice, and are able to guide you through the entire process.

Find out more

Download a sample report

Tool

Inner Theatre Inventory (ITI™)

Identifying life anchors that drive behaviour.

The Inner Theatre Inventory (ITI™) identifies the key themes—or Life Anchors—in our personal inner theatre, consisting of the values, beliefs and attitudes that drive behaviour. ​

Participants rate their response to the Inventory’s 22 life anchors and receive feedback from up to 7 observers from both personal and professional realms.​

Using the ITI™, individuals can develop:​

  • Greater awareness what is most important and meaningful to them
  • Create a lifestyle more congruent with their values and belief systems​.

​Starting price: £170

Languages: English, French and Russian.

Next steps

Our team have helped thousands of professionals to utilise the Inner Theatre Inventory (ITI™), and are able to guide you through the entire process.

Find out more

Download a sample report

Teams

Building effective teams

Our suite of 360° feedback instruments help leaders in a multitude of ways, from providing structure for team development initiatives, to exploring the qualities, skills and competencies a leader needs to be an effective team player.

Tool

Team Compass

Aligning teams to become more effective

KDVI’s Team Compass™ helps leadership teams better understand how aligned the team is and identify areas to improve to become more effective as a team. ​

Based on academic research and experience with teams, the Team Compass™ evaluates perceptions of the team effectiveness in four areas: Direction & Structure, Cohesion, Functioning and Growth.​

Specifically, the results can be used in a team alignment and development workshop to:​

 

  • Highlight collective strengths and development areas/opportunities​​
  • Identify gaps in alignment between team leader and rest of the team or between subgroups​​
  • Design targeted/themed workshops​​
  • Benchmark for ongoing team development​.

Next steps

Our diagnostic team can help you establish if the Team Compass™ is the right intervention for your team, and are able to guide you through the entire process.

Find out more

Download a sample report

Organisations

Data-rich insight into organisational performance

Our organisation-level interventions can be used as standalone diagnostics or in conjunction with team or leader development tools to garner a data-rich overview of how an organisation is functioning.

Tool

Organisational Culture Audit (OCA™)

The Organisational Culture Audit (OCA™) is a diagnostic of current corporate culture, addressing both performance and people-related dimensions and alignment between a culture’s stated values and actual practice. ​

The OCA survey:​

  • Covers 12 dimensions of organisational culture that research with large numbers of senior executives have shown to be the most salient​
  • Is taken anonymously and administered broadly to all members of the organisation​
  • Additional survey specific questions can be added to allow a more nuanced look at the data.

Starting price: £1,750

Language: English, French, Russian, Spanish, Chinese, German and Dutch

Next Steps

The OCA™ can be used as a standalone intervention or can be combined with a team or individual intervention to provide a systematic approach to assessing organisation effectiveness.

Find out more

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.