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Assessments: Tools that Turn Awareness into Insight (Volume 2, Issue 2)

When we discover what matters, we open ourselves to new paths of growth, connection, and purpose begin to emerge. 


The Power & Gift of Self-Exploration

The days between Christmas and the New Year often feel like a quiet threshold—a pause between what has been and what is becoming. It is a natural season for reflection, reset, and gentle exploration. As one year closes and another begins, many of us feel an invitation to look inward, not to judge or fix ourselves, but to notice where we are and where we might want to grow.

In healthcare and helping professions, these moments of reflection often surface subtly: in lingering fatigue, in questions about purpose, or in a desire to begin again with greater clarity and intention. Rather than resolutions rooted in pressure, this season offers space for curiosity—an opportunity to explore what supports our energy, fulfillment, and well-being moving forward.

Self-exploration is both a power and a gift. It gives us permission to slow down amid constant motion and reconnect with what truly matters. Assessments provide a structured yet compassionate way to begin this exploration. They help us step back from daily demands to better understand how our energy, values, and patterns influence not only how we work, but how we experience our lives.

More than tests or profiles, assessments act as mirrors—tools that turn curiosity into clarity and reflection into meaningful insight. When we approach them as part of a new beginning rather than a judgment of the past, they open the door to awareness, alignment, and renewed possibility.

Five Essential Values Assessments Offer You

Assessments are not diagnostic tools; they are reflective instruments designed to increase awareness, not to label or judge. Their purpose is to uncover the patterns that shape how we understand ourselves, communicate with others, and create meaning through our actions. Each value below highlights a unique way reflection translates into purposeful growth.

Clarity – Making the Invisible Visible: Assessments turn intuition into insight. They reveal the underlying influences behind our reactions and choices, helping us act with intention rather than reaction.

Appreciation – Reconnecting to What Is Working: In the rush to improve, it is easy to overlook what is already serving us well. Assessments help identify the qualities that support our best work, whether that is empathy, steadiness, creativity, or resilience, and remind us that appreciation is the foundation for growth.

Balance – Cultivating Awareness and Renewal:Assessments can illuminate the conditions that steady us and the moments that challenge our equilibrium. Understanding these patterns supports healthier rhythms between demands and recovery, helping us navigate the day with steadiness and self-regulation.

Direction – Moving from Awareness to Action: Assessments help transform self-observation into focus. They highlight strengths, tendencies, and opportunities for growth, offering clarity about next steps. Whether the goal is strengthening communication, supporting teamwork, or increasing confidence, assessments create a clearer sense of direction for meaningful change.

Fulfillment – Aligning Strengths with What You Do Each Day: When we understand our natural tendencies, talents, and ways of interacting, we can make choices that bring greater ease and satisfaction to our work. Assessments clarify where we feel most engaged and effective, and where small adjustments may create more meaning, connection, and well-being throughout the day.

Popular Tools Utilized for Personal and Professional Growth

Many professionals have experienced one or more of these tools.  Each offer a valuable, but partial, lens on who we are at work and in life:

  • DISC ® - Reveals behavioral tendencies around Dominance, Influence, Steadiness, and Conscientiousness, useful for team and communication.

  • Myers-Briggs Type Indicator ® (MBTI) - Explores preferences such as introversion / extraversion and decision making style. 

  • CliftonStrengths ® (formerly StrengthsFinder) - Highlights natural talents and how to develop them into strengths.

  • Emotional Intelligence (EQ-i 2.0) - Measures self-perception, interpersonal skills, stress management, and decision making under pressure. 

These tools help identify how you prefer to act, decide, and relate—insight that is valuable for building stronger relationships and self-understanding. What they often do not measure, however, is the internal experience that shapes those behaviors.

Traditional assessments describe what you do. 
Some provide insight into how others perceive you. 
Few explore how you show up — the internal state that influences every interaction, reaction, and decision.

This is where the Energy Leadership™ Index begins to add a deeper dimension.

Introducing the Energy Leadership ™ Index (ELI)

The Energy Leadership™ Index (ELI) moves beyond personality; it measures how your energy influences perception, communication, and performance. Developed by the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC), this research-backed, attitudinal assessment reveals how you engage with life and work across seven distinct levels of energy.

In this context, “energy” refers to the internal state that influences how we perceive situations and respond to them, our mindset, emotional tone, and level of engagement, not physical stamina or motivation.

While its name includes “leadership,” the ELI is not just for executives or managers. Leadership in this context means self-leadership—how we guide ourselves each day through choices, reactions, and relationships. Whether you are caring for patients, mentoring students, supporting colleagues, raising a family, or simply navigating your day with intention, the ELI offers insight into how your mindset and energy shape every experience.
“I thought I was taking a leadership test. What I discovered was how I lead my own life every day.” — ELI Participant, Pharmacist

Why the ELI Matters

Traditional assessments help you understand your tendencies, strengths, and patterns. The ELI goes deeper. It reveals the energetic influences that drive those tendencies—the internal lens through which you experience stress, challenge, connection, and choice.

Where other tools describe traits, the ELI helps you understand your state. It illuminates the mindset and energy behind your behaviors, allowing you to shift from automatic reactions to intentional responses that support clarity, connection, and well-being.

What Do We Mean by Energy?

In this context, energy is not mystical or abstract, it reflects the inner state that drives outer results.  It includes your thoughts, emotions, and physiological responses that determine how you show up; your tone, focus, patience, and compassion.

Energy shows up in your posture, your language, your decisions, and your ability to adapt under pressure.  The ELI helps you recognize those patterns so you can shift from draining (catabolic) energy to constructive (anabolic) energy, creating greater clarity, connection, and fulfillment in all parts of life. 
“The ELI helped me see where my energy was leaking, not from burnout, but from trying to control everything.  It gave me language for awareness.” - ELI Debrief Client

What It Reveals:  How you perceive and respond to challenges in your everyday routines and during moments of stress.  

Why It Matters: Awareness of your energetic makeup helps you shift in real time—from reactive to intentional, and from draining (catabolic) patterns to more constructive (anabolic) responses that support clarity and well-being.

Who Benefits Most: People who want greater clarity, resilience, or self-leadership in their life and work—from healthcare professionals and educators to those navigating personal growth or change.

The ELI is recognized by Forbes Coaches Council as one of the top professional assessments for insight and growth, noting that “self-awareness and reflection are the foundation of adaptive leadership.”

The ELI 360™ - Seeing Through Others’ Eyes

For those in leadership, management, or mentoring roles, the ELI 360™  adds a panoramic layer of feedback from colleagues and direct reports. It reveals how your energy and communication style are experienced by others, highlighting alignment, blind spots, and opportunities for growth.
“Receiving my ELI 360 feedback helped me see how differently I was perceived under pressure versus on calmer days. It turned my awareness into action.” -  ELI 360 Participant

The ELI 360 Helps You to: 
  • Identify differences between self-perception and others’ experience
  • Strengthen communication and relational awareness
  • Opportunity to build trust, collaboration, and psychological safety within teams. 

For healthcare teams, educators, and professionals across industries, this feedback deepens self-leadership - helping individuals understand how their presence and energy influence the well-being, trust, and engagement of others. 

Which Assessment is Right for You?

Goal
Best Fit
Understand your communication and behavioral style
DISC or MBTI
Identify your unique talents and strengths
CliftonStrengths
Build emotional intelligence and stress management
EQ-i 2.0
Deepen awareness of how you show up in life and work
ELI
Gain feedback from colleagues to elevate team culture
ELI 360

Why Pair an Assessment with Coaching

Insight alone does not create change; reflection does. A certified coach helps translate assessment results into practical strategies that support resilience, self-leadership, and work-life fulfillment. Through guided conversation, awareness is transformed into intentional action, and action into sustainable growth.




Further Reading & Research


Reflect Before You Assess

Before completing any assessment, take a brief pause:
  • What am I hoping to understand about myself right now?
  • Where in my professional life do I feel more energized and where do I feel depleted?
  • How might greater clarity change how I lead, teach, or care for others?

Assessments don’t define us- they reveal us.  When combined with awareness and coaching, they become powerful tools for clarity, confidence and fulfillment. 

Final Thoughts

As this year comes to a close, the space between endings and beginnings offers a powerful opportunity to pause. Assessments, when approached with curiosity rather than judgment, can help illuminate what is already present, our strengths, our patterns, and the energy we bring to our work and lives. Tools like the Energy Leadership™ Index (ELI) support this kind of reflection by helping us understand not who we are, but how we are showing up in the moments that matter.

Whether this season finds you feeling energized, uncertain, or somewhere in between, awareness creates choice. And choice is where growth begins. When paired with reflection and supportive conversation, insight becomes a compass, guiding us toward clarity, connection, and a more intentional path forward.

Stay Connected

If this issue sparked reflection or curiosity, we would love to continue the conversation. Aspire Healthcare Professional Coaching supports healthcare professionals and educators through one-on-one coaching, group offerings, and evidence-based assessments designed to foster resilience, self-leadership, and well-being.

Share this issue: Feel free to forward this newsletter to a colleague who may benefit from reflection as they step into the new year.

You don’t have to navigate growth alone—we’re here when you’re ready.

With Gratitude, 
The Aspire Healthcare Professional Coaching Team








Created by Aspire Healthcare Professional Coaching with input from AI tools

 
 
 

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