SA-EPSA maps a leader's identity, presence, and strengths across twelve dimensions — the 'Being' layer of the assessment suite, grounded in the 5D Transcending Leadership Model.
Before behaviour, before the team, before the system — there is who the leader is. SA-EPSA maps a leader's identity, presence, and strengths across twelve dimensions, so development starts from the truth rather than a job title.
The most expensive leadership mistakes trace back to a leader operating from an inaccurate picture of themselves — over-indexing on a strength, blind to how their presence actually lands. Objective assessment is the highest-ROI development method there is precisely because it replaces that guesswork with a calibrated read. SA-EPSA gives a leader — and their coach — the truthful starting point that makes everything after it work.
Objective assessment delivers the strongest ROI of any leadership-development method: DDI's Global Leadership Forecast 2025 — 24 years of research across 10,796 leaders — finds 54% of companies report strong ROI from leadership assessments, and pairing assessment with coaching makes leaders 1.8× more likely to be top-10% financial performers. This suite is grounded in Stuart Andrews' 25 years of practice and his book The Leadership Shift, built on the 5D Transcending Leadership Model, and read against a benchmark base that grows with every completed assessment.
Is SA-EPSA a 360, or a self-assessment? SA-EPSA is a self-assessment — a single-informant instrument completed by the leader. It maps identity, presence, and strengths from the leader's own perspective and reads them against a benchmark base. For the outside-in view of how a leader actually lands, it pairs naturally with the Leadership 360, which adds the perspectives of managers, peers, and direct reports.
How is this different from a personality test like MBTI or DISC? Personality tests sort you into a type and stop there. SA-EPSA measures leadership identity, presence, and strengths against the 5D Transcending Leadership Model and points to where development will move the needle — it is a development instrument, not a fixed label. It also sits inside a four-altitude suite, so what it surfaces about who you are connects directly to how you behave, how your team works, and how your organisation matures.
How long does it take to complete? It is a focused self-reflection across twelve dimensions, and most leaders complete it comfortably in a single sitting. There are no raters to coordinate, so you can start and finish it yourself whenever you are ready.
What do I actually get at the end? A structured report that scores each of the twelve dimensions against the benchmark base, narrates what the pattern means for you as a leader, and names the specific development focus that will have the most leverage — the truthful starting point that makes coaching and the other assessments work harder.