Those who have followed my musings may remember my It’s in the SAUCE! Personality tool. I developed this 20 question tool almost twenty years ago with the original goal being to quickly and accurately determine dominance, and the ability of someone to lead more than control.  At the time I was working with operational and sales managers of a national company, which involved creating individual development plans.  It occurred to me that many of those individuals had been hired because of their ability to drive operations and sales, which were skills that had been more important in the past than they would be in the future.  It was obvious that people who would be successful working with knowledge workers, who were the major players in the new workforce, would need different skills.  Many of these managers were “drivers,” and would not transition easily or quickly to “influencers.”  The driver behaviors were obvious in them, and changing these to behaviors more necessary working with a collaborative workforce would not be easy.  Part of my challenge as the consultant was to determine whether it was worth the company’s time and money (and as we all know; time is money) to develop those individuals.  I remember very clearly the Divisional Director saying to me, “Patti, you think everyone can change!” My reply was, “Yes, I do believe most people can change.  But not all in the time necessary for the organization’s money to be well spent.” I still believe that today.  That is the main reason that Personality Profiling Tools are so important in hiring and development.

Particular questions in the It’s in the SAUCE! tool readily identified dominance.  When I began using the tool widely with other individuals and groups, the insights it provides on other behaviors were widely accepted.  That is still true today, almost twenty years later.  In thus same time period, many businesses are using personality profiling for individual and team development.

There are many personality tools on the market, although there are some that are more common than others.   Some are very complex, providing a comprehensive analysis.  Others, while not as complex (and also not as expensive) provide a quick analysis of specific behaviors, and can be quite useful as a development tool, as well as in hiring.  It’s in the SAUCE, with it’s twenty questions of yes/no answers is simple, quick to take, and provides important data.  Another application of the SAUCE tool is its usefulness as a career development tool.

It is also quite possible for individuals to take the It’s in the SAUCE! for their own purposes, not just for an organization’s benefit.  In so doing, people are able to understand their talents, and   make good decisions regarding careers, and even relationships.  After all, should we not be at least as interested in ourselves as our employer is interested in us?  With better knowledge, it is possible that some people would choose different employers, even different romantic interests!

A few questions from It’s in the SAUCE! to pique your interest.  One question is: “I need action more than predictability.”  Another is: “The opinion of others is important to me.” Another question is: “I like giving direction to others.”  These three questions are some of the questions that evaluate dominance. If your answers to those three questions are yes, no, and yes, in that order, those answers provide important insight about you. Now, don’t jump to a bottom line too quickly!  You need more information to understand what those answers mean.  And there is so much more.

More information about SAUCE will be provided in subsequent posts.  In the meantime, if you want to accelerate your learning on this topic, the topic of YOU, let me know.