For a while, I've wanted to add a trait based psychometric to the list of services that I can offer and I'm delighted to confirm that after three days in London, I can now officially call myself a Lumina Spark Practitioner.
I completed the qualification with a couple of colleagues from Mezzana Partners, Katherine and Jim who I get the chance to work with on a regular basis. Doing it together meant we could consider in the evenings how we'll integrate the tool into the Leadership Programmes we design and deliver.
As with all psychometric tools, they are not deterministic, but a really nice way to open up a conversation and promote self and team awareness. There will always be some things which resonate and some things that don't, but the thing that I most enjoyed about Lumina Spark is that it really embraces the 'both/and' principle of trait based psychometrics. This means you can be both extravert and introvert rather than being pigeon holed into one 'type' as is the case with other very popular psychometrics I use like Myers Briggs Type Indicator. A good example of this is that I am 97% extravert meaning I'm in the 97th percentile of people who claim extraverted preferences, but I am also 67% introvert, meaning that I claim more introverted behaviours than two thirds of the population thus making me an Ambivert (1) with a leaning towards extraversion. This is definitely more consistent with how I feel. I mostly love being around people and find that it gives me a lot of energy, but too much of a good thing can knock me off centre and I'll need to have some time out to reset. Lumina will measure 72 personality qualities independently and it is this nuance that helps to paint a very unique portrait of who we are.
Once you've completed the questionnaire, the online platform will generate a full report which details in significant depth your underlying persona (your instinctive way of being), your everyday persona (how you behave day-to-day) and your over-extended persona (how you might behave when under pressure or stress) all things which are helpful to know and reflect on.
My favourite part of the tool is the way it measures core qualities, hidden treasures, amplifications and paradoxes.
Core qualities are the things which exist in both your underlying and everyday personas. This means that you're doing something regularly that comes very naturally to you.
Hidden treasures are things which you are naturally drawn to, but don't get to use very often in everyday situations. This might indicate a strength that is yet to be leveraged.
Amplifications are qualities which you're not naturally inclined towards, but find yourself using on an everyday basis.
Paradoxes are when you have two qualities in both your underlying and everyday persona which are typically in opposition to each other. For example, one of my paradoxes is 'empathy and logic'. I'm very high in both and this feels very resonant to me as I'm someone who naturally tunes into how people feel, but also uses logic and empathy to help people navigate towards their goals or away from experiences which are no longer helpful.
The most eye catching part of the profiling tool is of course your 'splash' - an aggregated graphic to indicate your most claimed qualities. If you've had the chance to complete your profile with colleagues, you can then use the splash app to learn more about how you and your colleagues might work together. This is a real game-changer for team conversations and development and I am looking forward to using it very soon with a leadership team I've been working with for a few months.
All in all, this is now my psychometric of choice for working with teams and individuals. It's trait based, it uses very positive language to capture the essence of all 72 qualities and gives some engaging tools which help individuals and teams to understand themselves and others!
I hope you found the article helpful, and if you'd like to chat more about using the Lumina Spark for either your own professional development or the development of your team, then feel free to give me a shout!
Catch you soon,
(1) Ambivert - A term first coined by Social Psychologist Kimball Young in 1927 to indicate someone who possessed both introverted and extraverted qualities. Both introversion and extraversion are terms used in regular conversation and can therefore sometimes be confused. In psychology, the terms relate to where you get your energy. Extraverts gain energy from being around other people and introverts recharge their battery by being alone.