Assessment FAQs: What We Want You to Know
This past November, the LeaderWise Assessment Team provided an overview of our candidate assessment approach through a presentation to candidacy committee representatives and other partners. In preparing this overview, we revisited our key values and priorities as psychologists in the ministry space. We know that coming to LeaderWise for an assessment can be anxiety-provoking, confusing, and vulnerable—in many cases, people don’t know what to expect, or have had negative experiences with psychological assessment in the past. Here’s what we want you to know about assessment at LeaderWise, prompted by the questions we generally receive.
What kinds of areas will you be assessing?
Why do I need to take these inventories? Can’t we just have a conversation?
How should I prepare for our time together?
Will I receive a diagnosis?
We want to get an accurate picture of how you will function in ministry.
It is important to us to understand how you, a unique and nuanced individual, will demonstrate the competencies needed for success and satisfaction in ministry roles. The inventories we use are just one part of this picture (a snapshot in time, using a very specific lens); we also rely on your written materials and the structured interview with the psychologist. Our process is guided by a competency model grounded in research on ministry leaders and is designed to be developmental, matched to your step in the process.
It is helpful to us when you have reflected on your path in ministry, thought about how your gifts and vulnerabilities will function across a range of ministry contexts, and are open to exploring new feedback or information about yourself. It is our hope that this process feels useful and edifying to you. This is not a diagnostic assessment.
I am uncomfortable with the use of psychological tests with marginalized populations, given historical harm. How do I know that this process will be fair, and that my own experiences will be honored?
Can these evaluators understand my unique perspective, and what I bring to ministry?
We are committed to being culturally responsive in our work.
As psychologists on the LeaderWise assessment team, we engage in ongoing training and learning to respect the dignity of all human beings and to recognize the gifts of diverse cultural experience. We affirm—through our professional and personal experiences, as well as decades of research—that discrimination and structural inequities contribute to disparities in mental health outcomes, access to care, and overall well-being.
Guided by the ethical code of our profession, we uphold a particular commitment to those who are marginalized or vulnerable. We strive to be a space in which a candidate’s voice is heard, identities affirmed, and experiences valued. We honor, for example: diverse cultural backgrounds, the fullness of race and color, the range of expressions of sexual and gender identity, the varied voices that come with differences in age, ability, life experiences, and socioeconomic status.
We see well-being in the context of culture and community. We care about how candidates are doing amidst this current sociopolitical climate and polarized time. We explore their awareness and skills in navigating encounters of similarity and difference.
Will you be approving or denying my next steps in ministry?
Do you work for my denomination?
What do I get out of this?
We work to honor our professional role, safeguard the integrity of our reports and our tools, and maintain clarity in relationships and boundaries.
LeaderWise consults to denominations and judicatories, but we are not affiliated with any church organization. We do not have a “vote” on your candidacy or your future in ministry. We seek to be transparent and clear about how your information is used and shared, and the rights you have to view your assessment data and to provide context to guide interpretation of results. We welcome questions and are happy to talk through your concerns or impressions about our process.
Our team consults weekly on our work, regularly updates our training, and uses research and alternate perspectives to challenge and enhance our practice. We care deeply about the usefulness of our assessments to judicatories and candidates alike.
Lingering questions? Feel free to reach out, and trust that our psychologists leave time at the beginning of your session to respond to any concerns at that time as well.
