The Global Predisposition Indicator

The GPI™ (Global Predisposition Indicator) has been developed by Dr. Steve Glowinkowski, a world leading psychologist whose life's work has been the study of what successful people do differently. He has worked both in academia and in industry working for, and consulting to, some of the world's leading companies.

At the outset, it is important to note that the GPI™ measures a person's predisposition or natural preference for behaviour. All of us exert self-discipline to behave in ways that run counter to our natural preference. So, for instance, a manager might dislike working with details, preferring to see the big picture. However, when it is necessary to review the organization's finances, they know that it is important to pay careful attention to the figures. In this case, they might (a) exert self‐discipline and work with the detail even though it is not their natural predisposition or (b) delegate the work to someone trustworthy and pay careful attention to their findings. Thus, we find that motivation, self‐discipline, humility, and good delegation allow a manager to compensate for their own personal weaknesses.

This means that we must be careful in making judgments about a person's competence from the findings of the GPI™. The GPI™ reports on a person's natural predisposition or preference and highlights potential strengths and weaknesses; the recruiter's task is then to carry out further investigation to see whether the individual 'acts out' according to their preference, or whether they have developed strategies for overcoming their natural tendencies. Indeed, it is also important to test out whether the natural inclinations are also actually delivered. The advantage of using the GPI™ is that it digs down to a deeper level than is discovered through a regular interview.

Despite the caveat given above, we do find the GPI™ to be highly predictive of workplace behaviour and it certainly gives us a profound insight into the nature or character of the individual.

You can read Dr. Glowinkowski's 'Developing GPI™' paper here.

At this overview level, the individual is allocated one of four styles in each of these three categories or frameworks. In a coaching context, this reporting structure is useful because it allows the person to identify people or situations that they are finding difficult, and to explore ways of adjusting their style to compensate. In a recruitment context, it allows us to see the type of work activities and interpersonal contexts that they are likely to find comfortable; giving insight into potential job: person fit.

A unique feature of the GPI™ is that in addition to this useful reporting on 'style' (or 'type') there is also a series of sub‐scales which give the individual a profile as unique as their fingerprint.

In addition to the three frameworks mentioned above the GPI™ can be used to create profiling against career themes and entrepreneurship traits. This means that by distilling every job into its core skills and competencies, the GPI™ can be used to map a likely preference towards a career.

This questionnaire will provide you with information that enables you to develop a detailed understanding of yourself in terms of your preferred behaviour, or the 'real you'. These preferences or natural predispositions should not be confused with your actual behaviour, which may vary according to the situation and the particular circumstances that you face. Hence you are answering it in the context of "I am the sort of person who...".

To generate an accurate profile, this inventory requires that your responses reflect how you prefer to behave rather than how, on some occasions, you may actually behave. Therefore, in responding to each of the questions, please have in mind how you prefer to think and behave in general, independent of the demands and pressures of any particular circumstance or situation.

It is also important to recognise that there are no right or wrong answers, and to gain the most from completing the inventory it is only necessary that you be frank and honest in your responses. The feedback you receive will then be accurate, enabling the development of your personal effectiveness across the many different situations that you may face.

Ideally, try not to be interrupted when completing the questionnaire. We recommend you try to complete it in one sitting.

Ensure that each question is answered by clicking in the circle that reflects your answer. The questionnaire is spread across several pages. Once you move on to the next page and also once the questionnaire is complete you will not be able to revisit or amend your answers.