Growing Great People Diagnostic

Why it Matters

70% of people's engagement (and thus, their productivity and discretionary effort) is determined by their immediate manager. This is true on the front lines. It's just as true in the boardroom. We know this firsthand.

Michelle Rushton and Shaun Kenny, co-founders of the Leadership Engine platform, have worked with hundreds of thousands of leaders around the globe. From this experience they've learned that effective people leaders do two things well: they Stretch their people (challenging them to grow), and they Support them in getting there.

Support

The leader provides the encouragement, coaching and mentoring people need to succeed.

Safe

People feel valued, supported and guided, but not challenged or growing.

Growing

People are growing in competence, confidence and commitment.

Stagnant

People feel neglected, without direction or guidance, like they're treading water.

Stressed

People feel challenged but not supported. They feel overwhelmed and not set up for success.

Stretch

The leader challenges people to grow through high expectations, accountability and increasing responsibility.

What it measures

This diagnostic focuses on the interactions between people leaders and their direct reports. It measures the quality and quantity of specific leadership behaviours, as reported by the leader themselves, their direct reports and their direct manager.

	Support	Stretch
ConversationsWhat leaders do	Coaching Positive Feedback Training	Expectation-Setting Constructive Feedback Delegation
MindsetsHow leaders think	Empathy Strengths-based approach	High expectations Growth mindset
Systems & StructuresWhat leaders create	Regular 1:1s Development Plans Learning Opportunities Accessible Support	Clear Goals Performance Standards Stretch Assignments Decision Ownership Accountability Reviews

Metrics

Quantity. Is the leader engaging in specific behaviours with enough frequency and consistency?

Quality. Are these leadership behaviours having a positive impact on their relationship with, and the results of, their people?

Feedback · Conversations

Sample Excerpt

People Leader · Q3 2025

Two feedback behaviours (each scored for both Quantity & Quality).

Constructive Feedback Stretch

Quantity

Quality

Positive Feedback Support

Quantity

Quality

AI Insight

"This leader gives plenty of constructive feedback and it mostly lands. The clear gap is recognition. Positive feedback is rare. When they do acknowledge good work it’s specific and well-received, so the opportunity is frequency, not skill."

Showing 2 of 6 conversations

Who's it for

This diagnostic is powerful for anyone with direct reports, including executives. As you may have noticed at your organisation, some of the people who’d most benefit from this are executives. Not only that, if they shift their approach, it has an outsized impact on organisational success.

Executives Senior Leaders People Leaders Managers & Team Leaders

How it Works

Assessment Sources

Self-assessment

Manager

Reports

Manager

Leader

Self-assess

Reports

A 360° view of each leader

Two ways to work with us

Leadership Engine is the platform for diagnostics, dashboards and roadmaps.

Contact Leadership Engine →

People of Influence is the consultancy through which Michelle Rushton and Shaun Kenny deliver leadership development programs, team offsites and facilitate impactful conferences.

Visit People of Influence →