The Key to Our Success: Assessments in Business

Each organization’s key to success may be exceptionally different, while there may also be many crossovers. That’s because so many factors go into building a successful business. This week’s story demonstrates one company’s journey of introducing evidence-based consulting with behavioral assessments – to address a well-established problem, within a familiar target market. Their ability to identify a specific need, within a specific market, with a uniquely progressive solution, ultimately made Profile LLC a success at the top of their game. Read on to see how they got there!

The Key to Our Success: Assessments in Business

Every time something new arises, there seems to be a tipping point. A precipice upon which success and failure balance until one overcomes the other. In 2014, our company reached that tipping point.

We had just recently started Profile, LLC., and it was still in the infant stages of fruition. We wanted to start a company that combined the merit and credibility of evidence-based assessment profiling within the world of sports. Our vision was to use tools such as the DISC assessment, along with assessments of motivations and values, to help college and professional sports teams build better cultures between players and staff. However, our journey to success, or even a pitch meeting, was slow.

The idea of administering behavioral assessments can sometimes scare people. It can make them afraid of what they will find out about themselves. Or, scared of what negative parts of themselves could be brought to light in front of their peers. The idea of using these tests to aid in hiring and personnel selection, can make people wary or protective of their jobs when we walk into the room. For all of these reasons surrounding fear and the unknown made our first few years in this business very difficult.

We knew in our hearts that this model could help not only teams and coaching staffs, but it could also help people understand themselves and their own nature better. They just had to be willing to set aside their fears and give it, give us, a chance to explain.

I found this fearless listener in Matt Painter at a card game among friends of all places. Painter had been a successful head coach at Purdue for 10 years now, but had become discouraged after two consecutive seasons of an under-preforming team. I myself being a former Purdue football coach, felt his pain on a personal level. I did not know him well then, but it quickly became clear to me that the exact problems our business was designed to fix, were the same ones that Painter was facing within his team.

He was venting about his losing record over the last two seasons, but also about the team itself, and how his struggle to handle the players was getting in the way of winning. While I am a salesman at heart, I was still wary to bring up our business to Painter at a friendly card game meant to blow off steam. Not to mention, I did not really know the guy that well yet.

Pitching new ideas to someone can be scary. Then again, I am a “D” (for those of you who know the DISC assessment) so I went for it.

Ultimately, it paid off.

Since this life-altering card game over 5 years ago, a lot has changed for Painter, the Purdue basketball team, and Profile. 

Painter began implementing our team assessments model into his recruiting process and with his current team. He could more easily and confidently find the players that not only had the right qualities for Purdue, but would also work in a detail-oriented fashion, which over time we learned was a great fit for him. 

He could identify who was a team player, and who truly loved to learn. He could better pinpoint who was in it for the game, and who was in it for the fame. And his 130–47 winning record over the last five seasons says it all. 

Just four years after my initial pitch to Painter, an article was written in The Athletic explaining how our company’s tools allowed Painter to build the winning team he had been looking for. The article was spot on about the card game where it all started, the ins and outs of how my company operated, and how my company began to help Purdue. However, it failed to point out one huge outcome of this exchange — how Painter helped us in return. 

The success that Painter and the Purdue basketball team found while utilizing our evidence-based assessment system has been a major contributor for our success.

To this day, Painter, along with many other colleges, the NFL, and large corporations see the merit in what we do. Without Painter’s willingness to put aside any reservations about our company, Profile would not have the success it does today.

Painter’s willingness to listen and implement our behavioral profiling assessments may have contributed to him building a winning team. Likewise, without Painter’s endorsement, Profile would not be a winning company.

Matt Painter was our foot in the door, our Hail Mary, our turning point. Without that friendly card game five years ago, Painter may have still achieved a winning record, but, Profile would not have the success that it does today.

Courtesy of Assessments 24×7

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Chad Q. Brown is a public speaker, trainer and special advisor for corporations, college athletic departments and the National Football League.  His programs are derived from a decade of college coaching and thousands of behavioral profiles from successful executives and the top athletes of today.

He has been a leader in the athletic and corporate arenas for the past twenty years.  His efforts as a behavioral strategist and team architect have driven organizations to use behavioral profiling and cutting edge technology in their efforts to transform culture and performance. 

After a fourteen year career in college athletics, Chad began to notice that personality conflicts and communication breakdowns consistently had a huge impact on the success  of business and sports. He grew frustrated that these breakdowns would frequently lead to team failures and short tenures in careers.

His frustration drove him to put together a team in 2012 to research highly validated behavioral tools used by Fortune 500 companies and US military groups.  He believes the application of behavioral technology can make any organization not only stronger, but drastically more successful.

“Chad’s analysis of our player and employee behavioral data helps the selection and development process within our organization. He has a unique ability to predict behavior and develop effective strategies to assist our staff. Whether it’s people in business, football or everyday life, Chad is extremely talented with team development in any organization.

–Will McClay, Director of Player Personnel, Dallas Cowboys