by Francine Zimmermann
In the ever-evolving landscape of corporate leadership, a significant approach is reshaping how organizations cultivate their most valuable asset – their people. Enter DNLA (Discovering and Developing Natural Latent Abilities), a tool that’s transforming the way leaders identify and nurture talent within their ranks.
Content Overview
Executive summary
DNLA is worth considering for your next leadership development program or initiative:
- Personalized Growth Opportunities. DNLA helps uncover hidden or blocked social skills that are critical for professional success, such as emotional intelligence, and offers targeted methods to redevelop them.
- Relevant Benchmarking Against Peers. DNLA provides a comprehensive, peer-benchmarked analysis that identifies each participant’s unique strengths and areas for growth, ensuring that development is personalized and relevant.
- Empowerment Through Skill Development. By fostering personal and professional growth, DNLA enhances employee engagement, reduces turnover, and builds a robust leadership pipeline, making it a valuable investment for long-term organizational success.
Need more background? Dive into the details below.
Discovering DNLA
Imagine a world where every employee’s innate leadership abilities are not just recognized but fully actualized. This is the promise of DNLA, a system that delves deep into the often-overlooked realm of soft skills.
DNLA stands for “Discovering and Developing Natural Latent Abilities,” meaning the discovery and (re)development of natural, hidden abilities. The goal is to make competencies visible, measure success factors, and improve them. The process was developed by the Max Planck Institute.
The core idea is to answer the question: “What does one need to be successful in a profession?”
“Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It’s about one life influencing another.” – John C. Maxwell
DNLA takes this philosophy to heart, offering a scientific approach to uncovering the latent leadership potential that lies dormant in many employees.
Beyond the Resume: The DNLA Advantage
It’s important to note that the DNLA analysis assumes there are 17 essential social skills that are relevant for professional success. We further assume that every person is born with these social skills.
Through beliefs, upbringing, personal experiences, and job experiences, it’s possible that certain social skills become blocked or overshadowed over time.
An example: One of the 17 social skills is “contact ability.” In this context, contact ability means “being able to build a good personal relationship with someone, finding a ‘common wavelength,’ and establishing a ‘good rapport’ with them.” (Source: DNLA)
The analysis can reveal how strongly this social skill is developed compared to the peer group (a group of people who practice the same profession) or if it is overshadowed. If it turns out that the skill, compared to the best and most successful in the peer group, is slightly or significantly below average, this suggests that the “naturally present potential in this area has been significantly reduced or blocked.” The good news: This naturally existing potential can be specifically rebuilt and strengthened, for example, through coaching.
Key Leadership Skills Unveiled by DNLA:
1. Emotional Intelligence
2. Adaptive Communication
3. Resilience Under Pressure
4. Visionary Thinking
5. Collaborative Problem-Solving
From Insight to Action: The DNLA Process
1. Assessment: The DNLA process starts with an ESK analysis, a questionnaire of 191 questions completed online by participants.
2. Analysis: The results are compared against a peer group of successful, engaged professionals, ensuring the benchmark is always up-to-date and relevant.
3. Feedback: The insights gained are then discussed in a feedback session or structured interview, where participants can explore their stories behind the results.
4. Development: This approach helps uncover potential blockages or influences on current social skill levels, opening the door for targeted personal development like coaching or on-the-job training.
5. Re-evaluation: It’s recommended to repeat the analysis after 6 to 12 months to track improvements, allowing companies to measure the effectiveness of their development initiatives.
Strengths and Sentiments: The Financial Benefits of Engaged Employees
Employees who are deployed according to their strengths typically have a stronger emotional connection to the company. This emotional connection reduces the financial loss for the company, as mentioned earlier. But how does this reflect in numbers?
A company with 100 employees has, according to the Gallup Human Resources Engagement Index for 2022, a value-added potential of €1.5 million.
So, if employees lose their emotional connection to the company due to various (environmental) factors, it has a significant impact on both the employees and the company.
Building a Stronger Team: The Impact of DNLA on Leadership
In a world where the war for talent is fiercer than ever, DNLA gives organizations an advantage. DNLA involves a holistic view of the person in their current (professional) situation, beliefs, and experiences.
The DNLA analysis, in contrast to other diagnostic procedures like the DISC analysis, is that the results provide a basis for personal development.
It’s not about good or bad, strengths or weaknesses, but about how key social skills relevant to professional success are currently developed, compared to the peer group in the same professional position.
Furthermore, it serves as a tool for identifying potential, for example, when the results of a participant are compared with those of a peer group for the position they are applying for. Important: The results always reflect a benchmark with the best of the peer group.
The DISC analysis represents a status quo that is unchangeable. A person is either red, blue, green, or yellow. It’s more of a categorization process, sorting people into “boxes.”
By identifying and nurturing leadership skills at all levels, companies can:
– Reduce turnover and recruitment costs
– Enhance employee satisfaction and loyalty
– Improve productivity and innovation
– Strengthen their leadership pipeline
Embracing the Future of Leadership Development
As we navigate the complexities of the modern business world, the need for agile, emotionally intelligent leaders has never been greater. After working with DNLA, people see a starting point for personal change or rebuilding their natural potential. They become empowered, feel hopeful, and are motivated to initiate the change. Additionally, they feel seen and take away concrete action steps they can implement.
Are you ready to unlock the full leadership potential of your workforce? Discover how DNLA can transform your organization’s approach to talent development and propel your team to new heights of success.
Francine Zimmermann
Francine, a former CIO, is a coach for executives, board members, and senior leaders, guiding them to build resilient, growth-oriented cultures. With expertise in logistics, finance, and insurance, she combines systemic thinking with agility to drive impactful results. An ultramarathon runner, she also mentors ambitious athletes in mental resilience, emphasizing the power of mindset. Additionally, Francine leads businesses through “Respectful and Human-Centered Separation,” helping manage transitions with dignity for a strategic edge. Her coaching style is grounded in respect, empathy, and authenticity, balanced with a touch of humor for meaningful change.
