Individual Belbin report
Per leader. Self Perception Inventory plus Observer Assessments.
Service
Leadership Team Assessment
A leadership team is composed for the work it has delivered, not always for the work that comes next. The structural read that has to happen before the team gets redesigned, or before new roles are added.
When to engage it
Five signals
Five signals indicate that a Leadership Team Assessment is the right work.
A new CEO, founder-successor, or PE-installed leader is in the seat and wants an independent read of the team they have inherited.
The leadership team is delivering on the run-the-business plan but cannot land the change-the-business plan that the strategy requires.
There is a role-shape problem nobody can quite name. The same issues escalate to the same person every week. Decisions stall in the same forum.
An acquisition has brought two leadership teams together and the structural fit has not been assessed.
A diagnostic or programme assessment has surfaced "the team needs work" as a finding, and the board needs a structured read before acting on it.
What it is
A Leadership Team Assessment is a confidential, structured read of the leadership team. It uses Belbin team profiling alongside one-to-one interviews and a structured input pack on each leader. The work answers three questions. Is the team composed for what the strategy requires. Where are the role gaps and the role overlaps. Where is the dependency that nobody has named.
The output is a Belbin synthesis at team and individual level, a Belbin team-role map, a confidential interview synthesis, a per-leader recommendation in four named buckets, a ranking of the leaders from strongest to weakest, and a gap analysis tied to the operating model the strategy requires. The CEO and the chair see everything, including the per-leader bucket placement and the ranking. Each individual sees their own Belbin profile and their own development reflection. The bucket placements and the ranking are not disclosed back to individuals.
Every engagement has a core set of activities. Where the brief requires it, optional elements are added: a review of the management layer below, observation of an ExCo or leadership meeting, LinkedIn profile review, remuneration data input, remuneration benchmarking through a partner firm, a memo to the remuneration committee, and an on-site presentation of findings. Shape is set by the problem.
Stephen leads the work. Operator experience running businesses, building leadership teams, and holding statutory directorships, combined with accredited executive coaching practice (EMCC Senior Practitioner, Henley PCEC Level 7). The assessment pairs operator-grade read of the team with coaching practice in the feedback.
What it is not. It is not a 360 review, a performance management exercise, or a head-counting study. It is the structural read that has to happen before a leadership team can be redesigned or a new CEO can decide what to keep and what to change.
The structural read that has to happen before a leadership team can be redesigned.
The process
The assessment runs in three phases, sitting behind a pre-engagement step that prepares the team and the pack. The headings below cover the core activities done on every engagement. Optional elements are flagged where they apply.
0Pre-engagement
Before the assessment starts, we agree with the buyer what the assessment is for and what success looks like. We design the communication to the team so that every leader knows what is coming, who is doing the work, what they will be asked to give, and what they will get back. We then assemble a pre-read pack: the strategy, recent management accounts, the existing job descriptions where they exist, the most recent status reports and deliverables, the org chart, and the buyer's own read of the team.
1Profile and interview
Each leader provides a structured input pack: a Belbin Self Perception Inventory, four to six Belbin Observer Assessments they nominate, their LinkedIn profile, their current remuneration position, and their place on the org chart. The job description is included where one exists. The buyer's own read of each leader, their pros and cons as seen from the seat, is captured in the pre-engagement step and folded in here.
We then run a one-to-one confidential interview with each leader, between ninety minutes and two hours. The interview covers the leader's own role and remit, their view of the company, their view of the strategy, their view of the rest of the leadership team, and their view of the CEO or buyer. Interviews are recorded with consent.
The Belbin profile is returned to the leader before the interview. Whether the leader shares it onward is the leader's call.
Optional, where the brief requires it. Sixty-minute interviews with the management layer below. Observation of one ExCo or leadership meeting.
2Synthesise
Belbin team-role analysis at individual and team level, including a Belbin team-role map that names the strong examples present, the strong examples missing, and who the team turns to for each role need.
AI-assisted interview synthesis. The recorded interviews are processed through structured AI summarisation to give a faithful base layer of what each leader said. The synthesis, the judgement, and the recommendation remain ours.
Themed analysis grouped across strategic, commercial, and enabling functions. Gap analysis against the operating model the strategy requires.
3Feedback and recommendation
One-to-one debriefs with each leader on their Belbin profile and their development reflection.
A confidential written report to the CEO and the chair covering the team-level findings, the Belbin team-role map, the gap analysis, and the sequenced recommendation. The recommendation places each leader in one of four named buckets:
- Great leader. In the right seat, performing at the right level. No action required beyond the normal cadence.
- Great leader, needs coaching. Right seat, right level, with a specific development arc that warrants targeted coaching.
- Great leader, wrong seat. In the wrong seat. The role or the structure is working against them. Warrants a role redesign or a sponsored move.
- Not a good leader, does not belong. Structural mismatch that warrants a transition plan.
The report also carries a per-leader ranking from strongest to weakest. The CEO and the chair see the bucket placements and the ranking. Individuals do not.
Where the assessment surfaces capabilities missing from the team altogether, the report includes a role profile and a search brief for the new position to be filled.
Optional, where the brief requires it. A team session debriefing the Belbin team-role analysis at group level. An on-site presentation of findings to the CEO and chair.
Outputs and deliverables
Every engagement produces:
Team-level Belbin synthesis
Belbin team-role map at the level of the leadership team.
Interview synthesis
Confidential, themed across strategic, commercial, and enabling functions.
Four-bucket recommendation
Each leader placed in one of the four named buckets, with rationale.
Per-leader ranking
Strongest to weakest. Visible to the CEO and chair only.
Gap analysis
Mapped against the operating model the strategy requires.
Role profile for new position
Where the team is missing a capability, a role profile and search brief for the role to be filled.
CEO and chair report
Confidential written report. Team-level findings, sequenced recommendation.
Optional outputs, delivered where the brief requires them:
- Management layer below. Sixty-minute interviews with the layer immediately under the leadership team, themed and folded into the synthesis.
- ExCo observation. One leadership meeting attended as observer, with the read included in the report.
- Remuneration benchmarking. Optional output. Delivered with named remuneration specialists from A&B's partner network where the brief requires it. Benchmarked against a peer set sized to the current business and a peer set sized to the business the strategy is building toward.
- Remuneration committee memo. Optional output. Recommendations issued to the remuneration committee where benchmarking is part of the brief. Covers base, bonus structure, and the long-term incentive plan.
- On-site presentation. A walkthrough of the findings with the CEO and chair, where the buyer wants that step.
Where individuals are identified as developable, the coaching plan is scoped under our Executive Coaching service. Where a role change is required, the transition plan is scoped separately. Where the work surfaces operating model issues that sit beyond the leadership team itself, the buyer can route those for separate handling under our Operating Model Transformation.
Who it is for
CEOs assessing the team they have. Founders preparing for a leadership transition. Chairs making a recommendation to a board on management succession. PE operating partners commissioning the read before signing off the 100-day plan. New leaders taking over a team within the first 90 days, before they make permanent calls.
It is not for organisations looking for a culture or engagement survey, for performance management of an individual, or as a substitute for an executive search.
This is for you if
- The strategy requires the leadership team to deliver work it has not delivered before.
- A leadership transition or succession decision is on the table and you need an objective read first.
- A PE operating partner wants the read before signing off the 100-day plan.
- A new leader wants to understand the team in the first 90 days, before making permanent calls.
This is not the right fit if
- You want a culture or engagement survey.
- You want performance management of a single individual.
- You want an executive search rather than an assessment of the team you have.
Engagement shape and investment
Engagement shape and investment are scoped to team size and depth of inputs. Each leader commits about three hours: the Belbin profiling, the interview, and the feedback session. The CEO and the chair give an additional two hours. Fixed-price, scope-banded. Optional outputs are quoted on top.
Anonymised case study
Externally backed services business
A services business backed by external capital had a strategy that required the leadership team to deliver work it had not delivered before. The team had delivered the previous plan for years. The question was whether they were composed for the next phase.
The work ran the core method: a pre-read pack agreed with the executive, Belbin profiling with Observer Assessments for each leader, confidential interviews recorded with consent and synthesised with structured AI assistance, Belbin team-role analysis at individual and team level, and gap analysis against the operating model the strategy required. Remuneration banding was contributed by a partner firm specialising in remuneration where the brief required it.
The assessment surfaced two splits. Believers and unbelievers on the strategy. Self-promoters and leaders who serve. Both had been driving silent friction nobody had named.
The operating executive went into the next planning cycle with a clear read of the team and a sequenced plan covering role changes, role redesigns, additions where capability was missing, a coaching engagement, and a remuneration position the remcom could act on. Stephen led the work under a confidential client agreement.
Where this has been done
Proof
Externally backed services business
Leadership team assessment for the next phase
A sequenced plan covering role changes, role redesigns, additions where capability was missing, and a remuneration position the remcom could act on.
A strategy that required the leadership team to deliver work it had not delivered before. Belbin profiling, confidential interviews, and gap analysis against the operating model the strategy required.
Read the engagement → Mid-market services firmOrganisation and talent inside an operating model read
The structural questions that had been driving friction were named and put on the table for board resolution.
A structured read commissioned by the chair across strategy, organisation and talent, commercial process, and how decisions were actually made.
Read the engagement →Related
Where this connects
Operating Model Transformation
Where the team issue turns out to be a structural issue, the diagnostic takes it on directly.
View service →Executive Coaching
Where individual coaching is the right next step, EMCC Senior Practitioner coaching follows.
View service →About
EMCC Senior Practitioner. Henley PCEC (Level 7). Belbin profiling. 25 years of building leadership teams.
View about →Frequently asked questions
We use Belbin profiling as a core part of the assessment alongside structured interview and observation. Belbin gives a clear shared language for team composition. The Belbin profile is one input into the assessment, not the assessment itself.
Belbin is built around team behaviours rather than personality types, and it pairs Self Perception with Observer Assessments. That makes it more useful for the structural question we are asking: how does this team behave under load.
Yes. Every participant gets a one-to-one debrief on their own Belbin profile and a development reflection. They do not see anybody else's profile. The team-level synthesis is shared with the CEO and the chair only, unless we agree otherwise.
The report names role and shape, not person. Where the structure points to a role change, we set that out for the CEO and the chair, and we sequence it. The decision sits with the company.
Yes. Individuals identified through the assessment as having a clear development arc can be picked up under our Executive Coaching service. Where the team needs collective work, we run that as a separate engagement.
Talk to us about a Leadership Team Assessment
A short conversation tells both of us whether the work fits.