Advancing Leadership Through Science and Innovation

Korn Ferry is a global leader in leadership assessment and development, known for combining decades of empirical research with advanced analytics, globally benchmarked tools, and practical, forward-thinking solutions. Industrial/organizational, counseling, and educational psychology are among the scientific fields that have underpinned Korn Ferry’s capabilities in the areas of assessment, development, and transformation. Still, Korn Ferry has long established a pursuit of innovation in traditional human capital consulting, representing an expansion into a booming, cross-disciplinary approach.

In line with that pursuit, the Korn Ferry Institute (KFI) and the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative (WiN) are pioneering a new collaboration to integrate well-validated psychometric approaches with advanced neuroscience-informed methodologies in that quest. This partnership will leverage the strengths of both disciplines to promote a deeper understanding of leadership dynamics in business.

Dr. Michael Platt, Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative (WiN), highlights the potential for groundbreaking discoveries. “Korn Ferry is the ideal partner for the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative to fuse cutting-edge brain science with best-in-class leadership diagnostics and redefine what leadership excellence truly means,” Dr. Platt told Korn Ferry. “Together, we aim to illuminate the foundational talents, traits, and motivators that have long remained hidden within the black box of the human mind, bringing unprecedented precision and insight to the art and science of leadership.” Platt added that this partnership leverages a collaboration with Philadelphia startup Lazul, co-founded by former WiN postdoctoral fellow Nicholas Angelides and CEO Drew Bregman, which is pioneering the translation of brain-based insights into scalable solutions for talent discovery, development, and performance optimization.

Interdisciplinary Integration

Historically, Korn Ferry has successfully developed and employed several innovative approaches for measuring leadership constructs. For example, Korn Ferry established an early lead in the use of Forced Choice IRT (FC-IRT) methods for measuring self-efficacy for competencies, personality traits, and motivational factors related to leadership performance. This approach builds upon well-established psychometric methods that involve participants describing themselves using a set of provided terms and constructs, which are then analyzed. This self-report method relies on individuals' perceptions of their skills, traits, and behaviors.

 In contrast, neuroscience explores the biological basis of psychological phenomena by examining how brain activity and physiological responses correlate with specific behaviors and tendencies. This approach provides information on brain structures and functions, in concert with behavioral data on human tendencies.

There are several potential scientific benefits to combining these approaches, such as expanding the set of attributes that relate to leadership ability and extending the body of evidence in support of Korn Ferry measures. In addition, by integrating some of Korn Ferry’s self-report measures with neuroscience-based behavioral ones, we can achieve a more thorough understanding of leadership emergence and possibly career-related outcomes. This method allows us to not only gauge leaders' self-descriptions but also to infer cognitive tendencies from their actions during online behavioral games or other novel measures, leading to more comprehensive predictions of leadership potential.

By integrating these perspectives, the partnership seeks to deepen the scientific understanding of leadership and career-related assessment and development. This interdisciplinary integration is already revealing opportunities to explore innovative tools and methodologies that combine psychological theories with neuroscientific data, reinforcing our institutions’ commitment to offering the most nuanced and comprehensive insight into leadership capabilities.

Jean-Marc Laouchez, President at Korn Ferry Institute, emphasized the scientific significance of the collaboration. "Integrating psychology and neuroscience opens up new avenues for Korn Ferry to continue to innovate robust and scientifically grounded tools for identifying and developing leaders,” says Laouchez. “Our collaboration with the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative will pave the way for new scientific insights and practical applications in leadership development."

Research Objectives and Methodologies

Combining the strengths of these disciplines represents significant progress in the field of human capital consulting. This approach may present opportunities to enhance predictive validity, inform intervention strategies, and advance theoretical frameworks. The use of neuroscientific measurement alongside psychometric assessments could result in a more holistic view of leadership potential and performance, enabling the creation of personalized development strategies. Initial explorations leveraging this combined approach suggest new potential for assessing leadership propensity in early career individuals. Even when accounting for well-established psychological predictors, new insights suggest novel behavioral measurement approaches can identify leadership emergence.

Our goal is to use these combined methodologies to explore innovative ways of predicting leadership and risk behaviors through measures of personality, cognitive flexibility, decision-making processes, and other critical leadership attributes. The partnership also seeks to investigate the neural mechanisms underlying high performance in leadership roles.

The collaboration between KFI and WiN represents a transformative step in leadership assessment and development. By integrating neuroscientific methodologies with the practices of human capital consulting, the partnership seeks to improve the accuracy, reliability, and efficacy of leadership evaluations and development programs. This interdisciplinary approach promises to advance the science of leadership and support the growth and performance of leaders across industries.

“This partnership reflects our belief that the future of leadership lies at the intersection of human insight and scientific innovation, where advancements in fields like data, neuroscience, and AI can converge to unlock the full potential of individuals and organizations,” says. Bryan Ackermann, Korn Ferry’s Head of AI Strategy and Transformation. “This partnership reflects our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.”

Contributing Author: Dr. Michael Platt, Director of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative