About the DNI

Dr. J. Clifton Williams, President and Founder of Leadership Systems Corporation, first published what is now called the DNi in 1982.  In this early format, the DNi was included in a comprehensive supervisory management course, the Effective Management Program.

In recent years this approach to assessing the development needs of managers has become popularized as a “360°” technique because it gathers comparable data on participating managers from the managers themselves and the person or persons above (Supervisor/Manager), to the side (Peers), and below them (Direct Reports or subordinates) in an organization.

Feedback from many thousands of users has provided continual opportunities for improving the DNi which has steadily evolved since its first use.

For more information about Dr. Williams click here.

The latest edition of the DNi has been published as a stand-alone, customizable, Internet-based instrument.  No longer do business leaders put pen to paper.  Rather, they participate through an interactive computer based system which gathers and processes data over the Internet.  Just minutes after the DNi is complete, individual and group reports are generated.

Not only is the DNi user-friendly, but it is also customizable to the needs of its clients, who determine the scales to be used in the analysis.   The DNi produces a descriptive profile of a manager’s leadership/management behavior as perceived by that manager and his or her boss, peers, and direct reports–the people above, along side, and below in the organization structure who have had an opportunity to observe the manager on the job.   Learn about the DNi engine now!

The DNi instrument consists of 10 Basic Scales and client selections from 14 Optional Scales. The same scales are used in both the Initial and Follow-up administrations for describing all managers in a company group.


The DNi identifies the strengths and development needs of Leaders, the managers being described.

• Responses to the DNi descriptive items from which a 360° profile is generated are entered directly by the Leaders and their describers (hereafter referred to as Observers) into an Internet database.
• Computer generated reports present results in numeric and graphic formats.
• Recommendations are made available to help participating Leaders bridge the gap between the insights they gain from their DNi profiles and practical, on-the-job applications.

A Group Report identifies the collective strengths and developmental needs of participating Leaders.

• This report is for use by a senior management group which may, of course, include some of the Leaders who are the primary focus of the study.
• The group report includes a list of possible action steps that the company may use to help Leaders bridge the gap between insight and action.
• Follow-up administrations are usually conducted in from six to twelve months after the Initial administration–giving enough time for constructive change to have occurred and become more or less habitual.

To learn how the DNi can potentially benefit your clients  click here.