Leadership Judgement Indicator (LJI-2)
Leadership Judgement Indicator, LJI-2
The Leadership Judgement Indicator 2 (LJI-2) is the original and foundational assessment within the Leadership Judgement family. It was designed to measure a core capability that lies at the heart of effective leadership performance: the ability to exercise sound judgement about how to lead in different situations. While many leadership tools focus on personality, traits or competencies, the LJI-2 addresses a more fundamental question. It examines how accurately leaders assess situational demands and select the most appropriate leadership approach, rather than defaulting to habit, preference or experience alone. Built on the Formula 4 Leadership model, the LJI-2 distinguishes clearly between leadership style preference and leadership judgement. It reveals not only how leaders tend to behave, but how effectively they adapt their behaviour to the requirements of the task, the capability of others and the level of risk involved.
A Theory-Driven Situational Judgement Assessment
The LJI-2 uses carefully constructed leadership scenarios that reflect the real challenges faced by managers and leaders. Each scenario presents alternative leadership responses aligned to the four Formula 4 leadership approaches, enabling a precise assessment of judgement accuracy. Unlike many situational judgement tests, the LJI-2 is grounded in a clearly articulated theoretical framework. This allows leadership effectiveness to be evaluated against defined leadership principles rather than expert opinion alone, giving the instrument strong construct clarity and exceptional developmental value.
Strong Psychometric Credentials
The LJI-2 demonstrates excellent psychometric quality for a judgement-based assessment.
• Internal consistency reliability for overall leadership judgement is α = .82, a strong result for a scenario-based instrument
• Clear construct validity grounded in contingency leadership theory
• Strong face validity with practising managers and senior leaders
• Consistent interpretability across organisational and sector contexts
These properties have supported the LJI-2’s long-standing use within assessment, leadership development and executive coaching environments
International Reach and Proven Application
The LJI-2 has been adopted widely across public, private and voluntary sector organisations and has been translated into French, German, Italian, Finnish, Czech and Brazilian Portuguese. Full local adaptations and manuals, including the German edition published by Hogrefe, reflect the robustness of the model and its relevance across national and cultural boundaries.
Typical Applications
The LJI-2 is commonly used for:
• leadership development and feedback
• management assessment and promotion decisions
• executive and leadership coaching
• assessment and development centres
• talent identification and succession planning
As the bedrock instrument within the Leadership Judgement framework, the LJI-2 continues to provide a powerful, theoretically coherent and psychometrically sound means of understanding how leaders think, decide and adapt.