In-House SDI - Strengths Deployment Inventory®
We offer in-house training only – we do not run public courses
Many of the world’s most successful individuals believe that being skilled in the art of relationships is a crucial factor in their success. These interpersonal relationship skills include an awareness and understanding that the way we see things may differ from how other people see things.
What is it?
Wouldn’t it be great if the people in your life came with an instruction manual? Imagine how much stronger your relationships would be if you really understood what made people tick – both when things were going well and when there was conflict and opposition. The SDI® (Strength Deployment Inventory®) is NOT just another “personality test.”
It’s a self-scoring motivational assessment tool, based on relationship awareness, which provides an understanding of what drives you and what drives others – an understanding that empowers you to communicate in a way that achieves the results you desire. It highlights the motivation behind behaviour.
When people recognise the unique motivation of themselves and others, they greatly enhance their ability to communicate more effectively AND handle conflict more productively. It becomes easier to “relate” to a person’s actions when you understand what drives them from within.
We offer short, focused, strategic, high-value interventionst
The SDI is memorable…
It’s an experiential tool promoting common sense concepts in a highly visual manner.
The SDI honours our differences…
It’s an inventory of the unique way we value different strengths and interpret the actions of others.
The SDI illuminates the reason for our actions…
It’s a snapshot of who we are – going beyond behaviour to reveal our driving motivation of our actions and interactions.
The SDI depersonalises conflict…
It’s a non-threatening method for dealing with the interpersonal conflict that is too often avoided.
The SDI is intended for application…
It promotes interpersonal insights that are crucial to improving any situation where people interact. The SDI is an effective way to seamlessly integrate relationship and conflict management skills into nearly any training and leadership development programme.

- The SDI is a self development tool that gives us an indication of what really makes us tick and why we do the things we do. It looks at our motivations when things are going well and when faced with conflict & opposition.
- The underlying assumption of the SDI is that all human beings need to interact with others in a way that makes them feel good about themselves.
- The SDI encourages us to think about behaviour not as an end in itself but as a vehicle that is driving us towards a greater feeling of self-worth. By better understanding these motivations we are more able to build effective relationships both personally and professionally.
- The SDI is based on more than 30 years of research by psychologist Elias H Porter into self -concept from which he developed his Relationship Awareness TheoryTM.
- This theory is based on the premise that individual behaviour traits are consistent with what we find gratifying in interpersonal relations and with concepts or beliefs we hold about how to interact with others to achieve those gratifications.
- Many personality theories are about people, this theory was designed for people. It provides an effective means for understanding ourselves and for understanding others so that interpersonal relationships could be mutually productive and gratifying. The theory was planned to help people organise their concepts of themselves and their concepts of others around three basic motivations:
Wanting to be of genuine help to others
Wanting to be the leader of others
Wanting to be self – dependant - The SDI is equally suitable for both individual and team use.
Organisational Benefits
- Improves effectiveness of organisations by building relationships and reducing conflict
- Improves performance through effective communication
- Improves motivation and performance of individuals and teams
- Produces more positive and proactive thinking
- Creates more energy within individuals and teams
- Enables more innovation
- Enables constructive and challenging debate
- Improves negotiation and sales skills
- Reduces unnecessary stress
- Reduces cost of conflict
Applications of the SDI®
- Self Awareness
- Managing Conflict
- Leadership Programmes
- Sales Training
- 1:1 Coaching
- Board Development
- Change Management
- Strategic Planning
- Team Building
- Supervisory Skills
- Assertiveness Training
- Time Management
- Career Development
- Communication Skills
- Diversity Training
- Counselling
- School/Work Transition
- Customer Relations
- Performance Management
- Organisational Culture
- Project Management
- 360 Facilitation
- Negotiation Skills
Who’s using the SDI?
The SDI has been used to help people interact better for more than 30 years. Countless organisations from the entire spectrum of industries have found value in the SDI. Here is a small sample:
- Adobe Systems
- AIG United Guaranty
- AXA
- Boeing
- Deloitte & Touche
- William Hill
- IBM
- Learning & Skills Council
- John Lewis
- London Ambulance Service
- National Express
- Pilkington
- PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Procter & Gamble
- Royal Air Force
- Superdrug
- Thomson Reuters
- United Airlines