Ten years ago, when we launched the Human Potential Assessment and later integrated the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) into the offering of BEING at Full Potential, I held a clear intention:
I wanted our tools to be scientifically validated, to be taken seriously, and to stand shoulder to shoulder with the most respected psychometric assessments in the world.
And for good reason. The world of business, coaching, and organizational development values what is measurable, trackable, and replicable. Validation, in this context, meant proving that our models were reliable and that the insights they generated were based on statistically sound frameworks.
We achieved much of that. We invested in research, collected data across diverse populations, refined our tools—and proudly demonstrated that our approach to measuring human potential could hold its own among the best.
But somewhere along the journey, something shifted.
From Validation to Reflection
I soon realized that the most transformative outcomes came in the moments of reflection during a debrief, when the scores didn’t matter anymore. The report had pointed to an area of interest for the client and now the coaching process could take over.
That’s when I began to let go of the idea that validation had to mean scientific rigor alone.
Measurement was not the point. It was simply a portal, the starting point for a deeper conversation, reflection, and invitation inward.
We stopped thinking of the Human Potential Assessment as a “test” and started honoring it as a mirror—a tool that reveals what often remains unseen in traditional metrics: our purpose, our inner capacities, our readiness to contribute meaningfully.
A tool that sits between art and science.
The Deeper Meaning of Validation
Now, after a decade of working with the Human Potential Assessment, I’m once again renewing my relationship with “validation” and seeing it in an even more empowering light.
What if true validation is about being seen in our essence, being acknowledged—not for what we do, but for who we are. What if true validation comes in those moments of silence after a debrief when a client whispers, “This is the first time I’ve felt fully seen.”
This is the kind of validation our world is deeply longing for right now.
We are inundated with performance metrics, engagement scores, and personality tests. But rarely do we feel recognized in the fullness of our human potential. Rarely do we feel invited into deeper self-awareness, purpose, and authentic connection.
That’s what the Human Potential Assessment and the IDG Measurement Tool are here for.
Yes, there are numbers. Yes, there is a model. But those are just the scaffolding. The real work, the real gift, is in how we use those insights to hold space for people to explore who they truly are, what wants to come alive in them, and how they can show up more fully in the world.
A New Paradigm of Measurement
As we enter what many are calling an economic and consciousness renaissance, it’s also time to rethink how we approach the concepts of measurement and validation.
We have the opportunity to reframe them:
- From tools of control to tools of awakening.
- From optimizing performance, to dignifying potential.
- From having to constantly prove ourselves, to simply being seen in our wholeness?
An Invitation
If you’ve ever wrestled with how to balance meaning and measurement, or how to lead in ways that validate the being, not just the doing, I’d love to hear your reflections.
What does validation mean to you now? And how might we measure in a way that truly honors the human spirit?