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Leadership Resources and Consulting

Driving Forces

Discover What Drives Your People

DISC reveals how people behave. Driving Forces reveals why. This assessment uncovers the 12 motivators behind a person's actions and decisions — what energizes them, what stresses them, and what keeps them engaged.

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Six Dimensions · Twelve Driving Forces

Driving Forces® measures six dimensions of motivation. Each dimension is a continuum between two opposing forces.

KNOWLEDGE

Instinctive Intellectual

Instinctive

Trusts experience. Reaches for information only when a specific situation demands it.

Intellectual

Hunger for learning. Wants to know how things work, broadly and deeply.

UTILITY

Selfless Resourceful

Selfless

Focused on the work itself. Contributes without keeping score.

Resourceful

Focused on return. Wants practical, measurable outcomes from effort.

SURROUNDINGS

Objective Harmonious

Objective

Attuned to what works. Function over form, results over atmosphere.

Harmonious

Attuned to the whole experience. Balance, aesthetics, how it feels.

OTHERS

Intentional Altruistic

Intentional

Helps with purpose. Assists strategically, not reflexively.

Altruistic

Energized by helping. Finds satisfaction in supporting others.

POWER

Collaborative Commanding

Collaborative

Contributes as part of a team. Supports the group's goals.

Commanding

Drawn to leadership. Sets direction, makes decisions, shapes outcomes.

METHODOLOGIES

Receptive Structured

Receptive

Open to new approaches. Welcomes fresh, unconventional methods.

Structured

Values tradition and consistency. Proven systems over experiments.

Why Understanding Motivation Changes Everything

Two people can behave the same way for completely different reasons. A manager who delegates might be doing it because they trust their team — or because they want to focus on higher-priority tasks.

DISC shows you the behavior. Driving Forces shows you the motive behind it.

When Leaders Understand What Drives Their People

Less turnover
Less friction
Roles aligned to what motivates each person
Recognition that actually lands

The result: teams that actually work.

How Organizations Use Driving Forces

Hiring & Selection

Match a candidate's motivators to the role and your culture before the offer goes out.

Team Building

Reveal why team members approach the same work differently.

Leadership Development

Help leaders understand what drives their team and how to connect with each person.

Employee Engagement

Identify what energizes and stresses your people before disengagement sets in.

Succession Planning

Determine whether internal candidates are motivated by the demands of the next role.

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What You Get

Fourteen pages, one working document.

Driving Forces Report

Your motivational profile.

Twelve drivers, three clusters.

▸ Primary Driving Forces

Resourceful
89
Objective
86
Commanding
79
Instinctive
76

▸ Situational Driving Forces

Intentional
46
Altruistic
40
Structured
36
Receptive
36

▸ Indifferent Driving Forces

Collaborative
6
Harmonious
6
Selfless
0
Intellectual
0

Pair the primary cluster and you see how someone needs to operate; ignore the indifferent cluster and you find where disengagement starts.

How to read the report

01

Primary cluster · what energizes you.

The motivators you reach for naturally — the forces that make work feel worth doing.

02

Situational cluster · when called for.

Engaged when the work calls for them, but not the first thing you reach for.

03

Indifferent cluster · not your default.

Not weaknesses — just forces you don't pull from instinctively. Where disengagement starts.

04

Plain language and next moves.

Plain-language paragraph per driver, then specific actions for self, manager, and team. The report ends with what to do — not just what was measured.

Find out what your people are really wired for.

View Full Sample Report → Talk to Our Team →

Want to Deliver Driving Forces Yourself?

Become a 12 Driving Forces Certified Facilitator.

Learn to administer, interpret, and debrief the 12 Driving Forces — earn your certification and start delivering it to your own clients and teams.

View Certification Programs →

Even More Powerful With DISC and EQ

Talent Insights®

DISC + 12 Driving Forces

TriMetrix® EQ

DISC + Driving Forces + EQ

See Combined Assessments →

Frequently Asked Questions

A starting point — not an exhaustive list. For questions not covered here, reach out directly.

What are the 12 Driving Forces?
The 12 Driving Forces are workplace motivators organized into six core dimensions — Knowledge, Utility, Surroundings, Others, Power, and Methodologies — each with two opposing approaches. The assessment measures where a person sits along each axis to reveal what energizes them and what creates stress at work. Most people score strongly on three or four motivators (their primary drivers), find a few situational, and remain indifferent to the rest. The result is a clear picture of why someone shows up the way they do — and what kinds of work, recognition, and team dynamics will keep them engaged versus drain them. Pair Driving Forces with DISC behavioral analysis to see both how a person acts and why, or get all three sciences in one report through our combined assessments.
What is the difference between DISC and Driving Forces?
DISC measures how a person behaves — communication style, pace, decision-making, response to challenge. Driving Forces measures why they behave that way — what motivates them, what energizes them, what creates stress. Two people can have the same DISC profile but be driven by completely different forces; combining the two surfaces patterns neither dimension reveals on its own. DISC shows the visible behavior. Driving Forces shows the motive behind it. For organizations running both, our Talent Insights combined report integrates both sciences in a single workflow — used most often for hiring, executive coaching, and team development where understanding behavior alone isn't enough.
How is the Driving Forces assessment delivered?
The Driving Forces assessment is completed online and most people finish in 10 to 15 minutes. The questionnaire presents a series of statements where you rank how strongly each one reflects your view — there's no studying, no time pressure, and no wrong answers. Results generate immediately, and a 14-page detailed report is delivered electronically within minutes of completion. The report identifies primary, situational, and indifferent driving forces and provides plain-language interpretation plus action steps for self, manager, and team. For team or organization-wide rollouts, individual reports can be aggregated into team-level views to surface group-wide motivational patterns — contact our team for delivery options on larger rollouts.
Can Driving Forces be used in hiring?
Yes. The Driving Forces assessment is both EEOC and OFCCP compliant and can be used as part of the hiring process. It helps hiring teams understand whether a candidate's motivators align with the role's actual demands and the organization's culture before the offer is extended. Hiring with Driving Forces alongside DISC reduces the most common cause of early turnover — a candidate who has the right behavioral fit but is motivated by something the role doesn't actually deliver. Contact us for a quote on integrating Driving Forces into your hiring workflow with job benchmarking.
How much does a Driving Forces assessment cost?
Pricing varies by report type, team size, and whether you're combining Driving Forces with DISC or EQ in an integrated Talent Insights or TriMetrix EQ report. Individual Driving Forces reports start in an accessible range for small teams, and volume pricing applies as team size grows. Because we offer multiple report formats — from individual driving forces reports to combined multi-science instruments — the most useful next step is a quick conversation about your use case. Contact us for a quote and we'll respond same day within business hours with options that match your goal and budget.

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