leadership development // life styles inventory (LSI) coaching

The Life Styles Inventory (LSI) is an individual development tool that uses both self-assessment and colleague feedback to identify individual thinking and behavioural styles.

Through the Homeward Bound program, each participant is provided with LSI coaching one-on-one to help us understand our strengths and areas for development, ultimately empowering us to embark on our own journey to be better at everything we do.

​The Life Styles Inventory was developed to assist us in getting to know ourselves. It is based on a combination of respected psychological and management theories and helps to identify our beliefs, values, behaviours and assumptions about ourselves. Essentially the LSI is about our career, health, relationships and well-being.

The LSI gives us an opportunity to look at our thinking and behaviour. The LSI has two parts:

1. LSI 1 (self-description): The individuals self-assessment of their thinking styles, personal effectiveness, and satisfaction at work and home
2. LSI 2 (others’ descriptions): Up to 12 of the individual's peers, managers, and/or subordinates provide feedback on their behaviour and effectiveness

The results and any recommendations are then presented to us in a comprehensive, confidential report. We can then compare the LSI 1 and LSI 2, to identify the our confirmed strengths, unrecognised strengths, blind spots, and stumbling blocks. Our coach will then guide us through the findings and help us develop a strategy to change the way we think and therefore behave.

There are 3 main styles which represent different ways of thinking and behaving:

• The Constructive Style (characterises self-enhancing thinking and behaviour that contribute to an individual's level of satisfaction, ability to develop healthy relationships and work effectively with people, and proficiency at accomplishing tasks)
• The Passive Defensive Style (Represents self-protecting thinking and behaviour that promote the fulfilment of security needs through interacting with people)
• The Aggressive Defensive Style (Representing self-promoting thinking and behaviour used to maintain status.position and fulfil security needs through task-related activities)

My coach is Annette Gray, Director, Growth Coaching International, and she has generously donated her time to me and Homeward Bound.

​For more information:

Human Synergistics – Life Styles Inventory - helps organisations improve effectiveness by developing leaders, teams and organisational cultures. Human Synergistics has donated a world class diagnostic (LSI) to Homeward Bound participants over 10 years, engaged coaches globally to voluntarily coach participants. 

LSI Coaching Team 
There are also global LSI Life Time Accredited Coaches who have donated their time to coaching multiple Homeward Bound participants through their LSI Reports.


- Steph XO