J. Ross Blankenship, PhD, is is a consulting psychologist and entrepreneur in Atlanta, GA. Dr. Blankenship is the co-founder and CEO of Leadhr, an enterprise software platform that helps companies measure and influence their organizational culture to improve engagement, retention, and performance. His previous experience includes working in the leadership advisory group of a leading multinational executive search firm, where he consulted with clients across industries on initiatives related to executive assessment and development, top team effectiveness, and organizational culture assessment and transformation and founding and leading the leadership assessment practice of an executive search firm where he worked with private-equity backed software companies to assess and develop high-performing executive teams. He has also previously served as Adjunct Faculty at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) where he led leadership development programs and conducted research. He is co-author of amp quot Coaching the Derailing Leader, amp quot in the CCL Handbook of Coaching in Organizations, and his research and writing has been published in The Leadership Quarterly and Forbes He holds an MS and PhD in Consulting Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University, San Diego.
Dr. Blankenship has brilliantly condensed the core issues and practices for any professional starting off in executive assessment. Clearly written and suitably comprehensive, this volume fills an important space in the Fundamentals of Consulting Psychology series. The illustrative stories make the standards of our profession come alive and will give anyone beginning in consulting psychology a rich sense of the work. -- Douglas Riddle, PhD, DMin, The Carol Emmott Foundation Dr. Blankenship provides scholars and practitioners with an exhaustive and valuable review of the current literature that is relevant to the topic of executive assessment. -- Geoff Smart, PhD, Chairman and founder of ghSMART; New York Times bestselling author of Who and Power Score Choosing and developing the leaders of our organizations and institutions is more important than ever. This is the rare book that provides useful guidance for choosing and developing leaders while maintaining a firm foundation in the relevant science and research. A valuable source for those who will be conducting, buying, or participating in executive assessment. -- Dean Stamoulis, PhD, Managing Director, Leadership and Succession/Board and CEO Advisory, Russell Reynolds Associates This book is filled with informative case examples from the author's own experiences, and he crafts detailed and clear instructions that show consulting psychologists how to design credible assessments that boards and executives will respect and use. Blankenship's book helps consulting psychologists click with executive teams and boards of directors by showing them how to communicate the need to use research-based, reliable, and valid assessments that fit with their strategic imperatives. -- Gary Ballinger, PhD, Professor of Commerce, University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce, Charlottesville, VA Dr. Blankenship approaches the complexity of executive assessment with the humility and care of a thought partner and advisor and with the nuanced technical acumen of an academic and practitioner. The book leaves no stone unturned—I intend to keep it at my fingertips for years to come. -- Kelly Stone, MsC, MBA, Chief Talent Officer, Roark Capital Group; MSc: Organizational and Social Psychology, London School of Economics; MBA: University of Chicago Booth School of Business