The Five Behaviors® Assessment: Build Trust, Master Conflict, and Drive Accountability
For leadership teams tired of surface-level trust exercises that don't change anything.
What The Five Behaviors® Measures
Based on Patrick Lencioni's The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, this assessment measures the five behaviors every cohesive team must master.
The five behaviors build on each other like a pyramid. You can't skip steps. Without trust at the foundation, you can't have productive conflict. Without conflict, you can't get real commitment. And so on.
Most teams are stuck somewhere on this pyramid and they don't even realize it. The Five Behaviors® of a Cohesive Team Assessment compares your team against a global benchmark of millions of teams.
The Five Behaviors® Transforms Team Performance
Teams using The Five Behaviors® consistently report behavior change by adapting shared language as a foundation for growth. It goes so much further than just a one-time team offsite!
Build the Foundation for a Strong Team in the Right Order
Uncover What You Can't See (Reveal Blind Spots)
Create Shared Language and Agreements
Strengthen Peer-to-Peer Accountability
Stop Guessing About What's Broken (Data-Based Insights)
The Five Behaviors® of a Cohesive Team
1. Trust: Vulnerability-based trust among team members. Can your team admit mistakes, ask for help, and be honest about weaknesses without fear?
2. Conflict: Productive ideological conflict. Does your team engage in passionate debate about ideas, or does everything stay polite and surface-level?
3. Commitment: Clarity around decisions and buy-in. Do people leave meetings with genuine commitment, or are they silently disagreeing?
4. Accountability: Peer-to-peer accountability for standards. Can team members call each other out directly, or does everything run through the leader?
5. Results: Collective focus on team outcomes over individual goals. Is your team optimizing for collective results, or are people protecting their own territories?
Once you understand where your team stands on each behavior, you can build the specific infrastructure needed to move from dysfunction toward sustained high performance.
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Who The Five Behaviors® is For:
- Leadership teams with unspoken tension
- Teams where decisions don't stick
- Newly formed or restructured teams
- Teams in high-growth or transition
- High-performing teams ready for the next level
- Teams where the leader is the bottleneck
- Organizations that want a proven, research-backed framework — not personality theory.
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What You Get From The Five Behaviors®
Team Assessments
Your entire team completes the Five Behaviors® assessment online, answering questions about trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results.
Individual & Team Behavior Map
Each person receives an individual report showing their perception of the team's behaviors. The team receives a collective report showing where there's alignment and where there's disconnect, making it easy to identify where to focus.
Beyond the Assessment: How to Turn Behavior Into Performance
The Five Behaviors® assessments are available a la carte — but if you want insights that actually change team dynamics, we offer multiple ways to go deeper:
Leader PlaybookCustomized guide for how to strengthen each behavior, including specific actions, conversation frameworks, and accountability systems. |
The Five Behaviors® WorkshopHalf-day or full-day intensive workshop that turns assessment findings into team agreements and operating norms. Practice new behaviors, create accountability systems, and build cohesion. Available virtually or in-person. |
The Five Behaviors® DebriefTeam session (60-90 minutes) where Tracy walks through your results, discusses disconnects, identifies root causes, and creates your action plan for strengthening behaviors. |
Transformation by DesignOur signature, comprehensive engagement combining The Five Behaviors® with other assessments to address eight performance pillars, including trust, accountability, alignment, culture, and strategic execution. |
The Five Behaviors® Assessment Quick Facts
Assessment Length: 15-20 minutes per person
Format: Online, self-paced
Team Size: Designed for intact teams of 3-12 people
Delivery: Results compiled once all team members complete. Virtual or in-person debriefs available
What's Included: Individual assessments, team behavior map
Add-On Options: The Five Behaviors® Workshop for deeper integration (half-day, full-day, or multi-day options), Team Debrief, Leader Playbooks
Pricing: Contact for team pricing based on size and add-ons
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The Five Behaviors® Assessment FAQs
How is Five Behaviors® different from other team assessments?
Most team assessments focus on personality or work style. The Five Behaviors® specifically measures the behaviors that drive cohesion—trust, conflict, commitment, accountability, and results.
It's not about understanding preferences. It's about identifying where your team’s behaviors are breaking down and what to address first.
Do we need to read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team first?
Not required, but highly recommended. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni is a quick read (about 2-3 hours) that will help your team understand the framework before taking the assessment.
Tracy can also provide a summary or facilitate a book discussion as part of the engagement.
What if our assessment results are bad?
Good. That means you have clarity on what to fix.
The assessment isn't about judging your team — it's about diagnosing design problems. Every team has gaps. The ones that improve are the ones willing to name them honestly.
Can individuals take The Five Behaviors® or is it team-only?
The assessment is designed for intact teams (people who work together regularly). Individual results only make sense in the context of the team.
If you want individual leadership development, consider TriMetrix® EQ or Working Genius® instead.
How long does it take to see improvement?
Most teams notice immediate shifts after the debrief — more honest conversations, clearer commitments, willingness to call out dysfunction.
Deeper behavioral change (trust building, productive conflict becoming the norm) typically takes 3-6 months with consistent reinforcement.
Do we need a workshop, or is the assessment enough?
The assessment + debrief gives you a diagnosis and an initial action plan. That's valuable on its own, though it won’t create lasting change without team effort.
A workshop is beneficial if you want facilitated exercises, team agreements, and accountability systems built around the behaviors. The workshop accelerates integration significantly.
Can we do this virtually?
Yes. The assessment is online, and debrief sessions work great via Zoom. In-person is also available and often preferred for trust-building work.
What if our team is larger than 12 people?
For teams larger than 12, we can use the Five Behaviors Personal Development version, which scales to larger groups but provides less team-specific data.
Alternatively, break your larger team into smaller intact subgroups (e.g., executive team, departmental teams) and run separate assessments.
How do we use The Five Behaviors® for ongoing accountability?
After the initial assessment, many teams:
- Re-assess every 6-12 months to track progress
- Reference The Five Behaviors® in meetings ("We're avoiding conflict right now")
- Build the behaviors into performance reviews and team operating agreements
- Use the framework to onboard new team members
Cohesive Teams Don't Just Happen
They're built by design—starting with trust, progressing through productive conflict and commitment, and culminating in peer accountability and collective results.
Wondering if this is the right fit for your team? → Book a Discovery Call