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Assessments and Tools Conversational Intelligence Conversational Intelligence at work is necessary for building trust. Not using it could lead to disengagement. You’ll learn the signs of trust and how to tap into people’s highest level thinking potential. Join Becky Freemal, anchor of WFXR news, with Judith Glaser, author of Conversational Intelligence and Lynda McNutt Foster, CEO of Cortex Leadership Consulting. DISC Assessment The research-based, validated TTI Success Insights assessment we use at Cortex Leadership Consulting measures behaviors in five behavioral dimensions using the DISC theory. DISC measures Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance and was first developed by William Moulton Marston. Cortex Team Strengths The Cortex Team Strengths assessment helps to better understand which of the four phases of a project cycle you prefer to work within. Ideally, teamwork proceeds sequentially from initiation to ideation, elaboration, and completion. Cortex 360 Assessment 360 surveys are assessment tools that provide leaders and employees with feedback about their performance. The surveys’ subject is rated in areas such as leadership, communication, productivity, and technical skills. The subject also rates themselves in these areas. DDT / TED TED* (*The Empowerment Dynamic) is a positive alternative to the Drama Triangle, which was first described by Stephen Karpman, MD. The Dreaded Drama Triangle (DDT)™ is comprised of three roles: Victim (the primary role), Persecutor (which the Victim blames for their suffering); and the Rescuer (who steps in to try and take away the Victim’s suffering). People shift in and out of all three roles in this Dreaded Drama Triangle (DDT). Stress Quotient This assessment is designed to pinpoint the source of workplace stress for individuals and teams Time Mastery 2.0 You’ll never deal with time the same way again after learning the Cortex Method of time design and AI implementation. Meeting Toolkit this tool can be purchased to be used as “training tools” for leaders to conduct the most effective and efficient meetings possible for their teams. Currency of Trust This powerful communication tool has multiple applications. We work with the 6 elements of trust, which include Sincerity, Involvement, Competence, Standards, Reliability, and Time.

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Intentional Communication with DISC Cortex DISC is interactive designed to equip leaders with a deeper understanding of their strengths, challenges, and communication styles. Using personalized DISC reports, you'll explore providing actionable strategies to enhance leadership effectiveness and team dynamics. What Is The DISC and Motivators Assessment, and Why Am I Taking It? Your DISC and Driving Forces Assessment: DISC Assessment Your DISC Guide: DISC Guide

What We Provide The types of challenges we have helped leaders tackle include: Leadership Teams Creating leadership teams that communicate effectively with coworkers, clients and customers. Time Management Training leaders to map, measure, and design their time for maximum results. Succession Planning Executing a strong succession plan that evenly distributes the strengths and experience of senior and emerging leadership for continued success. Culture Kits Recognizing and stopping the lack of accountability within teams, departments, and divisions and creating a culture of ownership and proactivity. Employee Retention Creating a culture of coaching within your organization to develop and retain you best and brightest employees. Keynote Speeches Here are just a few organizations Lynda Foster, CEO of Cortex Leadership Consulting and her team members, have recently given keynote or customized workshops for Agility Training Developing more agile project teams that can innovate, plan, and execute important initiatives. Hiring Identifying and hiring the best talent to fill the right seats on your organizational bus to ensure desired outcomes are achieved. Conflict Mastery Managing and mitigating organizational crises as they arise to reduce their short and long term impact. What We Use 01. Assessments Learn more 02. Virtual Self-Learning 03. Workshops, Training, and Coaching Learn more 04. Leadership Programs Learn more

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Join us as our special guest for an exclusive gathering of leaders for a new type of visionary experience. On Thursday, February 19th (5:00 PM – 6:30 PM), we are taking over 'The Eye' planetarium at the Science Museum in Roanoke. What to expect: A 15-minute state-of-the-art visual experience starting at 5:40pm, designed to ignite your highest-level thinking. Chef-created appetizers designed to fuel your body and ignite the visionary part of your brain. Kevin will be there to answer any nutrition questions you may have and even give you some training tips to kick off your new year. Interesting conversations with leaders committed to driving innovation for their organizations. 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm - if you can't make it the whole time, just be sure to be there at 5:40 pm for the visionary experience we've created for you. Sorry, but this form is now closed. RSVP: Leading in the Age of AI First name Last name Email Are you bringing a guest with you? Yes No Maybe If yes, please provide their first name. Their email address Submit RSVP

Leadership Experts Urge Global Business Shift from VUCA to BANI Framework to Navigate Chaos of the 2020s < Back Cortex Leadership Consulting Jun 20, 2025 Roanoke, VA & Cologne, Germany – In a bold and timely call to action, Lynda McNutt Foster, CEO of Cortex Leadership Consulting, and Holger Heinze, Director & Partner at O'Donovan Consulting AG, have co-authored a powerful new thought leadership piece titled “From VUCA to BANI: Leading in Today’s Chaotic World.” The article challenges today’s business leaders to move beyond the now-outdated VUCA framework and embrace a new, more relevant leadership model: BANI – Brittle, Anxious, Nonlinear, and Incomprehensible. For decades, the VUCA framework (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous) has guided executive decision-making amid change. However, Foster and Heinze argue that today’s disruptions – from pandemics and geopolitical instability to climate crises and AI-driven transformation – demand a more honest and actionable map. “VUCA no longer fully captures the intensity or emotional weight of our world,” says Foster. “BANI gives leaders a better language to interpret and respond to the stress fractures showing up across every industry.” Why BANI, Why Now First introduced by futurist Jamais Cascio, BANI captures the emotional and structural instability of modern systems. The article walks readers through how: Brittleness reflects systems that break under pressure. Anxiety is an ever-present emotional state due to constant uncertainty. Nonlinearity means minor events can cause disproportionate impact. Incomprehensibility challenges leaders’ ability to interpret fast-moving, ambiguous data. The authors emphasize that BANI is not just a trend—it’s an urgent leadership imperative. “Our institutions, processes, and mindsets must evolve. We can no longer rely on planning cycles built for stability,” says Heinze. “BANI leadership demands resilience, empathy, improvisation, and intuition.” A New Leadership Playbook The article outlines a modern leadership toolkit suited for the BANI world. Leaders must: Shift from reactive firefighting to resilient foresight . Replace rigid, hierarchical workflows with agile and adaptive systems . Invest in psychological capital (PsyCap) – Hope, Efficacy, Resilience, and Optimism – to sustain teams amid stress and uncertainty. Foster cross-functional collaboration and collective sensemaking as a strategic advantage. “Leaders who thrive in BANI environments don’t seek perfect control—they build cultures prepared to bend without breaking,” says Foster. Global Examples of BANI Leadership Foster and Heinze back their insights with powerful case studies: Home Depot chartered private ships to avoid supply chain chaos. Tesla rewrote software to accommodate chip shortages. GM & Ford pivoted to produce ventilators and PPE during COVID-19. Microsoft focused on emotional intelligence and psychological safety through empathetic policies. These real-world examples show that BANI-ready companies outperform not by avoiding chaos—but by being structurally and culturally prepared to engage with it. Call to Action The article closes with practical steps: forming a “BANI Response Team,” measuring adaptability alongside efficiency, and conducting team conversations about readiness. Leaders are encouraged to ask, “If our world is truly BANI, what’s one thing we should change today?” As Foster notes, “Chaos favors the prepared, the courageous, and the flexible. That can be you and your company.” Contact Information For North America: Lynda McNutt Foster CEO, Cortex Leadership Consulting 📧 lynda@cortexleadership.com 🌐 www.cortexleadership.com For Europe: Holger Heinze Director & Partner, O'Donovan Consulting AG 📧 holger.heinze@odonovan.de 🌐 www.odonovan.de Previous Next

Subscribe Subscribe: AI Leader Brief Developed by Cortex CEO and executive strategist, Lynda McNutt Foster, in response to what she calls “an urgent need for clarity” amid the AI boom. “Leaders are bombarded with noise and buzzwords,” said Foster. “This brief delivers what they actually need—what’s real, what’s working, and what to watch next.” December 2, 2025 November 5, 2025 September 15, 2025 Read the Brief Listen to the Clip Read the Brief Listen to the Clip Listen to the Clip Read the Brief Read the Action Sheet carpe diem article Read the Brief August 25th, 2025 August 11th, 2025 August 4th, 2025 July 27th, 2025 Listen to the Interview Read the Brief Listen to the Brief Read the Brief Read the Brief Listen to the Brief Listen to the Brief July 21st, 2025 July 14th, 2025 July 8th, 2025 June 30th, 2025 Listen to the Brief Read the Brief Read the Brief Read the Brief Read the Brief What Our Clients Say Laura Barody, AVP of Subsidiary Accounting "I’ve been fortunate to have early access to the AI Leader Brief, and it’s quickly become a go-to resource. Each edition offers a concise, strategic view of what’s happening in AI—without the noise. It’s helped me stay current and think more critically about how AI impacts the way we work. Highly recommend for anyone in a leadership or decision-making role."

Intentional Communication with DISC Cortex DISC Training is an interactive workshop designed to equip leaders with a deeper understanding of their strengths, challenges, and communication styles. Using personalized DISC reports, this session will explore behavioral preferences—both yours and those of others—while providing actionable strategies to enhance leadership effectiveness and team dynamics. Step One: Watch "What Is The DISC and Motivators Assessment, and Why Am I Taking It?" Step Two: Take Your DISC and Driving Forces Assessment. You'll get your results immediately after taking the assessment. PRINT & BRING TO CLASS. DISC Assessment Step Three: Review Your DISC Guide DISC Guide Step Four: Take the Cortex Team Strengths (VIPE) Assessment VIPE Assessment VIPE Scorecard

Your Executive Leadership Journey Begins Here Your leadership impact will be greatly affected by the competencies you are able to build a foundation for and enhance as you adjust to changing working environments and market conditions. Deciding which ones you will need the most in the coming 1-3 years is a critical success factor in achieving the outcomes you want you, your team, and your organization to achieve. Review the following information to ensure an understanding of each competency, complete the spreadsheet provided, and then review it with whom you report to so that you can ensure alignment. This information will be used to create your Cortex Leadership Development Plan that you will utilize during your executive coaching journey. Step 1: Review the Leadership Competencies Selection and Instruction Guide Guide Step 2: Review the Executive Leaders Mission Statement Mission Statement Step 3: Complete the Value Portion You will need this Value List to complete Part one of the Leadership Mission Statement exercise. Values Exercise Step 4: Complete the rest of the Mission Statement Step 5: Leadership Competencies Consider your Top 4 Leadership Competencies and why developing those are the most important in the coming year. Assessment Step 6: Review with your Supervisor It is best, when you complete this exercise, to review it with who you report to in order to get their feedback.

A Leader's Time Metabolism - It's Not the What, It's the When September 19, 2019 Lynda McNutt Foster It’s not the what, it could be the when. In my ebook, Time Mastery: 7 Simple Steps to Richer Outcome , in our Leading a Winning Team coursework, we provide an assessment that allows leaders to determine what I have termed as their time metabolism. Simply stated, your time metabolism is a measurement of your physical and mental energy throughout your day. To master your time, as a leader, you can optimize your strengths by measuring when your energy is highest throughout the day and when the low points are. Completing your most difficult tasks, for your behavioral style and skillset level, at times when you have the most energy can be key to being in your “flow” zone more of the time (a state where you are working within your strength zones that bring you the most amount of creative and strategic output as a leader). The more time you spend in your flow zone, the higher level contributions to your team and organizations you can make. Some leaders love to get to work by 6am and knock out lots of tasks that any other time of the day would be difficult to complete due to distractions and perhaps a low desire to complete them. The higher your energy level, the more chance you have of completing difficult tasks. When your energy is low your willpower to be tenacious wanes. To optimize your time metabolism, try doing the hardest things when you have the most mental and physical energy and the things you like to do, complete when you have the least (because doing those will tend to give you extra energy). If you are a people person, even when you are tired you will find the energy to interact and connect. If you like to complete tasks more than you like talking to people, do those things when your energy isn’t at it’s highest because you will be energized by the quietness and solitude of checking things off a list and knowing they are done! What’s your time metabolism? When are you the most likely to tackle and solve the toughest challenges your team or organization is facing?

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