What is the Individual Directions Inventory (IDI)?

The Individual Directions Inventory (IDI) is a motivational assessment developed by MRG that helps individuals understand what drives their behavior from the inside out. While many assessments focus on how an individual acts, the IDI focuses on why by uncovering the underlying motivations, values, and emotional drivers that shape how someone approaches their work, their relationships, and their life. The IDI measures 17 motivational dimensions across six clusters, giving leaders a specific, personalized picture of what genuinely energizes them and what tends to drain them. For coaches and organizations, that picture is the foundation for more meaningful development conversations and more targeted growth.

What does the IDI measure?

The IDI measures 17 motivational dimensions organized into six clusters: Affiliating (connection and relationships with others), Attracting (recognition and visibility), Perceiving (creativity and analytical thinking), Mastering (achievement, structure, and persistence), Challenging (competition and control), and Maintaining (stability and independence). Each dimension receives a percentile score compared against a normative database of business and professional people. Higher scores indicate areas a person is likely to find energizing. Lower scores indicate areas that tend to be less compelling. Mid-range scores reflect a more varied experience depending on the context. There are no good or bad scores. Every result tells you something real and useful about that person.

How is the IDI different from the LEA 360?

The two tools measure different things and are designed to work together. The LEA 360 focuses on behavior — how a leader shows up in their role and how others around them experience that behavior. It captures the gap between how leaders see themselves and how their boss, peers, and direct reports perceive them. The IDI focuses on motivation — what's driving that behavior beneath the surface. It helps individuals understand the emotional patterns that shape their decisions, reactions, and relationships, regardless of what others think of them. Used together, the LEA 360 and IDI give coaches and their clients a complete picture: what a leader does, and why they do it. That combination is what gets the coaching conversation to a specific, actionable direction faster than either tool can on its own.

Are there good or bad scores on the IDI?

No. The IDI is entirely descriptive. There are no good or bad scores, no right or wrong answers, and no labels attached to results. Every score simply reflects what a person genuinely finds satisfying or unsatisfying in their work and life. A low score on one dimension and a high score on another doesn't mean anything is wrong. It means the person has a specific motivational profile that is unique to them. This is a deliberate design choice. Evaluative language closes people down. When someone feels judged by their results, they get defensive and the development work stalls before it starts. The IDI's descriptive approach keeps people curious and open, which is exactly the state you want a person in for a real coaching conversation.

How is the IDI used in coaching?

The IDI gives coaches a motivational map of their client. They’ll have a clear picture of what genuinely drives them, what tends to create frustration or disengagement, and where there may be untapped sources of energy worth exploring. In practice, coaches use the IDI to open conversations that self-report or observation alone rarely surface. An individual might know they're struggling with a role transition or a difficult relationship but not know why. The IDI often reveals the motivational pattern underneath. For example, a strong drive for independence that's being constrained, or a low drive for belonging that's creating disconnection on a highly team-oriented project. The IDI is used across a wide range of coaching engagements including executive coaching, leadership development, career transitions, team development, and high-potential work. It can be used independently or alongside the LEA 360 for a more complete view of behavior and motivation together.

The IDI is a self-assessment. It's completed by the individual themselves, not by observers or raters. This makes it different from the LEA 360, which gathers feedback from multiple perspectives. Because it's self-reported, the IDI is particularly useful for surfacing motivational patterns the individual may not have previously put into words. The questions are designed using MRG's semi-ipsative format, which makes it harder to give rote or socially desirable answers and produces results that more accurately reflect what someone values and finds meaningful. The IDI is used by coaches, consultants, HR leaders, and organizations in more than 100 countries, with normative comparisons available across regional groups to ensure results are contextually relevant.

Individual Directions Inventory (IDI)

A motivational assessment that reveals what drives individuals, what drains them, and why they behave the way they do.

Flexible assessment tools for:

Coaching

Team Development

High Potential Selection and Development

Candidate Selection

Solutions

What

Energizes
and what drains your clients?

The IDI assessment reveals the hidden drivers that shape decisions, reactions and relationships.

By measuring 17 motivational dimensions, the IDI assessment outlines what drives an individual. The results provided will help your client better understand their emotional drivers. What gets someone excited about their work? What tends to drain their energy? This sparks countless “aha” moments as a person sees themselves more clearly, recognizes patterns in their lives, and discovers untapped sources of energy to help them counter burnout.

For thousands of individuals around the world, the IDI™ has provided transformational self-awareness and growth.

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The Individual Directions Inventory™ is one of the world’s most versatile assessment tools used to:

Add a powerful motivational lens to your coaching practice by helping clients understand not just what they do, but why they do it

Strengthen working relationships by giving pairs and small groups a shared language for what drives and drains each person

Improve communication and cohesion among teams

Align role and fit among existing teams

Assess culture and shifts following mergers, acquisitions or other organizational disruptors

“

“[The IDI is] one of the most intuitive, accessible and applicable tools in understanding human motivations, drivers, passions, or values and how they guide us.”

Amelia La Spada, Switzerland

Certified MRG Partner since 2017

CCE + Continuing Education

Providing CCE's for
Respected
Programs

MRG’s IDI Certification is eligible for the following CCEs:

This program is valid for 3.5 core competency and 7.5 resource development Continuing Coach Education Units (ICF CCEU)

This program is valid for 6 PDCs toward SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP recertification

Upcoming Certifications

See all Certifications

Certification: Individual Directions Inventory (IDI)

Motivation

Live Interactive Webcasts

Sessions (3): December 2nd, 9th, and 16th, 2026 (Wednesdays)

Get certified in MRG's unique motivational assessment, the Individual Directions Inventory™ (also known as the IDI™).

This highly interactive certification program will ground you in the 17 motivational…

Start date: December 2, 2026

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Individual Directions Inventory (IDI)

A motivational assessment that reveals what drives individuals, what drains them, and why they behave the way they do.

What Energizes and what drains your clients?

Add a powerful motivational lens to your coaching practice by helping clients understand not just what they do, but why they do it

Strengthen working relationships by giving pairs and small groups a shared language for what drives and drains each person

Improve communication and cohesion among teams

Align role and fit among existing teams

Assess culture and shifts following mergers, acquisitions or other organizational disruptors

Providing CCE's for Respected Programs

Upcoming Certifications

Certification: Individual Directions Inventory (IDI)

More assessments that go below the surface!!

What

Energizes
and what drains your clients?

Providing CCE's for
Respected
Programs