The Competitiveness Trait Separates Candidates Who Play to Win from Those Who Enjoy the Journey
Two salespeople can work the same list for the same hours, and only one of them treats a lost deal as unacceptable. The competitiveness trait puts a number on that difference, and on quota-carrying roles it decides whether a forecast holds.
What Does the Competitiveness Trait Measure?
The competitiveness trait measures the desire to be better than others, prevailing over others, or winning business opportunities. Underneath that sits the inner desire to be successful or to beat opponents and peers.
However, it does not measure the ability to be successful, and it does not measure a person's work ethic.
Why competitiveness problems are invisible in interviews
Every candidate describes themselves as driven, and no interview puts revenue at stake. Nothing is lost in the room, so the behavior that separates a closer from a caretaker never surfaces where you can see it.
What the Competitiveness trait helps you evaluate before you hire
Competitiveness is scored in the SL Behavioral Assessment and Work Styles DISCovered, but not in the IC Behavioral Assessment report. Choose the assessment accordingly whenever a role turns on the drive to win.
Why the Competitiveness Trait Matters in Hiring
On quota-carrying roles this is one of the few traits that changes a forecast rather than a personality profile — and neither a resume nor an interview will surface it in advance.
The Forecast Risk
When being successful is not important to a rep, your forecast becomes a wish, and neither a resume nor an interview will surface that in advance.
Short Term Drive
The score does not measure ability to succeed. A competitive person is usually driven to be successful in the short term, which is what quotas reward.
Emotion, Not Attitude
The top of the scale is not flagged as an attitude problem, yet these people get very emotional about winning and losing, which the team absorbs.
How low Competitive scores show up on the job
A low reading survives probation because the cost registers as missed revenue rather than as a performance problem, and by then you have funded a full ramp cycle.
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How the Competitiveness Trait Is Scored
Five ranges cover this trait, with the balanced band running from 40 to 60 and the documented concern sitting below 21. Read each range for what it offers and what it costs, and contrast the number against the rest of the results rather than reading it alone.
Below 21 is the documented concern — a candidate who is simply not competitive.
Low (0 - 39)
Winning games is not important, and being successful may not be either, with the deepest scores enjoying the journey more. No attitude problem, though selling and supervising supervisors both suffer.
Medium (40 - 60)
Shows a good balance of competitiveness, and the assessment states this range would be acceptable to most positions. It remains the least demanding reading on the trait to actually interpret.
High (61 - 100)
A good range for salespeople and managers who supervise supervisors, with emotion around winning. Above 90 the person wins at all cost and breaks rules to beat peers and bosses.
Competitive is one of four traits measured together in the Controller and Assertive quadrant
A single reading will not carry a hiring decision, but combined with the traits scored beside it the profile becomes decision grade. Competitive is one of four readings that build the Controller / Assertive Quadrant, though it appears only on SL and Work Styles reports, not on IC.
Assertiveness
Assertiveness is the comfort to speak up and persuade. When both traits read low, candidates are admitting they will not push to close sales for you.
Self-Esteem
Self-Esteem is the fourth trait in the quadrant and indicates leadership potential in its high range, which pairs naturally with a strong drive to win.
Confront People
Confront People covers facing difficult situations directly. High readings on both describe the profile treated as a good range for managers and for persuasive sales positions.
Ability to Apply
Ability to Apply scores the energy to do work rather than think about it. Named closely related, and low readings on both mark the lazy cluster.
Patience
High Patience makes urgency difficult to sustain. When competitiveness and assertiveness both read low beside it, these people will not make good managers or sales closers.
Controller / Assertive Quadrant
Competitiveness is one of four readings that build the Controller and Assertive quadrant, where winning matters more than how the people around you may be feeling.
Best Practice: Assessment results support your hiring decisions, they do not replace them. Always read the competitiveness trait score alongside the full profile and your role benchmarks before drawing a conclusion.
How to Interpret Competitive Results
Your report prints this trait under the label Competitive, so read the score against the selling or the supervising that the position genuinely requires.
What to Do Based on Your Competitive Score
Rare, and usually poor for selling or supervising supervisors. Ask what an enjoyable workday looks like, then check whether any outcome or number appears in it.
Check whether the role can absorb a rep who does not chase. If assertiveness also reads low, expect very little to get finished without close supervision.
A good balance that suits most positions. Move to the rest of the quadrant and compare the profile against the benchmark you set for this role.
Confirm the wider profile supports a quota-carrying or second line role. Expect emotion around winning and losing, and check it does not reach peer relationships.
Pull the integrity and attitude results before advancing. Ask directly how the candidate handles losing, and check references on how they treat their peers and subordinates.
Assessment results support decisions, they do not make them. Always interpret scores in context: the specific role, interview performance, references, and your organization's culture.
The Competitiveness Trait Matters for Every Role You Hire
Some positions are won and lost against a rival every week while others never compete at all, so benchmark this score against the job rather than your applicant pool.
Roles where Competitive is especially critical
| Role | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Salesperson | Sales is the rare function where both ends of the scale carry an explicit verdict, so this score rules candidates in or out faster than most. |
| Manager of Supervisors | Second line leaders set the pace for the supervisors beneath them, and a low reading is called out as a poor score for exactly that level. |
| Sales Closer | Closers work against a deadline and a rival at once, which is where the emotion around winning and losing in the high range becomes an asset. |
| Telemarketing Representative | Telemarketing sits among the tests most closely tied to this trait, because winning over a stranger by phone depends on genuinely minding how the call ends. |
Relevant for all role types
Sales Representative
Account Executive
Business Development Representative
Territory Manager
Sales Manager
Regional Sales Director
Branch Manager
Operations Supervisor
If any of these situations sound familiar, this assessment is for you
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Frequently Asked Questions
The competitiveness trait measures the desire to be better than others, prevailing over others, or winning business opportunities, driven by an inner desire to beat opponents and peers. It does not measure the ability to be successful, and it does not measure work ethic.
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