Leonard Goodstein
Leonard Goodstein
Finding Predictability in Unpredictable Times

A holder of the Diploma in Clinical Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology, Leonard is a Distinguished Practitioner of the National Academy of Practice.


Leonard D. Goodstein, Partner, Product Development and Psychometrics.

As the co-author of the PeopleClues® line of assessments, Len leads the internal and external international team of experts for product development and ongoing maintenance of validation objectives. After receiving his bachelor's degree with honors from the City College of New York, he received both an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University, both in Psychology.

A holder of the Diploma in Clinical Psychology of the American Board of Professional Psychology, Leonard is a Distinguished Practitioner of the National Academy of Practice. He is a licensed psychologist in both California and the District of Columbia. He is listed in Who's Who in America and American Men and Women in Science.

For over 50 years, he has been actively involved in developing and validating psychological tests. His published research involves over 20 books, 150 articles, and numerous book and test reviews. His most recent books include Personality Assessment (Third Edition) co-authored with Richard Lanyon and published by McGraw-Hill and Individual Assessment: A Practical Guide for HR Professional, Trainers, and Managers, co-authored with Erich Prien, and published in April 2006 by Pfeiffer, a John Wiley imprint.

Since completing a three-year term as Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Psychological Association (APA), psychology's national membership association in 1988, he has been engaged in consulting, research, and writing. Prior to APA, Dr. Goodstein had a distinguished academic career, including professorships at the Universities of Iowa, Cincinnati, and Arizona State University where he served as Chair of the Department of Psychology. In addition, he has been a Fulbright Senior Lecturer (Professor) at the Vrije Universiteit in the Netherlands. After leaving academia and prior to joining APA, he was President and later Chairman of the Board of University Associates, Inc., now Pfeiffer and Company.

All insights by  Leonard Goodstein
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A job analysis questionnaire sets the foundation for identifying the right people for positions, and for all other human resource (HR) functions. 

Employee Engagement Assessments: Why It Pays to Really Care about Employees Content type: Insights

To find out if employees are engaged or not, there are some useful tools.

Determine Your Employees’ Training Needs and Then Develop a Plan Content type: Insights

Employers need to determine the training needs of their employees and then develop a plan to meet those needs. 

Personality Tests for Interviews Help Tie Everything Together Content type: Insights

A well-constructed personality test will identify hot-button items and also suggest questions you should ask in a follow-up interview. 

Before Using Personality Tests for Interviews, Companies Should Review Resumes First Content type: Insights

Many companies are using personality tests as a guide for interviewing candidates, but they are making a few mistakes.