Creating the Conditions for Effective Leadership: Validation of an Open-Access Leadership Assessment (GILL 2.0)

We present the validation of the General Inventory for Lasting Leadership 2.0 (GILL 2.0), a second-generation assessment grounded in Gill's holistic leadership framework. The model's six core leadership conditions—vision, purpose, shared values, strategy, empowerment, and engagement—were operationalized as distinct yet interrelated dimensions associated with engaged followership and leadership effectiveness. Item development emphasized behavioral specificity and observability, addressing calls for more actionable leadership assessments. A multi-stage validation process included expert review, psychometric testing (N = 479), and an independent replication sample (N = 537). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a six-factor structure, with both short and long versions demonstrating strong model fit. The GILL 2.0 showed strong convergence with transformational and ethical leadership, positive relationships with complexity leadership and management effectiveness, and weak relationships with authoritarian leadership. Positive associations emerged with proactive behavior, meaningful work, vigor, job satisfaction, and leadership effectiveness, while negative associations were found with work alienation. Incremental validity analyses indicated that GILL 2.0 dimensions explained additional variance beyond comparator leadership measures. Collectively, these findings position the GILL 2.0 as a theoretically grounded and developmentally useful open-access leadership assessment with applications in coaching, education, and technology-enabled developmental contexts.