BrainCompass
Understanding what drives human behaviour — from DNA to daily decision-making.
BrainCompass is a scientifically grounded behavioural model that maps automatic behaviour across four distinct layers of human drivers.
Unlike conventional personality tests that only capture surface behaviour, BrainCompass reaches the origin: your genetic makeup, early attachment history, character and professional mindset. Together, these four layers reveal not just how you behave — but why. Especially under pressure, in conflict, and in the moments that matter most.
The Four Layers of the Model
01 — Genetic Drivers
What your DNA reveals
Five genetic markers — reward system, social system, cognitive control, emotional resilience and habit formation — map the biological wiring behind your automatic behaviour.
Measured by: saliva / DNA analysis
Stability: fixed
02 — Social Drivers
How early bonds shaped you
Your attachment history (age 0–3) formed your underlying patterns of trust, closeness and autonomy — the lens through which you experience all relationships and group dynamics today.
Measured by: attachment questionnaire
Stability: shaped by life events
03 — Personal Drivers
The character you developed
Character traits built through lived experience (age 3–21): your curiosity, resilience, ambition and relational style — the person you gradually became through the world you grew up in.
Measured by: personality questionnaire
Stability: trainable through practice
04 — Professional Drivers
How you operate at work
The beliefs, dilemmas and operating principles that guide your professional behaviour — formed through work experience and the most malleable of the four layers.
Measured by: professional dilemmas questionnaire
Stability: most malleable
Five Dimensions of Automatic Behaviour
The four layers all express themselves through five core behavioural dimensions — each a spectrum between two natural poles. Your BrainCompass profile shows where you land on each dimension, and why.
“The brain processes most of our behaviour automatically — through instinct, memory and habit. BrainCompass maps the four sources of that automatic behaviour, so people can make genuinely conscious choices.”
Grounded in neuroscience · Validated across hundreds of independent studies
1for2 Social Innovation — Certified BrainCompass Partner
1for2 Social Innovation is an accredited BrainCompass Partner. We use the model as a foundational instrument in leadership development, executive coaching, team dynamics and crisis resilience programmes.
Our certified practitioners hold full BrainCompass accreditation and meet regularly in intervision — exchanging case experience, deepening practice and developing new applications of the model.
BrainCompass is never used as a label. In our hands it is a precise instrument for growth, dialogue and leadership development.
Certified Partner
BrainCompass B.V.
Certified Practitioners
Kirsten Heukels
Founder & BrainCompass Specialist
Pascal Comvalius
Crisis Specialist & BrainCompass Practitioner
Rainier Koers
BrainCompass Practitioner
Community of Practice · 1for2 Centre of Excellence
How We Apply BrainCompass
BrainCompass is not a standalone assessment. We deploy it as part of a broader intervention — paired with coaching, team facilitation or leadership development — always in service of a specific organisational challenge.
Leadership Coaching
Deep individual profiling for executives — clarifying blind spots, communication patterns and crisis behaviour before they matter.
Team Effectiveness
Team profiling and facilitation to surface group dynamics, reduce friction and build genuine trust under pressure.
Executive Selection
Adding behavioural depth to selection and onboarding — understanding what an executive will do when the pressure is real.
Crisis Preparation
Preparing leaders for high-stakes moments — knowing automatic stress responses before they occur in reality.
Organisational Change
Using behavioural profiling to understand how change lands — and what leadership approach will actually work.
From Our Practice
Client Success Story
Schildklier Nederland
Schildklier Nederland is a patient association supporting thousands of people in the Netherlands living with thyroid conditions. As the organisation worked to further professionalise its structure, governance and internal culture, they engaged 1for2 Social Innovation to accompany the process.
We deployed the BrainCompass with focus on Social Drivers — mapping the relational patterns, trust dynamics and group behaviour within the organisation’s leadership team. Those insights became the foundation for a targeted professionalisation trajectory.
“Better alignment, stronger mutual understanding, and a leadership approach grounded in insight rather than assumption.”
CRISISCOMPASS · CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
Public Entity Sint Eustatius
CrisisCompass was introduced as part of the Crisis Communication & Risk Management training in the Caribbean. Participants received a personal CrisisCompass profile — serving as the red thread through two intensive training days covering self-awareness, team dynamics, media communication and live crisis simulation.
The core question CrisisCompass answers is one that classic crisis training rarely addresses: who are you when the pressure is on? For crisis professionals, that self-knowledge is not optional — it is the foundation of every decision they make under fire.
“This model helps prepare crisis teams for situations where there is no time left to get to know yourself.”
Vaughn M. Sams
Senior Communication Advisor · Public Entity Sint Eustatius
Bring BrainCompass to your organisation
Ready to understand what really drives your people — and what happens when pressure hits? We work with organisations who want to go beyond surface-level assessments.