Measuring leadership: how can we do it effectively?
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Helen - very helpful. I particularly like the Kouzes & Posner LPI in that it measures the PERCEIVED frequency with which observers report the various leadership behaviours. This is exactly what leaders need to understand in order to do a better job of leading. Self leadership evaluation gives little useful information. What is vital to understand is how people are receiving my behaviour.
Thanks for your comment Chris, yes we find that leaders really engage positively with the practical business application of LPI in their leadership journey.
A good, practical reminder of the basics of leadership Helen, and as you say, these are applicable at all levels of an organisation. I have to wonder how you feel about the stock image that was chosen for the headline - doesn't it rather suggest that leadership is something done primarily by white men in suits?
This is all good stuff. It is limited, in my view, by being locked in the control and command paradigm in which there are leaders and followers. An alternative perspective sees everyone as having leadership work. Those principles and behaviours apply to us all and to all our colleagues.
Kouzes & Posner is good but just try re-framing their work in a paradigm of self-directing teams and you will find new freedom. When we encourage everyone to play their leadership roles, rather than waiting to be led, we release creative energy, increase self-worth, free people from the fear of freedom.
Very hard to measure those 5 things even though they are very traditional. I have a 10 question test. For each, rank a manager (or yourself) on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the best or almost always performs the action and 1 being the worst or almost never performs the action. Add up the points for each question to see the performance range. Again, think carefully about what is being described. Do you really know the answer and why that is the right answer? If not, then it is necessary to learn the right answers and why they are right from the author’s website or some other expert source.
Does the manager…
1. Provide regular and frequent opportunities (at least weekly) for people they manage to voice complaints, suggestions and questions; provide reasonable and timely responses to the satisfaction of their people; and provide the support their people say they need to do a better job?
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2. Elicit answers and responses from their team and cause each person to use their brainpower to solve problems?
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3. Listen to employees with 100% of their attention without distraction, without trying to figure out a response and with the use of follow-up questions to obtain missing details and suggested fixes?
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4. Refrain from giving orders to the maximum extent possible?
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5. Exhibit a high standard of humility, respect, responsiveness, forthrightness, trust, admission of error, etc. when dealing with employees? (The standard must be higher than the standard expected of employees in their dealings with customers and each other).
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6. Publicly recognize employees for their contributions and high performance and not take credit for himself or herself?
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7. Openly provide all information about the company to employees to the extent they need or desire it?
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8. Use values to a high standard in order to explain why certain actions are better than others?
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9. Use smiles and good humor with subordinates and not frowns or a blank face?
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10. Generate in employees a sense of ownership of their work? In terms of evaluating a sense of ownership: Think about how many people in the group innovate, try to do something differently to change the outcome for the better, are always trying to improve the end product and to do more for the customer, etc? Are the people on the team, the ones being managed, being proactive or only reactive?
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