Developing Great Leaders: Assessments and Executive Coaching
Adapted from a white paper by Robert J. Devine for CPP – The Myers-Briggs Company
Corporate America spends more than $10 billion every year on leadership training, but is it working? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. In the same way businesses report profit and loss every quarter, creating and maintaining good leadership can and should become a measurable, operational process. In today’s environment, no business should be without data and processes that identify the strengths and challenges of its leaders, or without the processes that help to develop the skill sets of those leaders.Today processes, tools and coaching support exist that can incrementally and significantly improve performance. Leadership can be tricky to define across all situations, but organizations must go through the exercise of identifying and prioritizing what is important for their leadership team to excel.
Great leaders are skilled in the following ten areas of leadership:
Framing a vision, mission, company culture and strategy and then modeling the way towards the “right” kind of goals
Developing and managing systems
Setting expectations, priorities, and providing direction/guidance
Delegating work and decisions (empowering)
Communication
Influencing through positive impact
Cultivating an executive presence that has a positive impact on the organization
Building and maintaining relationships in a trusting, safe and equitable environment for stakeholders, clients, staff and oneself
Developing and retaining employees
Developing themselves personally
Consider the ten dimensions of great leadership against the backdrop of business performance objectives. Managers and leaders must be results-driven, and their efforts and priorities must be devoted to the development of leadership, interpersonal, communication, and problem-solving skills as applied to the needs of their specific business situation. Managers and leaders need to maintain a flexible, situational approach to development and use of the leadership skills, adjusting their approach to the situation at hand, the individuals involved, and the time available. While enhancing their leadership skills, they should articulate their career objectives and understand the relationship and importance of their newly acquired leadership skills to where they are now and where they want to go.
It is important to note that the ten dimensions of great leadership do not include specific job-related competencies and expertise. It is assumed that over the course of their career, managers and developing leaders gradually acquire levels of technical know-how in areas such as internal operations, information management, accounting and finance, etc.
Now we know the “what” of great leadership, but what about the “how”? Comfort level and confidence with these ten dimensions can be improved on the job, but the process needs to be collaborative and continuous. The most effective and efficient methodology for engaging managers and leaders in continual learning and improvement has three basic phases, which can be arranged into a loop.
The Assessment Process
Collect information, both explicit and implicit, and consider these data as a series of proposals about strength and style. Numerous assessments and products provide objective and valid information regarding this first phase.
Interpret, compare, and understand what the data are telling you; clarify the implications of the data in the light of business and career goals and objectives. Identify each proposal as favorable or unfavorable.
Individual managers and leaders, working with an objective and knowledgeable coach identify and articulate one or two action steps that will move them toward their performance improvement objectives.
One example of your assessment matrix might look like this:
The Ten Dimensions of Positive Leadership
Appropriate personality assessment(s)
360-degree feedback assessment
Structured 260-style interviews
Aptitude measures
WE CAN ALL BE BETTER LEADERS. START NOW.
Great leaders can be developed. Great leaders take charge and get things done. They take disciplined, organized action. They use their power and authority in measured ways, and they influence others using optimism and executive presence. The first step in becoming a better leader is to solicit feedback from a variety of sources throughout the organization. Once the strengths and growth opportunities are clear, the manager/leader can work with a coach to determine how to improve in areas that require growth.
Do you want to know more about the leadership assessment process, executive coaching or leadership development? Interested in having Kimberly teach The Ten Dimensions of Great Leadership at your organization? Contact her via email at Kimberly@KimberlyPutmanCoaching.com or by phone at (512-298-9021).
