Organizational Leadership

155,070 views | May 22, 2012, 11:29am

Think You're A Leader? Take The Test

And Find Out.

Leadership

Mike Myatt, Chairman, N2Growth

Mike Myatt Former Contributor

Do you believe you're a gifted, effective leader? If

you’re looking to benchmark your leadership

ability the following self examination will give you

a baseline to build from. While this test is not

as detailed as more comprehensive assessments, I

have nonetheless found it to be fairly thorough. That said, any self exam is only as good

as the honesty of those taking the test. If you check your ego at the door and give

a thoughtful, introspective evaluation of your ability, it is likely you’ll learn something

about your leadership abilities or lack thereof. Better yet, for those of you bold enough

place yourself under what might be the harsh scrutiny of others, you can get the benefit

of a mini leadeship 360 review by asking your co-workers to rate you as a leader. If

you’re game to test your leadership ability read on to take the exam…

The examination is broken down into 10 sections, each worth 10 points. If you believe

you possess a fully developed competency in a section give yourself 10 points. If you

possess no competency whatsoever give yourself 0 points. Grade your examination as

follows:

A = 90 – 100 points

B = 80 – 89 points

C = 70 – 79 points (77)

Today In: Leadership

D = 60 – 69 points

F = 59 & below

As I mentioned above, use the results of the exam to determine your strengths and

weaknesses as a leader. If you find you lack skill sets and competencies in certain areas

seek help to shore-up your weaknesses, and more importantly, use your professional

advisors to assist you in leveraging your strengths. On with the exam….

Section I: Character. 8

Great leaders do the right thing regardless of circumstances, situational context or othe

influencing factors. They will not compromise their value system and personal ethics fo

temporary gain. Without a consistent and enduring display of sound character you’ll

find it difficult to earn the trust and respect of those you lead. While your character will

be tested often as a leader, great leaders know there is no substitute for the truth.

Section II: Vision. 9

Great leaders possess the ability to create a vision for the organizations they lead. They

have the foresight to not only create a clear and well defined vision, but also have the

ability to articulately communicate the vision. Perhaps most importantly, they have the

ability to align interests and evangelize the vision unifying leadership, management,

staff and external stakeholders as well.

Section III: Strategy. 7

Great leaders are strategic thinkers who have the ability to translate their vision into an

actionable strategy to ensure its success. Strategically inclined leaders think in terms of

creating leverage, anticipating & leading change, managing risk & opportunities, being

customer focused, astutely deploying resources, always insuring the business model is i

alignment with current market conditions, yet fluid enough to accommodate changes in

market dynamics. Strategic leaders are keenly aware of items that create an advantage

or defend a weakness.

Section IV: Tactics. 10

Great leaders tend to be tactical geniuses and display a strong bias to action. They

understand the difference between raw data and useful information. Moreover they

know how to leverage information and resources to achieve their objectives. They are

focued, results driven and achievement oriented.

Section V: Focus. 10

Great leaders are focused on the mission at hand. They don’t bite-off more than they ca

chew by falling prey to initiative overload. Great leaders don’t major in the minors and

understand that the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Great leaders

are committed to not losing focus and not giving-up.

Section VI: Persuasiveness. 8

Great leaders understand how to manage conflict and close positional and philosophica

gaps. They tend to be contextual leaders who know which skill sets to draw upon based

upon the circumstances at hand. They lead by serving as opposed to intimidating. Grea

leaders are masters of inspiration being able to take even the most critical skeptics and

convert them into evangelists for the cause.

Section VII: Likeability. 7

Great leaders possess great interpersonal skills. They tend to be people-centric and

understand the concept of servant leadership. People tend to like leaders who display

good decisioning skills and high levels of integrity. While great leaders are typically ver

direct, they are also intuitive individuals who thrive on finesse and subtlety.

They don’t expect or need to be liked to get the job done, but realize the value likeability

can offer where it can be achieved without comprising trust or integrity.

Section VIII: Decisioning Ability. 5

Great leaders possess the ability to consistently make good decisions. They thrive on

making the tough call and are willing to be accountable for their actions. Great leaders

also have the ability to make decisions quickly and often with incomplete data sets.

Rarely do leaders have the luxury of being able to secure all of the information needed

for a risk free decision. Rather they understand how to make a timely decision while

managing any corresponding risks as others are still trying to connect the dots.

Section IX: Team Building. 6

Great leaders create great teams throughout the entire value chain. They understand th

need for talent and are effective at recruiting, deployment, development and retention

of tier-one talent. Great leaders also surround themselves with the best professional

advisors possible and they openly seek the counsel of others in matters of importance.

They are committed to both personal and professional growth. They tend to almost be

addicted to increasing their knowledge base and sphere of influence. They are voraciou

learners always looking for better methods, different approaches, enhanced efficiencies

better technology and increased velocity. They are not afraid of change and growth - in

fact, they tend to relish it.

Section X: Results. 7

The proof of great leadership is ultimately found in the results being attained. Leaders

can be extremely strong in any of the areas above, but if they are not leading effectively

or productively, if they are not meeting performance expectations, then they have work

to do. Great leaders get results…

There you have it…rate yourself from 1 – 10 in each of the above sections, tabulate your

score and assess the outcome based upon the grading schedule contained above. Now

that you have your grade in hand, create a plan for consistent and sustainable growth in

your leadership ability and review it regularly taking measure of your progress or lack

thereof.

Sidebar – For full disclosure purposes I want to share my personal bias with regard to

leadership testing. I am often called in to evaluate the leadership ability of Boards and C

level executes, and my firm's leadership development practice designs and administers

wide variety of comprehensive leadership examinations - these tools have a place. That

said, I'm also a bit juxtaposed to many of my colleagues because I believe testing has in

some cases replaced common sense. What I mean by this is those who test well don't

always lead well. While I will from time-to-time use assessments as a diagnostic

component of a leadership evaluation, I much prefer to evaluate on the job actions and

I am a leadership advisor to Fortune 500 CEOs and Boards, author of "Hacking Leadership" and

"Leadership Matters," the chairman at N2Growth, a member of the board of dir... Read More

performance than test scores. You can read more about my thoughts on the downside o

leadership assessments here.

Thoughts?

Follow me on Twitter @MikeMyatt

Mike Myatt