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Thursday, May 26, 2011
Thursday, May 12, 2011
So You Really Think You Can Lead?
9.5 Questions to Assess and Improve the Leadership Capability in Your Business!
So you really think you can lead? One would think that in today’s modern business world with oodles of leadership and management development programs available just about every company would get it right! Right?
Wrong! Sadly, in my experience, that is not so. And is costing dearly! Good people leave organisations because there are getting poorly managed. Who stays behind? Often the poorer performing employees who are finding it harder to get other jobs. And we know how expensive the recruitment and training of replacing staff is, don’t we?
For organisations to survive and operate in the complex market environments of today and tomorrow requires a workforce that is flexible, that is innovative, that shows initiative, that can work autonomously, that is adaptive to change, that looks out for one another and one that has the mindset and ability to learn and discover.
How does that happen you ask? It doesn’t happen. It is created by and through leadership. And how does leadership create that? By creating environments for those abilities and qualities to occur!
By the way, leadership doesn’t just have to come from the designated leaders. It is also a quality that is found throughout the workforce and should be nurtured.
The following 9.5 questions are designed to help assess and improve the quality of leadership in your operation and sharpen your capabilities to drive your business forward.
Rate the highlighted questions on a scale of 1- 10 (1 = strongly ineffective, 10 highly effective) in terms of a. current level of effectiveness and b. desired level of effectiveness. Rate the desired level from the perspective of what would be the minimum level required to operate effectively. And then answer the sub questions to substantiate your rating.
1. How do you rate the overall leadership effectiveness in your organisation?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- What makes it perform at this level?
- What evidence do you base your rating on?
- What are the qualities and/or characteristics that make it effective? What makes them effective?
- Who is involved in that leadership (i.e. Designated managers and/or leaders, non management staff, workgroup members, etc)? And what is their contribution?
2. How clear is the leadership in your workplace communicating the organisation’s vision, values, goals and required standards of performance?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- What is clear or not clear? What makes it clear or not clear?
- In what way are they communicated and related?
- How does it take into consideration staff members’ needs and their communication & learning styles?
3. How do you rate your understanding of your work area’s purpose, values, objectives and responsibilities?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- Describe your understanding of your workplace’s purpose, values, objectives and responsibilities?
- How does your work area’s purpose, values, objectives and responsibilities support and/or not support your organisation’s vision, goals and required standards of performance?
4. How do you rate the effectiveness of your workgroup leader? (if this is you, rate the person who you directly report to)
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- How would you describe the leadership style of your workgroup leader?
- What kind of support do you get from your leader and how does it affect your performance and that of your workgroup?
- Does the leader of your workgroup understand their own, and the workgroup members’ strengths and weaknesses? How is it evident that they do or don’t?
- What approach do they take to overcome weaknesses and enhance performance?
- What is done by the leader to gain trust and encourage responsibility? How well does that work?
5. How do rate your workgroup’s ability to plan and execute daily tasks and projects effectively?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- Describe who is involved in the planning and decision making process?
- In what way is planning and decision making conducted?
- How is contribution to planning and decision making encouraged or discouraged?
- How does this affect the performance and morale of the team?
6. How well does the leadership in your work area provide and receive support and feedback to/from the workgroup and its members on personal, workgroup and organisational performance levels?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- What kind of support and feedback is provided and sought by leadership?
- How would you describe the environment for giving and receiving feedback in your workgroup? (i.e. how easy is it to give and receive feedback from leadership? Is it genuine and constructive?)
7. How well is the performance of your workgroup and the workgroup leader(s) monitored and actively developed?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- What steps and processes are in place to monitor and actively develop performance? What results are achieved?
- Who is responsible for the monitoring and developing of performance? What is their attitude towards actively ensuring performance monitoring and development?
- What is the workgroup leader(s)’s attitude towards having their performance monitored and further developed?
8. How clear are you on the value that you bring to your workgroup and the organisation?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- What value are you contributing to your workgroup and organisation as a leader and/or workgroup member? How does that or could that affect the performance of individual members, the workgroup and the organisation?
- What areas in your leadership performance can you improve to bring even more value to your workgroup and how?
If you want to sharpen your leadership blade click on this link!
9. Given your ratings on the current and desired effectiveness of providing leadership in the areas questioned in questions 1 – 8 what are …
… the 3 weakest links and the 3 strongest links in your organizational leadership capability?
9.5 Given the 3 weakest areas that you have identified ...
a) What are these weak spots costing you in terms of – productivity, time, money, stress, morale, staff turnover, recruitment and training, customer dissatisfaction and desertion, sales lost, etc?
b) What recommendations can you make to turn these weak spots into a strong performance capability?
c) If you can turn these weak spots into a strong performance capability what will you gain in terms of productivity, time, money, stress, morale, staff turnover, recruitment and training, customer satisfaction, loyalty and attraction, increased sales, etc?
If you want to sharpen your leadership blade click on this link!
To your highest and best
Mike
So you really think you can lead? One would think that in today’s modern business world with oodles of leadership and management development programs available just about every company would get it right! Right?
Wrong! Sadly, in my experience, that is not so. And is costing dearly! Good people leave organisations because there are getting poorly managed. Who stays behind? Often the poorer performing employees who are finding it harder to get other jobs. And we know how expensive the recruitment and training of replacing staff is, don’t we?
For organisations to survive and operate in the complex market environments of today and tomorrow requires a workforce that is flexible, that is innovative, that shows initiative, that can work autonomously, that is adaptive to change, that looks out for one another and one that has the mindset and ability to learn and discover.
How does that happen you ask? It doesn’t happen. It is created by and through leadership. And how does leadership create that? By creating environments for those abilities and qualities to occur!
By the way, leadership doesn’t just have to come from the designated leaders. It is also a quality that is found throughout the workforce and should be nurtured.
The following 9.5 questions are designed to help assess and improve the quality of leadership in your operation and sharpen your capabilities to drive your business forward.
Rate the highlighted questions on a scale of 1- 10 (1 = strongly ineffective, 10 highly effective) in terms of a. current level of effectiveness and b. desired level of effectiveness. Rate the desired level from the perspective of what would be the minimum level required to operate effectively. And then answer the sub questions to substantiate your rating.
1. How do you rate the overall leadership effectiveness in your organisation?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- What makes it perform at this level?
- What evidence do you base your rating on?
- What are the qualities and/or characteristics that make it effective? What makes them effective?
- Who is involved in that leadership (i.e. Designated managers and/or leaders, non management staff, workgroup members, etc)? And what is their contribution?
2. How clear is the leadership in your workplace communicating the organisation’s vision, values, goals and required standards of performance?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- What is clear or not clear? What makes it clear or not clear?
- In what way are they communicated and related?
- How does it take into consideration staff members’ needs and their communication & learning styles?
3. How do you rate your understanding of your work area’s purpose, values, objectives and responsibilities?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- Describe your understanding of your workplace’s purpose, values, objectives and responsibilities?
- How does your work area’s purpose, values, objectives and responsibilities support and/or not support your organisation’s vision, goals and required standards of performance?
4. How do you rate the effectiveness of your workgroup leader? (if this is you, rate the person who you directly report to)
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- How would you describe the leadership style of your workgroup leader?
- What kind of support do you get from your leader and how does it affect your performance and that of your workgroup?
- Does the leader of your workgroup understand their own, and the workgroup members’ strengths and weaknesses? How is it evident that they do or don’t?
- What approach do they take to overcome weaknesses and enhance performance?
- What is done by the leader to gain trust and encourage responsibility? How well does that work?
5. How do rate your workgroup’s ability to plan and execute daily tasks and projects effectively?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- Describe who is involved in the planning and decision making process?
- In what way is planning and decision making conducted?
- How is contribution to planning and decision making encouraged or discouraged?
- How does this affect the performance and morale of the team?
6. How well does the leadership in your work area provide and receive support and feedback to/from the workgroup and its members on personal, workgroup and organisational performance levels?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- What kind of support and feedback is provided and sought by leadership?
- How would you describe the environment for giving and receiving feedback in your workgroup? (i.e. how easy is it to give and receive feedback from leadership? Is it genuine and constructive?)
7. How well is the performance of your workgroup and the workgroup leader(s) monitored and actively developed?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- What steps and processes are in place to monitor and actively develop performance? What results are achieved?
- Who is responsible for the monitoring and developing of performance? What is their attitude towards actively ensuring performance monitoring and development?
- What is the workgroup leader(s)’s attitude towards having their performance monitored and further developed?
8. How clear are you on the value that you bring to your workgroup and the organisation?
Current Level (1 – 10) - Desired Level (1-10)
- What value are you contributing to your workgroup and organisation as a leader and/or workgroup member? How does that or could that affect the performance of individual members, the workgroup and the organisation?
- What areas in your leadership performance can you improve to bring even more value to your workgroup and how?
If you want to sharpen your leadership blade click on this link!
9. Given your ratings on the current and desired effectiveness of providing leadership in the areas questioned in questions 1 – 8 what are …
… the 3 weakest links and the 3 strongest links in your organizational leadership capability?
9.5 Given the 3 weakest areas that you have identified ...
a) What are these weak spots costing you in terms of – productivity, time, money, stress, morale, staff turnover, recruitment and training, customer dissatisfaction and desertion, sales lost, etc?
b) What recommendations can you make to turn these weak spots into a strong performance capability?
c) If you can turn these weak spots into a strong performance capability what will you gain in terms of productivity, time, money, stress, morale, staff turnover, recruitment and training, customer satisfaction, loyalty and attraction, increased sales, etc?
If you want to sharpen your leadership blade click on this link!
To your highest and best
Mike
Sunday, May 8, 2011
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