There are hundreds of assessments for leaders. The content and quality of these assessments vary greatly. You can spend a lot of time and money taking surveys to tell you the quality of your leadership.
There are a few leading indicators that can be used to give a pretty good picture of the overall quality of your leadership. These are not good for diagnosing problems or specifying corrective action, but they can tell you where you stand quickly. Here is one of my favorite measures.
Clarify Values
The starting point is to understand your own bedrock beliefs and have your actions flow from them. Congruity is a central issue to good leadership. People will notice every hypocritical action or statement that is inconsistent with the values.
For example, if you claim “people are our most important asset” as a value, be prepared to defend all actions in light of that strong statement. In “The Leader Manager,” William Hitt describes the issue this way:
“The decisions and actions of upper management would strongly indicate that quarterly profits are the only real concern. When it comes to setting actual priorities, it is obvious that employees and their welfare are nowhere near the top.”
Hitt points out that the hypocrisy is not lost on the employees, and it serves to lower their trust in upper management every time.
Mahatma Gandhi was a perfect example of congruity. His strength was derived from understanding his values and giving up all the trappings of conventional power.
His objective was not to fix everyone else; it was simply to live a life consistent with his beliefs and stubbornly refuse to back away from that commitment, whatever the cost.
Gandhi ended up one of the most powerful leaders in history, having incredible influence on his nation and the world. He taught, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Transform yourself before attempting to influence others.
Identify Your Values
Start by creating a list of your deeply held values. These must be real beliefs and not just nice things to say, as they will be tested thousands of times. This first step is so critical, it is worth taking the time to do it right.
Get away from distractions while attempting to extract your core beliefs. The key is to examine yourself very carefully. You may want to work with a facilitator or group of friends on this, but start the process alone. Bring in others once you have a first draft to share.
Brainstorming is a helpful tool for this. Sit alone in a comfortable chair with eyes closed and some non-intrusive background music playing, and let your mind wander on the subject of your core beliefs.
Write down anything that comes to mind, exactly as you think it, without trying to make it politically correct. Just capture the thoughts. This may be difficult to do honestly.
This exercise can take a few hours, and more than one try might be necessary. Once you are comfortable with the process, ideas will flow rapidly.
Soak on the Data
When it feels complete, put the list away and do not analyze it until later. Resist the temptation to charge ahead to the next step.
Allow your subconscious mind time to work on the list. Additional items will flow naturally over the next week or so, when you are in a meeting, in the shower, driving, or even sleeping.
You must capture this extremely valuable information. Keep a pad handy to jot down thoughts as they arise.
Do an Affinity Analysis
You should capture 40-50 items over a couple weeks, and the list will feel more complete. Start the winnowing process by doing an analysis of similar items.
Write each item on a card, and arrange them into piles with common themes. Consolidate the piles down to a handful of key values. Four to six piles would be optimal, although you could have more.
One pile might focus on your beliefs about what drives people, like: “I believe all people are basically good and want to do well” or “I believe people do their best work when they feel trusted.”
Whatever your cards say will dictate the piles. Next, give each pile a name. In our previous example, the name would be “what motivates people.” Another pile might be “how to make our business prosper” or “what I want out of life.” Let the data speak for itself.
Distill and Focus
Distill the input in each pile down to its essence and express it in a single phrase or sentence. This may be challenging or frustrating but it is an essential part of the process. Keep working the cards until you get to a handful of key concepts central to your beliefs as a leader.
If there are private beliefs not helpful to share in a work setting, you can cull these out before sharing, but understand these are also keys to what drives you.
It is insightful to compare your values to those of the parent organization. They may not be exactly the same, but they must be compatible.
If you have been dissatisfied or uncomfortable in your job, this exercise may help you understand why. You may be better off leaving to find a more compatible environment if the organization’s values are not congruent with your own.
After clarifying your values, let others reflect on them and do a similar process. Working with your team, repeat the same steps to construct a set of values for your group. Doing your personal homework ahead of time will make the process faster and easier.
The process of “wordsmithing” these lists can be frustrating. It is possible to have groups spend hours arguing over exact words for a values statement or a vision and get stuck on it every time it comes up. A professional facilitator can help streamline the process and avoid lengthy debate sessions.
Use the 80/20 Rule
If you are unanimous in spirit but hung up on words, get it roughly right and move forward. Use the 80/20 rule for this. (The 80/20 rule is derived from the “Pareto Principle,” which states that in any grouping of items, 80% of the value will be contained in 20% of the items.) Focus energy on the 20% of items that contain 80% of the value and table the others. The words that are not as important as the spirit and understanding.
The final result should be a set of values fully supported by your key leaders that grew out of discussions of everyone’s personal values. Putting this information on charts for the wall is helpful, but it is much more important to implant it in the minds and hearts of everyone.
Only when the team internalizes them will the values do any good. People will need to model behavior consistent with the values at all times.
If you are not in a formal leadership position, documenting your personal values is still important. Use them to chart your personal course. Sharing them with others in your group or with your boss shows maturity and facilitates communication.
Caveat
One caution: Values Clarification should be done with care and only when there is a proper rapport between people. Sharing your personal values in the wrong way at the wrong time can backfire. It is better to weave the ideas into natural conversation than to force them on people.
For example, you might say, “Let’s allow Sally to provide her own wording for the proposal. I believe people become more engaged in the work if they have the personal freedom to choose how to do it. In fact, that is one of my core values.”
Conclusion
Having a firm grip on your personal values is extremely important. Those leaders who take the time to follow the steps above will have a much better chance at living a fruitful life.
Bob Whipple is CEO of Leadergrow Inc., a company dedicated to growing leaders. He speaks and conducts seminars on building trust in organizations. He can be reached at bwhipple@leadergrow.com or 585-392-7763.