{"id":9315,"date":"2016-12-05T15:00:16","date_gmt":"2016-12-05T15:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mindtools.com\/blog\/?p=9315"},"modified":"2016-12-05T15:00:16","modified_gmt":"2016-12-05T15:00:16","slug":"rate-quality-leadership-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mindtools.com\/blog\/rate-quality-leadership-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Rate the Quality of Your Leadership Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"RateIf you’re a leader, how do you like the idea of people being able to rate you – giving you a mark out of 10 for your strategic thinking<\/a> or your people management<\/a> skills? Initially, it might sound a bit alarming but, in the cut and thrust of business, a company’s success depends largely on its leaders’ abilities. S<\/span>o isn’t it fair enough for stakeholders<\/a> to rate them? <\/span><\/p>\n

Dave Ulrich thinks so.<\/span> The author and leadership expert works with investors <\/span>seeking to<\/span> weigh up companies’ potential before investing in them. In his experience, <\/span>prospective <\/span>investors look at a company’s income, strategy, brand<\/a>, global position – of course – but they also place great store<\/span> by<\/span> its leaders<\/span>. In fact, leadership<\/a> usually<\/span> takes up a quarter of their consideration, Ulrich says.<\/span><\/p>\n

“But here’s the problem:<\/span> it’s hard to track<\/span>. How do you know somebody’s a good leader?”<\/span> he asks, in our Expert Interview<\/a> podcast. <\/span><\/p>\n

“S<\/span>ometimes investors go on instinct<\/span>. T<\/span>hey say<\/span>, ‘O<\/span>h this person’s great<\/span>! T<\/span>hey dressed well<\/span>. T<\/span>hey wore a great suit<\/span>. T<\/span>hey had great temperament<\/span>.’ B<\/span>ut that’s not real leadership<\/span>,<\/span> and we wanted to come up with a way to more rigorously define what investors can look at in <\/span>[assessing] the effectiveness of a <\/span>leader.<\/span>“<\/span><\/p>\n

And so the Leadership Capital Index was born. Ulrich and his colleagues use it in their consultancy work with investors, and now it’s available for general use<\/span> too<\/span>,<\/span> via<\/span> <\/span>Ulrich’s<\/span> new book titled, <\/span>“<\/span>The Leadership Capital Index, Realizing the Market Value of Leadership.<\/span>“<\/span><\/p>\n

The index <\/span>lists<\/span> characteristics in two broad domains: the individual domain, looking at the personal qualities of a leader, his or her strategic prowess, execution proficiency, interpersonal skills<\/a>, and leadership <\/span>“<\/span>brand<\/span>“<\/span> or style<\/a>; and the organizational domain, covering the leader’s ability to <\/span>nurture<\/span> an appropriate culture<\/a>, manage talent<\/a>, <\/span>inspire<\/span> accountability<\/a>, communicate<\/a> information<\/span>,<\/span> and create work processes<\/a> that align with the company’s strategy.<\/span><\/p>\n

E<\/span>ach of these 10 elements <\/span>is<\/span> given a mark out of 10 for the leader, and another mark out of 10 for the senior leadership team. <\/span>So you end up with <\/span>percentage indicator<\/span>s<\/span> of the <\/span>effectiveness<\/span>, <\/span>or “<\/span>leadership capital,” of the top <\/span>executive and his<\/span> team.<\/span><\/p>\n

That’s helpful but you can drill further down into each of these 10 elements to get a more detailed view. In fact, Ulrich has identified five or six items per element that may indicate the quality of leadership. <\/span>As an<\/span> example, <\/span>“<\/span>personal proficiency<\/span>“<\/span> breaks down into<\/span> six items<\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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