A Diagnostic Tool to Help Leaders

David Maister has a great article describing his recommendations on how an organisation can go about deciding the appropriate leadership style for consideration when selecting new leaders. The purpose of this diagnostic is to “facilitate your firms’ discussions of the characteristics it seeks in a leader“. This type of diagnostic has become necessary as:

• Organisations often are unclear about what they are looking for in a leader.
• Organisations are not specific enough about what makes a great leader for their organsiation considering, it’s industry, challenges and culture. “There’s no point appointing a skilled cost-cutter if the primary strategic need is to grow revenues in new markets!”
• It becomes difficult to hold a leader accountable if the description of what constitutes acceptable leadership behaviour is not explicit. Organisations need to be clear as to their expectations of leaders.

The Diagnostic Tool

The diagnostic tool consists of a list of paired leadership qualities. The purpose of pairing these qualities is to ask, ”If there HAD to be a choice between the two items in the pair, which would each respondent really prefer in a leader?” The paring of these qualities encourages leadership teams to explore their preferences and then allocate 100 points between each of the paired qualities.

Do you want your leader to be someone who…

• Focuses on working inside firm versus focuses on a high profile with clients and marketplace
• Is good with numbers versus good with people
• Leads in accordance with a strong personal ideology of his or her own, versus be the kind of person who tolerates different views, values and approaches
• Has a track record of generating business, versus a track record of managing people well
• Is the type of person who thinks we need to make big strategic moves, even if they involve bigger risks, versus someone who thinks we should make small, incremental changes
• Has strategic acumen personally, versus the ability to facilitate and let others innovate and make strategic choices
• Has the best business qualifications, versus has the best character qualifications
• Prefers to confront problems early, even if this can be disruptive, versus the kind who avoids conflict until it’s necessary to tackle it
• Focuses on preserving the firm’s historical culture versus changing the culture to adapt to meet new challenges of the marketplace
• Moves fast versus someone who acts deliberatively
• Emphasizes ambition and growth, versus someone who emphasizes caution and risk management
• Emphasizes reasoning and logic versus someone who emphasizes emotion and excitement
• Acts a peer, a first among equals, versus someone who is clearly a leader and will manage that way
• Is primarily a “businessperson” versus being “ideology-driven”
• Acts as the firm’s “face” or “identity” in the media, versus someone who facilitates others achieving a high profile
• Is a fresh face versus a known quantity
• Is very self-confident, versus someone who acts with humility
• Already has a clear view of where we need to go and what we need to do, versus someone who will develop that with us after appointment
• Is a pragmatist, versus a visionary
• Primarily has a “hard head” versus a “soft heart”
• Focuses on getting things done (i.e. a “driver”) versus someone who focuses on getting it right (i.e. an “analytical”)
• Has an introverted style, versus someone with an extroverted style
• Focuses on capitalizing on short-term opportunities, versus someone who focuses on long-term wealth creation
• Makes changes through dramatic, big moves, versus someone who makes changes through continuous, insistent pressure
• Sets the example of hard work, versus someone who lives a balanced personal / work lifestyle
• Is diplomatic, versus someone who is “straight-talking.”
• Is usually sympathetic to people’s personal problems, versus is unwilling to allow sustained underperformance.
• Has a track record of personal professional success, versus has a track record of building an organization
• Is usually trusting of others, versus not easily fooled
• Prefers to manage people directly, versus prefers to work through others
• Is decisive versus consultative
• Is hands-on, involved in the details, versus hands-off, sets the direction and then holds people accountable

Using the Tool

1. Circulate the questionnaire among the relevant participants.
2. Give participants an opportunity to contribute their views.
3. Prepare charts to show the weighed average and the distribution of the views making it clear where their are divided views.
4. Facilitate a discussion around those qualities where there is a disparity of views.
5. Redistribute the questionnaire for a second round of scoring creating new “either / or” choices from the surviving criteria.

Choosing the right leader is an important consideration for any organisation. This tools make for a great way to hone in on what qualities make for an effective leader in a specific organisation.

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1. 11 Qualities of Leaders
2. Learning from Successful Leaders
3. Setting SMART Objectives
4. 2008 Best Companies for Leaders
5. How leaders shape an organisation’s culture

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