How well are you performing as a Leader? 20 statements to help you find out.

How often do you check the road-worthiness of your car? I know people who take better care of their vehicle than they do themselves – whether that be their health, work-life blend and leadership performance – and I expect you know someone like that too.

So for a 3-minute tune-up to assess your leadership performance, check out the following statements and see how many you say can honestly say yes to…

1. I have written SMART goals in my personal life. (Not sure? Click here to check out what SMART goals are).
2. I have written SMART goals in my work life.
3. I revisit my goals on a regular basis.
4. I have written down my top 5 personal values.
5. My personal values are aligned to my organisation’s values.
6. I behave in alignment with my personal and organisation’s values, consistently.
7. I am a level 5 Leader. (Not sure? Click here for Jim Collins’s leadership model).
8. I do what I say I will do, when I say I will do it, consistently
9. I know what emotional intelligence is and have completed an assessment.
10. I know what my drivers are. (Not sure? Click here for Kahler’s drivers).
11. I coach and mentor my team members.
12. I have regular 1-2-1 meetings with my team members.
13. My colleagues complete an annual 360 appraisal on my performance.
14. I invest time in personal development/continual professional development (CPD).
15. When I let down a colleague, I apologise and do what’s needed to put it right.
16. I listen to what others say, without interruption.
17. I practice situational management (Not sure? Click here for Blanchard’s model).
18. I encourage v constructively critique colleagues in a 3:1 ratio
19. I embody the top 4 leadership characteristics (Not sure? Click here for Kouzes & Posner’s top 4 checklist).
20. I believe my leadership role is to serve others, not myself.

How did you get on? What did you learn? Are you taking better care of your car’s road-worthiness than your own as a Leader? What will this encourage you to do and when?

If you would like to discuss any of these points, or would like help, post a reply or email me at markgrant1@me.com  Either way, it will be great to hear from you.

 

 

Top 3 Behaviour Resource Recommendations For Busy Leaders…

There is a profusion of reading material and countless assessment tools for those in positions of responsibility to raise their self-awareness about leadership style and become even more effective. But busy people like yourselves just don’t have the time to find what they need, so here are 3 recommendations covering EQ, Unwanted Behaviours and Personal Drivers to save you the bother, to help you get greater insights into who you are and how you can be the best you can be…

Emotional Intelligence (EQ) Here’s a definition…

emotional quotient (EQ) is a (notional) measure of a person’s adequacy in such areas as self-awareness, empathy, and dealing sensitively with other people.

EQ develops through life peaking at around 50, though it can be accelerated, as it is a set of skills that can be developed. Leaders with high levels of EQ generally achieve greater levels of success, personally and professionally as they engage in more satisfying and mutually beneficial relationships with others.

Dr. Martyn Newman is a world-leading expert in this field. His book ‘Emotional Capitalists’ is an easy read and will provide you with insights and guidance on what you can do to increase your EQ. Visit his website www.rochemartin.com for more information and follow the links if you want to complete an online assesmment that will provide you with your profile in 10 different emotional competences.

Unwanted Behaviour Patterns. Do you ever find yourself in repeating patterns of unwanted interaction with a colleague, friend or loved one? For instance, you might feel that you are always in the wrong with them or that they’re always judging or being aggressive towards you. Transactional Analysis (TA) is a simple yet useful model to help you decode what going on and provide you with insights as to what you can do about it. It will help you identify which ego state you/the other person is in at that time. Go to this youtube clip to watch a short video on TA. You can then navigate to the other two clips in the series to get more awareness and insights. If you have the appetite, then refer to Dr. Eric Berne’s best selling book ‘Games People Play: The Psychology of Human Relationships‘ written in 1964 will raise your awareness further. It’s a great companion to the TA clips above.

Have you ever wondered what’s really driving you? We’re talking psychological drivers here. And are these drivers the same as your colleagues? Do you have an over-reliance on your drivers? Yesterday’s blog piece ‘Leaders don’t have to have all the answers’ focussed on two drivers. A simple model developed by Dr Taibi Kahler (1975) on J.D.Meier’s blog describes 5 different drivers to help you understand what’s really driving you, why you feel the way you do and when it is helpful/unhelpful to you as a leader. You will also gain a greater understanding what’s driving those around you and what do when there is a difference between you.

To finish on a lighter note, here’s a clip called Stop It! that reminds us and me in particular to lighten up , laugh out loud and not to take things too seriously, though there may be an element of truth to it…

Let me know what your experience is regarding EQ, Interactions with others and your drivers so that I can learn from you. It will be great to hear from you.