Think You're A Leader?

Take The Test And

Find Out.

Do you believe youre a gifted, effective leader? If youre looking to benchmark your leadership
ability the following self examination will give you a baseline to build from. While this test is
not as detailed as more comprehensive assessments, I have nonetheless found it to be fairly
thorough. That said, any self exam is only as good as the honesty of those taking the test. If you
check your ego at the door and give a thoughtful, introspective evaluation of your ability, it is
likely youll learn something about your leadership abilities or lack thereof. Better yet, for those
of you bold enough to place yourself under what might be the harsh scrutiny of others, you can
get the benefits of a mini leadeship 360 review by asking your co-workers to rate you as a leader.
If youre game to test your leadership ability read on to take the exam

The examination is broken down into 10 sections, each worth 10 points. If you believe you
possess a fully developed competency in a section give yourself 10 points. If you possess no
competency whatsoever give yourself 0 points. Grade your examination as follows:

A = 90 100 points

B = 80 89 points

C = 70 79 points

D = 60 69 points

F = 59 & below

As I mentioned above, use the results of the exam to determine your strengths and weaknesses as
a leader. If you find you lack skill sets and competencies in certain areas seek help to shore-up
your weaknesses, and more importantly, use your professional advisors to assist you in
leveraging your strengths. On with the exam.

Section I: Character.
Great leaders do the right thing regardless of circumstances, situational context or other
influencing factors. They will not compromise their value system and personal ethics for
temporary gain. Without a consistent and enduring display of sound character youll find it
difficult to earn the trust and respect of those you lead. While your character will be tested often
as a leader, great leaders know there is no substitute for the truth.

Section II: Vision.

Great leaders possess the ability to create a vision for the organizations they lead. They have the
foresight to not only create a clear and well defined vision, but also have the ability
to articulately communicate the vision. Perhaps most importantly, they have the ability to align
interests and evangelize the vision unifying leadership, management, staff and external
stakeholders as well.

Section III: Strategy.

Great leaders are strategic thinkers who have the ability to translate their vision into an
actionable strategy to ensure its success. Strategically inclined leaders think in terms of creating
leverage, anticipating & leading change, managing risk & opportunities, being customer focused,
astutely deploying resources, always insuring the business model is in alignment with current
market conditions, yet fluid enough to accommodate changes in market dynamics. Strategic
leaders are keenly aware of items that create an advantage or defend a weakness.

Section IV: Tactics.

Great leaders tend to be tactical geniuses and display a strong bias to action. They understand the
difference between raw data and useful information. Moreover they know how to leverage
information and resources to achieve their objectives. They are focued, results driven
and achievement oriented.

Section V: Focus.
Great leaders are focused on the mission at hand. They dont bite-off more than they can chew by
falling prey to initiative overload. Great leaders dont major in the minors and understand that
the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. Great leaders are committed to not losing
focus and not giving-up.

Section VI: Persuasiveness.

Great leaders understand how to manage conflict and close positional and philosophical gaps.
They tend to be contextual leaders who know which skill sets to draw upon based upon the
circumstances at hand. They lead by serving as opposed to intimidating. Great leaders are
masters of inspiration being able to take even the most critical skeptics and convert them into
evangelists for the cause.

Section VII: Likeability.

Great leaders possess great interpersonal skills. They tend to be people-centric and understand
the concept of servant leadership. People tend to like leaders who display good decisioning skills
and high levels of integrity. While great leaders are typically very direct, they are also intuitive
individuals who thrive on finesse and subtlety. They dont expect or need to be liked to get the
job done, but realize the value likeability can offer where it can be achieved without comprising
trust or integrity.

Section VIII: Decisioning Ability.

Great leaders possess the ability to consistently make good decisions. They thrive on making the
tough call and are willing to be accountable for their actions. Great leaders also have the ability
to make decisions quickly and often with incomplete data sets. Rarely do leaders have the luxury
of being able to secure all of the information needed for a risk free decision. Rather they
understand how to make a timely decision while managing any corresponding risks as others are
still trying to connect the dots.

Section IX: Team Building.

Great leaders create great teams throughout the entire value chain. They understand the need for
talent and are effective at recruiting, deployment, development and retention of tier-one talent.
Great leaders also surround themselves with the best professional advisors possible and they
openly seek the counsel of others in matters of importance. They are committed to both personal
and professional growth. They tend to almost be addicted to increasing their knowledge base and
sphere of influence. They are voracious learners always looking for better methods, different
approaches, enhanced efficiencies, better technology and increased velocity. They are not afraid
of change and growth in fact, they tend to relish it.

Section X: Results.
The proof of great leadership is ultimately found in the results being attained. Leaders can be
extremely strong in any of the areas above, but if they are not leading effectively or productively,
if they are not meeting performance expectations, then they have work to do. Great leaders get
results

There you have itrate yourself from 1 10 in each of the above sections, tabulate your score
and assess the outcome based upon the grading schedule contained above. Now that you have
your grade in hand, create a plan for consistent and sustainable growth in your leadership ability
and review it regularly taking measure of your progress or lack thereof.

Sidebar For full disclosure purposes I want to share my personal bias with regard
to leadership testing. I am often called in to evaluate the leadership ability of
Boards and C-level executes, and my firms leadership development practice
designs and administers a wide variety of comprehensive leadership examinations
these tools have a place. That said, Im also a bit juxtaposed to many of my
colleagues because I believe testing has in some cases replaced common sense.
What I mean by this is those who test well dont always lead well. While I will from
time-to-time use assessments as a diagnostic component of a leadership
evaluation, I much prefer to evaluate on the job actions and performance than test
scores. You can read more about my thoughts on the downside of leadership
assessments here.