How do you compare to the average leader?

I have sat down with more than 1,000 leaders using 360 degree feedback to discuss their development needs and help them develop plans to be a better leader. Here are some common themes I found with many leaders. Read on to see how your leadership style compares? How would your team describe your leadership? How accurate would your self assessment be?

Typical leader strengths

Results focus
Technical skills (people often rise to a leadership role due to having good technical skills)
Accepting Accountability (people often get a leadership role by showing they can take things on)
Commercial acumen
Planning & organising

Common leadership challenges

Coaching & developing people (many people arrive in a leadership role having never formally learnt how to coach effectively)
Managing performance and giving feedback
Managing conflict
Motivating individuals and teams
Delegating – do too much themselves
Leading change & innovation
Building a team

Don’t be average when it comes to leading people and teams!

Here is a simple checklist to test yourself. How many items can you answer “Yes”?

I have developed and follow a structured set of people management processes (I do not rely on gut feeling and “make up” people activities without any foundation for success)
I have done some serious research and reading about leadership
I rely upon multiple resources for my leadership direction (e.g. not just one book or one mentor)
I seek feedback about my leadership from the people I interact with
I act on the feedback I receive
I am disciplined and consistently follow through with my personal leadership development activities
I use existing organisational people systems and processes effectively
I set clear performance objectives for individuals and my team as a whole
I have a structured coaching process
I consistently review individual and team performance against the agreed objectives and performance measures
I provide people and my team with constructive and timely feedback
I have an informal performance or coaching discussion with each of my direct staff at least once a month
I work closely with people to create development objectives that are specific, measurable and focused on short time frames
I give people useful resources that are relevant to the specific skills they need to develop
I meet regularly with people to to review progress against their development plans
I know the steps to deal with conflict promptly and effectively

Don’t be an average leader. Get your free “Leadership Performance Optimiser”

Get feedback to improve your leadership!

What type of leader are you? Are you getting the feedback you need? Here is an opportunity to find out what you are doing well and where you can develop or improve.