Leadership Judgement What is it? Why is it important? How do you measure it? How do you assess it? How do you improve it? Introducing: The Leadership Judgement Indicator The Leadership Judgement Assessor Coach on the Desktop A suite of tools to assess and improve leadership effectiveness from finding leaders, developing talent
What is Leadership Judgement? Good leadership involves getting things done with and through others. This means giving clear direction on some occasions and empowering and consulting staff on others, to get things done in the most effective and efficient manner. Leadership Judgement is a key differentiator of more effective leaders. These leaders and managers know when to be Directive and when to involve others in a decision. They know whether a situation needs a task-orientation or if it creates an opportunity to engage and develop members of their team. They use the full range of decision making styles - Directive, Consultative, Consensual & Delegative - page 3 shows the full Decision Making Styles Model used by these Leadership Judgement instruments. However, we ve all experienced leaders who are constantly too controlling, or who find taking decisions without involving everyone difficult. Most of us have a preferred style that we use more frequently than others. But this is like using a hammer for all DIY tasks: we won t get great results without using the right tool for the job. Leadership Judgement can be seen as a form of social intelligence which allows the leader to analyse decision making situations and determine the best way of engaging with their reporting colleagues. For example, if a situation calls for Directive leadership, will the participant understand that to use a Consensual approach would be inappropriate on this occasion? Will they also be able to establish the relative merit of the Consultative and Delegative approaches? Leadership Judgement is not a fixed state it is open to change and development. It develops through observing others, holding positions of leadership and developmental experiences, such as executive coaching and using these tools. Leadership Judgement from bfpeople Page 2 of 10
Decision making styles Formula 4 Leadership Ltd Leadership Judgement from bfpeople Page 3 of 10
Why is it important? It has never been more important to have good leadership decision making at the heart of any business. It is well documented that people leave managers, not organizations that poor leadership and a lack of engagement is a major factor in good staff seeking new jobs. If you re recruiting leaders, then having a good understanding of a candidate s likely leadership style is invaluable and can ensure you don t make costly mistakes. Helping Leaders to use an appropriate range of decision making styles is a vital step in developing leadership capability and in building effective teams. Each of the styles has its place. Good leadership decision making empowers and retains staff, gets things done quickly and makes a positive difference to all organizations. Emergency situations call for a Directive approach, and a more consensual style is required when a broad range of views are required, or when the team has as much knowledge as the leader. Consultative leadership generates ideas and information as well as building trust, knowledge and understanding, while a Delegative approach can boost morale and motivation, empowering capable individuals. However, overuse, or inappropriate use, of any of the styles can create difficulties. Loss of confidence and self-esteem; low morale and disengagement; low productivity and excessive wasting of time in meetings; loss of control and increased stress are just some of the potential outcomes from poor leadership decision making. These tools assess, measure and develop a leader s ability to analyse situations and choose the most appropriate style to use in each situation. The outputs help recruiting and line managers, coaches and participants to appreciate the impact of the way they engage (or don t engage) with staff. They can inform recruitment decision making and play a key role in developing leadership ability. Leadership Judgement from bfpeople Page 4 of 10
Leadership Judgement Indicator A flu epidemic has reduced available personnel by 15% and the Department is behind schedule. To get things back on track, work needs to be reallocated within the Department. You are one of six managers within the Department and, as your line manager is also a flu victim, you have been assigned temporary leadership over the situation. The question is, how do you engage with your team, and fellow managers, to resolve the situation? The LJI is an online Situational Judgement Test, consisting of a number of scenarios similar to the one above. Each scenario places the participant in the role of leader and offers four potential courses of action the leader could take. The participant is asked to rate the appropriateness of each option. Uniquely, the LJI assesses both the participant s preferred leadership style and their judgement in choosing the most appropriate course of action based on the information provided in the scenarios. The LJI is suitable for use with any new or existing manager or leader and has been used from junior management to Chief Executive positions. Fig. 1: LJI Graphical Report A selection of narrative and graphical reports available illustrate the preferred leadership styles (Directive, Consultative, Consensual and Delegative) demonstrated by the participant. They also indicate their Leadership Judgement from bfpeople Page 5 of 10
accuracy in assessing the most appropriate course of action in each of the scenarios, compared to an appropriate comparison group. Part of a Graphical Report is shown above, while the narrative reports offer more detailed information about how the participant s preferences will impact on their judgement and help in planning an effective development programme. The LJI is completed online and is used in recruitment, development and coaching situations to give a snapshot of an individual s likely leadership style and can be used in conjunction with the Coach on the Desktop to develop leadership decision making skills. It is very powerful when used alongside personality questionnaires to gain a clear insight into potential behaviour and style. In addition to the original version, the LJI is now available in several specialist versions: Global Leadership Indicator - for senior leaders in multinational organisations where English is the principal language used Sales Leadership Indicator suitable for all industry sectors, this questionnaire uses solely sales-oriented scenarios and is perfect for use in recruiting and developing sales leaders. Local Government Edition - developed specifically for leaders in UK local government this unique version uses a wholly public sector comparison group Education Edition- developed for use with Head Teachers, school Principals and Heads of Department. The LJI is a tried and tested psychometric test and requires Level A training for use for selection. Qualified bfpeople consultants can administer all participants and provide the full range of reports as well as personal feedback and reporting. Leadership Judgement from bfpeople Page 6 of 10
Leadership Judgement Assessor The Leadership Judgement Assessor (LJA) is a presentation-interview instrument that explores a participant s leadership judgement through dynamic assessment. It provides candidates with a pre-interview process for designing a presentation about their past leadership decision making. Whereas the Leadership Judgement Indicator provides information based on an individual s response to a set of fixed scenarios, the LJA draws on the participant s own leadership decision making experience. It gives the assessor material for a detailed interview on the participant s responses and evidence of leadership behaviour. The LJA is unique in that the participant receives feedback as they are being assessed. The system asks the participant for specific examples of when they have been Directive, Consultative, Consensual and Delegative. The LJA gives feedback on whether the style used was the most appropriate. The participant can then adapt their thinking as they progress and describe at interview at how their thinking evolved. The LJA keeps a record of their responses and feeds these back to the participant so they can prepare for a presentation; the output also provides the assessor with evidence to explore at the interview. Our experience of using the LJA shows that participants, whether being assessed for recruitment or development, enjoy the interactive nature of this exercise. For the assessor, it provides real evidence of a leader s style and thinking process something rarely gleaned from a traditional interview. The LJA is available to HR professionals and line managers who interview people to determine their leadership qualities. There are no formal qualifications required for its use but the user must have access to the LJA User Guide. Telephone supervision of its use by a bfpeople consultant is recommended. Leadership Judgement from bfpeople Page 7 of 10
Coach on the Desktop Based on the same decision making model as the LJI and LJA, the Coach on the Desktop (CotD) is a unique on-line development tool, accessible 24 hours a day. It uses a Decision Tree process of asking pertinent, nondirective questions about real-life leadership situations to make recommendations about the best way to engage with reporting staff. Each time it is used, CotD uses a maximum of 10 questions to help analyse any leadership decision 5 about the task and 5 about the people concerned before recommending a leadership style based on sound leadership theory. Fig.2: Page from CotD It doesn t take away the participant s freedom to make their own decision, nor reduce their personal responsibility for the outcomes, however it challenges existing thinking about the right way to work with, and through, colleagues and, crucially, provides a platform to understand how a range of leadership approaches can be used in different situations. Participants receive an agreed number of uses of the system. Each time the CotD is used a report is generated that describes the manager s thinking. This can be shared with others, so bringing greater transparency to Leadership Judgement from bfpeople Page 8 of 10
leadership decision making. These are also invaluable for internal and external coaches who are able to collect objective information about their client s thinking processes and leadership activity in between coaching sessions. Moreover, the software keeps a history of the manager s responses and the outcomes reached over every decision they make. This provides a wealth of information about their approach towards reporting staff, providing clear evidence for ongoing analysis and assessment. CotD can be used as a stand-alone product: it is helpful for anyone who has people management responsibility and is keen to improve their effectiveness as a leader. It is used by executive coaches to support development and change with clients and it is used by organizations seeking to enhance leadership and communication. A good understanding of the Formula 4 Leadership Decision Styles model is required and training is recommended in its use for coaches and employers. bfpeople can facilitate this training and the use of the system. Leadership Judgement from bfpeople Page 9 of 10
About bfpeople bfpeople helps you ensure you have the right people doing the right things in the right jobs. We design and deliver Recruitment, Assessment & Development projects for employers of all sizes, in all industries and in locations ranging from Sheffield to Shanghai. Our work encompasses: Executive search and recruitment individual leadership assessments assessment centre design & delivery online psychometrics & coaching executive coaching career transition See our introduction video on Vimeo by clicking here. bfpeople works with boards, teams & individuals, transferring knowledge and skills to clients where possible and building capacity in all cases. We have access to a vast range of personality questionnaires, psychometric tests and assessment exercises from all leading publishers. We also write effective bespoke materials. Make sure you have the right people doing the right things in the right jobs: call John Hamilton on 0333 202 2225 to discuss how bfpeople can help you. finding leaders, developing talent 0333 202 2225 hello@bfpeople.com bfpeople.com Suite 3012 Mile End Mill, Abbey Mill Business Centre, Paisley, PA1 1JS 16 Jubilee Parkway, Jubilee Business Park, Derby, DE21 4BJ Leadership Judgement from bfpeople Page 10 of 10