1) Eyes:

a) I am truly a visionary thinker and am very comfortable planning and preparing for the future, I can easily see into the future and can find clues in the present that help make the future look more real to me.

b) I am able to see the future if someone points out the data, patterns and trends for me, seeing these things for myself is only somewhat natural.

c) I need people to point out the vision for me, It does not’t come naturally for me to see into the future, even when people point out the future to me, I don’t always believe that it could come true like that.

d) I don’t believe in visioning, I don’t trust when people say they can see into the future, I live in the present or and trust in the past.

2) Eyes:

a) I am constantly looking to improve my skills for the future by taking advantage of every self-development and skill building training or self study program that I can.

b) I take advantage of several training opportunities to try to stay abreast of my field and skill set, but, not as many as I could.

c) I go to trainings that I am required to attend only.

d) I don’t have time to attend training programs or skill building sessions, I am too busy for that.

3) Ears:

a) I schedule time regularly to listen to my staff and clients so that I am sure that I am meeting their needs and adjust my behavior as a result of their feedback.

b) I listen when I can if feedback is offered and sometimes make adjustments in my behavior, but don’t actively solicit the feedback.

c) If I get unsolicited feedback about my services or effectiveness, I rarely change my behavior.

d) I don’t appreciate when I get feedback, and don’t change as a result of it.

4) Ears:

a) I have a system or systems for insuring that the needs and suggestions of my staff are clear to top management.

b) I encourage my staff to share ideas and suggestions, and advocate on their behalf, but, don’t have a system in place to insure this.

c) I usually don’t ask my staff what they would suggest, and only infrequently act on their suggestions.

d) My staff has very little or no input in service development or changes.

5) Nose:

a) I am virtually always at the table whenever a new service opportunity is available.

b) I am often at the table for new service opportunities.

c) I am only sometimes at the table for new service opportunities.

d) I am rarely at the table for new service opportunities.

6) Nose:

a) I network, am involved in community meetings, and spend a significant time on relationship building activities as part of my role as a leader.

b) I network and attend some community meetings, but do not see it as a large part of my role as a leader.

c) I spend only a little time on networking and community relationship building activities, it is not a part of my role as a leader.

d) I spend virtually no time on networking or other community relationship building activities, these activities are discouraged.

7) Mouth:

a) I am always careful to communicate important information to all those within the organization that could benefit from the information. My communication style involves high input and inclusion. The staff tells me that they feel communicated with and included.

b) I try to communicate important information to all those within the organization that could benefit. My communication style involves fairly high input and inclusion. My staff tells me that they usually feel included, but are sometimes out of the loop.

c) Sometimes I ask for input and sometimes I don’t. I incorporate average inclusion and input. My staff tells me that they only feel partially included and are often out of the loop.

d) My staff tells me that they feel out of the loop most of the time. I often forget to include or ignore staff input.

8) Mouth

a) I know the leadership and organizational direction and messages. These messages  give me direction in my work and as a leader in the organization.

b) I am able to keep up with the organizational messages even though they seem to change frequently. I still have a handle on the direction of the organization.

c) I am leading my staff with my own set of messages and direction. Each leader is responsible for setting these messages for their teams.

d) I have no specific leadership messages or themes that I communicate with the staff.

9) Neck:

a) I spend a considerable amount of my time as a leader assessing my skill needs, attending training and skill development sessions and supporting these activities for the staff to insure that they are well prepared to provide new program and  services and respond to future challenges.  I am proactive about new skill needs.

b) I have spent time in training in response to our creating of at least one new program or service over the last 18 months.  I am making sure that I have the skills needed to keep new program or service promises.

c) If a new service opportunity came our way that fell into our existing skill set, we would go after it.   I don’t have time to learn new skills or attend a lot of training.

d) I am an  expert   at what we do now, and don’t really need training for new services or skill sets.

10) Neck:

a) I attend many outside community or program development service meetings and continue to seek opportunities to partner with outside organizations. As a result, our team is currently offering more than one collaborative service with outside organizations.

b) As a result of my relationships with outside organizational partners, our team has created at least one new collaborative service over the last 18 months.

c) I don’t have time to actively seek partnerships with outside organizations; we have enough on our plate as it is.

d) I don’t believe in external partnerships. We are experts at what we do, and I don’t believe in sharing trade secrets.

11) Heart:

a) I know the values that guide my work as a leader and they are consistent with the organization's guiding values.

b) I know the values that guide my work as a leader, but, I’m not sure what the values are that guide the organization and if my values are consistent with them.

c) I could not really name the values of the organization, and am only slightly aware of the values that guide my work.

d) I have not thought much about my own work values and have no idea what the guiding values are for the organization. I don’t think the organization has ever articulated them.

12) Heart:

a) I make sure that the staff really understand the organizations guiding values.  I make sure that we consider them often in meetings and when we are problem solving and decision making.

b)  I don't regularly plan to discuss issues of organizational values with the staff, but, when I think that the organizational value is at stake, I take the opportunity to consider it with the staff.

c)  I am not sure what the organizational values are, so we don't discuss them with the staff.  If something goes against a personal value, I will address it with the staff.

d)  I never have discussions with the staff regarding values, either organizational or personal.

13) Shoulders:

a) I have a "can do" attitude and am constantly given more responsibilities because people within my organization know that I can handle additional work.

b) I can handle additional requests and requirements most of the time.  I accept these challenges more than I refuse them.

c) I can handle some additional requests. I refuse about as often as I accept these new challenges.

d) I am completely overwhelmed with my current workload, and refuse additional responsibilities when they are requested of me.

14) Shoulders:

a) I encourage the staff to take on additional challenges as a way to strengthen their skills, coping and capability.  I am careful to support them and not overwhelm them with these opportunities.

b)  I encourage staff to take on additional challenges to strengthen their skills, coping and capability, but, am not always conscious of ways that I can support them, and consequently they sometimes report that they are overwhelmed.

c) If the staff ask to take on more responsibilities, I will encourage them to, but, I don't look for more work for them.

d)   I don't give the staff an opportunity to take on new challenges.  They are overworked enough.

15) Brain:

a)   I make it a habit to research the origin of problems, making sure that I look at the problem from as many angles as possible.  I recommend that we intervene systematically whenever possible.

b)   If I hear that a similar problem is occurring elsewhere in the organization, I seek out more information about it, and either incorporate the information into my decision making process, or recommend that we solve the problem systematically.

c)   If I hear that a similar problem is occurring elsewhere in the organization, I rarely learn more about it and incorporate information about it in my decision making process.  I usually solve the problem that I am presented with at the time only.

d)   I am a crisis manager, and don't have time to worry about similar problems that are occurring elsewhere in the organization.  I only solve the problem that I am presented with at the time.

16)  Brain:

a)    I use creative problem solving tools and  techniques with the staff often to make sure that we are thinking creatively about problems and opportunities.

b)   I actively participate in creative problem solving or opportunity seeking techniques when they are presented to me, but, rarely initiate these types of activities with the staff.

c)   I personally support creative ideas, but have no regular tools or techniques to help to generate them. 

d)   I don't really seek creative ideas and don't use any creative tools or techniques.

17)  Hands:

a)   I ask the staff regularly what they need and in what way I can be of support to them.  It is part of my job description to insure  that the staff are successful, and I do everything I can to help them.

b)   Occasionally, I ask the staff if there is something I can do to support them.  Staff offer this information when they feel the need. 

c)   If the staff have something that they need, it is their responsibility to communicate it to me.  I don't actively seek this information. 

d)   I don't actively seek information about what staff need, and I rarely do anything with the information if they offer it. It is more important that the staff understand my needs.

18)  Hands:

a)   Whenever possible, I encourage the staff to solve their own problems.   I have made sure that the staff are clear about what problems are within their authority to solve and which need to be solved in partnership with others.

b)   I like it when staff are able to solve their own problems, but, I need to step in and solve the problem sometimes.   The staff are solving their own problems slightly more often than I need to step in and solve them.

c)   Staff run their ideas past me and I usually make the decision.  I sometimes agree with their solution, but, still have the final word.

d)    I make the decisions.  Staff run their problems by me and I solve the problems. 

19)  Legs:

a)   I hold myself to the highest behavioral standards of respect.  I know that I set the tone and the staff are watching.  I do my best to always behave respectfully with the staff.  I am on time, keep my promises, listen and honor others opinions,etc.

b)   I try to behave as respectfully as possible.  I know that the staff are expecting me to behave respectfully.   I am on time, keep my promises, listen and honor others opinions,etc.  more often than not.

c)   I haven't really thought about my responsibility to set the tone for the staff by my behaviors.  I am O.K. at some of those things, and not O.K. at others.

d)   I am probably one of the worst offenders for being on time, keeping my promises, listening and honoring others.  No-one really treats each other respectfully at work.

20)  Legs:

a)   Accountability is very important to me.  I always take deadlines seriously and follow through with my commitments.  I set this expectation for the staff also.  We have learned how to plan carefully and make our commitments and deadlines reasonable.

b)   I have a sincere desire to be accountable.  I take deadlines seriously and follow through with my commitments whenever I can.  Sometimes we need to adjust our timelines when we reality check.   I am able to be reasonable with deadlines and accountable more often than not.

c)   I try to be accountable and keep my commitments, but, I don't worry about it too much.  Deadlines are really estimates.  I don't take them that seriously.  

d)   I don't really pay much attention to deadlines. I get the work done when I can.  No-one really pays any attention to deadlines.

21)  Stomach:

a)   I am proactive about change.  I make sure that I know what the realities are about our service area or field and am able to take risks that will lead our organization or my team through the uncharted waters.

b)   I am reactive about change.  When something happens to our organization or our team that makes us have to change directions, I am able to take risks and  make those adjustments and lead the team through the uncharted waters.

c)   I am more reactive about change.  It takes me a while to get on board with changes and am not usually the one to take the risks in a new direction.  I am able to follow a change once I am clear about the direction and purpose.   I will take risks only when it is absolutely necessary.

d)   I try not to change at all whenever possible.  I am more comfortable with how we have always done things.   I resist changes for as long as I can.  

22)  Stomach:

a)   I am able to admit my contribution to a problem, apologize if necessary and confront negative behaviors directly and respectfully most of the time.  These behaviors are part of my leadership style.

b)   I am able to admit my contribution to a problem, apologize if necessary and confront negative behaviors directly and respectfully some of the time.  It is hard for me to do these things, but, I try to do them when necessary.

c)   I rarely admit my contribution to a problem, apologize if necessary and confront negative behaviors directly and respectfully.  It is not part of my leadership style to do these things.  I have done so, on rare occasions, however.

d)   I never admit my contribution to a problem, apologize if necessary and confront negative behaviors directly and respectfully.  It is not part of my leadership style to do these things. 

You may submit this form below and receive specific feedback about your assessments via e-mail or phone call.  Or, you can self score this survey and draw your own conclusions about the developmental implications.  If self scoring is your preference, please print the entire survey and follow the scoring instructions below.  Thanks!

Scoring:

Add up the scores using these numeric values:

A= 4.5        B= 3.75         C= 3         D= 2

 

90-99:    Excellent job!  You are doing a great job leading change and seem to be balanced in the skill areas.  Keep up the good work!   Please contact us so we may highlight your organization and share some case story information with others on the web!

80-89:  You are doing a fairly good job of leading change.  Look at the patterns of your answers for a place to begin honing some of the skills that seem to be dropping below the top.  Using the questions featured in the article, you can work on improving the skills as part of your personal leadership practice.

70-79:  You could use some leadership skill development.  Look at the patterns of your answers, did you find that any skill combinations scoring lower than others?  If so, these are the skill areas to begin your focus.  The questions posed in the article sections are a good place to start to think through a plan for addressing these issues.   If all of your scores fall into the average category, a full blown skill development plan may be in order. 

69-below:  Your scores indicate a low level of skill readiness for managing change.  One suggestion would be to find a trusted colleague to validate the scores by giving you personal feedback in the score areas.   Receiving leadership training and coaching from a trusted colleague would be a great place to start.   

 

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Call Strength in Partners, Inc. at (440) 877-9980 or e-mail us @ psadallah@strengthinpartners.org   if you would like help working through your improvement plan!