Leadership assessment at CSA is comprised of both assessing a leaders readiness to change and benchmarking their skills against a variety of leadership assessments. Commonly we assess the leader against existing positive leadership frameworks like authentic, engaging, transformational, servant and global leadership frameworks. We bring a rigour and empirical validation to our assessment work. Leadership assessment is usually done as a precursor to leadership development and for that to be effective, we need to assessed the developmental readiness of the individual.
What is Developmental Readiness?
The ability and motivation to focus on, make meaning of and develop new and more complex ways of thinking that positions you to more effectively assume leadership roles (Avolio, 2010). This combined with organisational readiness lead to successful leadership development.
1.Motivation to Develop
Motivation to lead – does the leader actually want to be a leader? Is this their professional identity?
Leader self-confidence – how confident are they in their own ability to lead? Do they have the right resources and support?
Leader self-confidence – how confident are they in their own ability to lead? Do they have the right resources and support?
Motivation to learn – are they motivated to learn new skills? Is the drive intrinsic or extrinsic? Do they believe it’s possible to develop as a leader?
Goal orientation – do they have the focus to set and meet developmental goals? Are their goals concordant with their values? Are they mastery orientated?
2.Ability to Develop
Awareness of strengths & weaknesses – is the leader aware of their abilities, as perceived by others? Are they leveraging their strengths and managing their weaknesses?
Awareness of thinking – does the leader listen to their ‘self-talk’ and understand the impact that this can have on their development?
Emotional regulation – does the leader have the ability to understand the impact of their emotions on themselves and others and, regulate this?
Perspective taking – can the leader take a variety of perspectives on a position and show psychological flexibility in doing so?
Those familiar with the Situational Leadership model may link Motivation to Develop with ‘Will Do’ and Ability to Develop with ‘Can Do’, but see how this framework takes that to another level by taking goal orientation, awareness of thinking and emotional regulation into account. These are key skills for leaders to develop as they progress up an organisational hierarchy. This model can also be applied to your direct reports, especially if you are considering them for promotion or a developmental opportunity.
What is Transformational Leadership
This is one of the most researched models of leadership and is reliably assessed through the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ360).
The five elements of transformational leadership sit within the nine elements of the full range leadership model (FRLM). These transformational elements are; • idealized influence attributes or building trust with others (e.g. Display a sense of power and confidence), • idealized influence behaviour or acting with integrity (e.g. Talk about my most important values and beliefs), • inspirational motivation or inspiring others (e.g. Articulate a compelling vision of the future), • intellectual stimulation or encouraging innovation (e.g. Seek different perspectives when solving problems), • individualized consideration or helping to coaching and develop others (e.g. Help others to develop their strengths).
The two elements of transactional leadership in the model are; • contingent reward or rewards achievement (eg Provide others with assistance in exchange for their efforts) and • management by exception active or monitors mistakes (e.g. Keep track of all mistakes).
Finally the two elements of the passive and avoidant elements of the model are • management by exception passive or fights fires (e.g. Fail to interfere until things become serious) and • laissez-faire or avoids involvement (e.g. Avoid making decisions).
