Intelligent Leadership Styles

Assessing Competencies

and Interpersonal Skills

Focus on Leadership Styles

The primary focus of our assessment process is on evaluating the effectiveness of the client’s current leadership style and then, developing a new one more appropriate for this leader’s strengths, weaknesses, and development objectives.

To find the best leadership style, we must consider the future leadership competencies, emotional intelligence, and social intelligence this leader will develop. In essence, we document and measure the “As Is” leader, then define the “To Be” leader and lastly, facilitate the development of leadership competencies and interpersonal skills required to become that “To Be” leader.

Leadership Competencies

Leadership competencies are leadership skills and behaviors that create the potential to produce superior levels of leadership effectiveness. Essential leadership competencies and global competencies have been defined by researchers. While some leadership competencies are essential to all firms, many organizations have defined leadership competencies that are distinctive to their particular organization given its unique business strategy and organizational culture. This is why we provide our clients with the option of using their competency definitions or our generic definitions to assess leadership competencies.

Assessing Leadership Competencies

We assess leadership competencies using a 360-degree online survey methodology that will maintain the anonymity of those who complete surveys.

This approach permits our client to compare their own assessment of their leadership competencies with those around them. The client decides who he/she will invite to participate in this assessment.

Younger Leaders Have the Biggest Competency Gaps

As a rule of thumb, we find those with less managerial experience tend to have larger “gaps” between their own assessments of

their leadership competencies and the assessments of those around them. One implication being managerial experience

tends to produce leadership competencies through active learning.

Another implication is that as one moves higher in the organizational hierarchy, the most important opportunities to improve

leadership effectiveness lies with the leadership skills and abilities of emotional

intelligence and social intelligence.

Assessing Leadership Skills and Abilities

To pursue the important leadership objectives of improving staff engagement and increasing the discretionary effort of employees that will result in higher levels of performance, leaders must possess outstanding interpersonal skills. The two best indicators of interpersonal skills for leaders are emotional intelligence ad social intelligence. Our Intelligent Leadership Styles program assesses both emotional intelligence and social intelligence. To assess emotional intelligence, we use the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT).

The MSCEIT is the only ability test of emotional intelligence available. Other tests of emotional intelligence are what we refer to self-report tests, meaning you must be highly self aware to accurately answer direct questions about your EQ abilities.

MSCEIT is the Best Test of EQ

We believe MSCEIT provides a more valid and reliable assessment of emotional intelligence skills because it directly measures your EQ skills and abilities. MSCEIT produces an overall EQ score as well as information about levels of skill in four areas: Perceiving, Using, Understanding, Managing, in addition to sub- categories within each of the four primary ability areas. These multiple measures, with corresponding norms, allows for a detailed analysis of EQ strengths and weaknesses. This detailed analysis is critical in order to include improving your emotional intelligence as part of your personal development plan. Remember, EQ unlike IQ can be developed. You can improve your ability to read people, connect with them to form trusting relationships, engage them to collaborate in planning and problem solving activities, as well as influence their emotional levels.

For Leaders, IQ is More Important than IQ

Remember, your IQ and effort is what helped you to succeed

in school and develop a body of professional knowledge. But as you enter the management ranks, leadership and your ability to achieve with and through other people become much more important. Thus, for leaders, EQ is more important than IQ.

Assessing Social Intelligence

We use a 360-degree survey to assess your Social Intelligence. Social Intelligence is a broader concept than emotional intelligence that encompasses your body language and manner in which you communicate both verbally and non-verbally. Social intelligence is generally about forming productive relationships and “getting along” with others. A basic model of social intelligence is based on the dichotomy between "toxic“ and "nourishing" behaviors. Leaders who frequently behave in toxic ways that make others feel inadequate, incompetent, frustrated, and angry. On the other hand, when leaders rely on nourishing behaviors, those around them feel valued, competent, respected, and appreciated.

Intelligent Leadership Styles

Questions?Contact:Dr. Phillip R. Ashprofessorash@ymail.com