LEADERSHIP SKILLS INDICATOR

The following is an inventory of skills which are important in leadership. The inventory is NOT exhaustive. The intent of providing you with this inventory is to enable you to assess your own relative strengths and weaknesses in these areas. Since the survey methodology used here is NOT scientific by any means, DO NOT construe the outcomes as being precise and factual. Rather, look at the results as an indicator of your relative strengths and weaknesses in these areas. For each of the skill descriptions listed note YOUR assessment of YOUR skill in each area RELATIVE to how you rate yourself on other skills, NOT compared to other people. Use a scale of 1 to 5 where 5= Relatively Very Strong; 4= Relatively Strong; 3= Neither Strong nor Weak; 2= Relatively Weak; 1=Relatively Very Weak. Be honest. No one else will see these scores unless you choose to share them. Please note: Your experience in these skill areas may have come from involvements other than in the workplace. And, some of the skills listed may be areas in which you have never had any experience. That is okay. If nothing else, learn what the skills are so you can set yourself goals to develop skills in these areas.

Style and Demeanor Display a professional style. Show poise and patience in meeting daily challenges. ___ Demonstrate confidence in the chosen direction and assurance that goals will be achieved. ___ Show determination and endurance by tirelessly working toward goals. ___ Take responsibility for failures and recognize the opportunity to learn from them. ___ General Have a broad base of knowledge of business functions, such as accounting, marketing, etc. ___ Stay current with general market activity and economic trends. ___ Understand and respect the importance of policies and regulations. ___ Dedicated to knowing and meeting the expectations of professors, project partners, etc. ___ Thinking Recognize patterns in data and understands interrelationships among variables. ___ Learn and understand new subject areas, assimilate data and summarize it accurately. ___ Correctly interpret and handle complex situations. ___ Planning Assimilate broad sets of information to identify opportunities and set team direction. ___ Develop tactical goals consistent with overall direction. ___

Develop aggressive but realistic plans and timetables for meeting goals. ___ Executing Plans and Achieving Goals Define plans and timetables for meeting project goals, and ensure that all project partners have the ability and resources to complete their parts. ___ Check on progress toward project goals and work with partners to keep project on track. ___ Push project team to meet goals. ___ Decision-Making Accumulate the right data from which to make decisions. ___ Make decisions comfortably even under pressure of time, ambiguity and risk. ___ Involve key project partners in setting direction and making critical business decisions. ___
Copyright 2007 - 2010. Scott C. Neilson. All Rights Reserved.

Performance Set high performance standards and hold team accountable for performing at those levels. ___ Take action to improve personal performance based on feedback from others. ___ Organize tasks and resources within project teams to ensure that all partners have what they need to achieve goals. ___ Communicate about project team performance and progress toward goals. ___ Take action to stay on plan and meet project team goals. ___ Communications Listen carefully and completely to others. Do not interrupt. ___ Speak and write clearly and understandably. ___ Use appropriate language and tone for the audience. ___ Keep the appropriate people informed of the right information at the right time. ___ Organization Coordinate project partner activities and timelines to meet project goals. ___ Identify project partner strengths and weaknesses and organize activities accordingly. ___ Identify training or resource needs for project partners and obtain as necessary. ___ Involve project partners as appropriate in setting direction and achieving goals. ___ Interpersonal

Earn the confidence and trust of others. Develop effective relationships with people at all levels. Interact with others in ways that enhances understanding and respect. Deal effectively with conflict.

___ ___ ___ ___

Influencing and Motivating Show awareness of the needs of different groups of people, understand of the importance of those needs, and make a visible effort to meet those needs. ___ Clearly communicate plans of action and gain commitment of project partners. ___ Work hard but have balance in life and encourage the same with others. ___ Celebrate team accomplishments and recognize individual and group performance. ___ Encourage taking initiative and independent decision-making. ___ Innovativeness Show openness to new ideas and ways of doing things better. Find creative ways of solving problems. Encourage others to take the initiative and try new ideas. ___ ___ ___

Adaptability Respond appropriately and confidently to the demands of work challenges. ___ Show resilience and handle setbacks well. ___ Operate comfortably in climates of uncertainty and ambiguity. ___
Copyright 2007 - 2010. Scott C. Neilson. All Rights Reserved.

SUMMARY:
Have a look at your scores. Which are relatively high? Those are your relative strengths. Which are relatively low? Those are you areas for development. If you like, show your self-assessment to a friend, family member or co-worker. Get their thoughts on how you rated yourself. Ask them to rate you on these skills. Note their ratings in the column next to yours. Use these self-ratings as a general indicator of where you should pay attention in trying to develop yourself. Look for patterns in the datacategories in which you are relatively strongcategories in which you are relatively weakyour 5syour 1s. Look for areas in which your self-assessment differs by 2 points or more from the assessment of others whose opinion you may have sought. These are areas in which outside opinion differs greatly from your own. You may want to get more opinions and certainly ask for more information from the person whose rating was so different than your own.

Develop a plan for leveraging your strengths and developing your skills in selected areas. Ask professionals, supervisors or professors for input. Do research on skill development.

DEVELOPMENT PLAN: Relative Strengths. List your 3 strongest areas (your 5s). Identify ways in which you can draw on these strengths to help you in weaker areas, and ways in which you can use your strengths in more situations.

(Example: I am Relatively Very Strong as a Speaker and Writer, but often speak over the heads of my audience. Development Action: Arrange times to talk to groups of people at lower educational levels than yourself. Imagine yourself as part of the audience. Think about what the audience will understand and speak that way.) 1.) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2.) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3.) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________

Relative Weaknesses. List your 3 weakest areas (your 1s). Identify ways in which you can improve in these areas.

(Example: I do not stay current on industry trends. Development action: Subscribe to an industry publication and have lunch with a colleague once a week to discuss news highlights.) 1.) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 2.) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ 3.) ________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________
Copyright 2007 - 2010. Scott C. Neilson. All Rights Reserved.