Leadership Identity Items Trial

Your name:

The Leadership Identity construct is defined by two ‘pre-conscious’ dimensions (i.e., just below the level of immediate conscious awareness). The first dimension, ‘who you are’ involves a combination of personal drives/motives and their interaction with the social environment. The second dimension, ‘what you do’ involves how one sees the scope and breadth of their leadership role. The first dimensio more grounded in the emotional and social whereas the second dimension is more based in the cognitive and analytical. Each dimension is defined further below (see also the model at the end of this document):

Dimension 1: Who you are:
This dimension is concerned with what drives you as a leader and asks the question what drives you as a leader/where do you get your source of satisfaction? One end of the dimension is defined by Achievement, the other by Socialized Power. Leaders high in Achievement would be more likely to see their source of satisfaction as coming from their own efforts to achieve important goals. They would be more likely to agree with statements such as:

- I enjoy spending time on my own working on things that interest me
- I feel most energized when I’m using my knowledge and expertise
- I gain great satisfaction from being an expert in my area
- Getting to apply my knowledge and skills at work is one of my greatest sources of satisfaction
- I deeply enjoy taking on tasks that will stretch my capabilities
- I really enjoy solving difficult problems through my own efforts
- My own growth and development is very important to me
- I very much want to continually develop my skills and expertise
- I feel most energized when I am learning something about myself
- I have a very strong desire to continually get better at what I do
- I am constantly looking for opportunities to challenge and stretch myself
- I really like doing something that is new or innovative
- I like setting challenging goals for myself and measuring my progress toward them

Negative Items (and indicators of blocks):
- I tire easily when I have to put in a lot of effort to learn something new
- I don’t like it when others ask for my advice
- I prefer it when others take the lead to solve difficult problems
- I get frustrated when working in an environment that doesn’t support my learning
- I get frustrated when my development isn’t supported
- I get annoyed with myself when I don’t know the answer to something
- I prefer sticking to the ‘tried and true’ rather than trying something new or different

Leaders high in Socialized Power would be more likely to see their source of satisfaction as coming from their relationships and having a positive impact on others, the group and the broader community. They would be more likely to agree with statements such as:
- I find it deeply satisfying to see others grow and succeed
- I am driven by a strong purpose beyond myself
- I like helping others feel stronger and more capable to do what they need to do
- I very much enjoy helping others achieve their goals, even at the expense of meeting my own personal goals
- Giving of myself is the thing that motivates me the most
- I very much like giving my time to important causes
- Being responsible for others is extremely satisfying to me
- Providing coaching and guidance to others is extremely satisfying to me
- Nothing is more satisfying than helping others succeed
- I am passionate about helping others realize their full potential
- Developing others is the part of my work that I find most rewarding
- I have a strong desire to do the right thing for others even if it means making personal sacrifices
- I really enjoy helping people focus on a common goal or purpose
- Helping others feel stronger is deeply satisfying for me

Negative Items (and indicators of blocks):
- I spend a lot of time thinking about my own goals and how best to reach them
- It frustrates me when I have to involve others to get things done
- I am happiest when I just get things done myself
- I’m very comfortable taking the lead from others
- I prefer working on my own when solving complex problems
- I find it really frustrating when others are working to their own agenda
- I don’t like giving up control to others
- I get annoyed when I have to spend a lot of time getting other people to agree

Although this dimension may not be a continuum – there are positive elements in both Achievement and Socialized Power – there may be an implied shift from an individual to a more collective orientation.

Dimension 2: What you do:
This dimension is concerned with answering the question what do you think your job is as a leader/are you focused on the immediate function or the broader enterprise? As implied, this dimension is all about breadth of perspective when leaders think about their role. The ‘south’ end of this dimension is defined by a Tactical/Functional focus, the ‘north’ end by a Strategic/Enterprise focus. This dimension is not hierarchical or role specific (i.e., first level to enterprise leader aka Leadership Pipeline constructs). We need to have this dimension applicable to all levels. This dimension is more about a leader’s breadth of perspective. You could have, for example, a first level leader who sees their role as much more strategic/transformational. The opposite could also be true – an enterprise leader who does not see their role as strategic in that they do not think of issues that are enterprise-wide. Leaders high in a Tactical/Functional orientation would be more likely to think about their leadership role from a function/department/business unit perspective. They would be more likely to agree with statements such as:

- I strongly believe that leaders should know how to get things done
- It is extremely important to me that things are done right
- Getting things done is very important to me in my role
- Maximizing results for my area is the most important part of my role
- Delivering to standards is a key part of my job
- I see it as my role to deliver what is expected to my stakeholders
- Following procedures and ensuring the job gets done is important to me in my role
- Having the right skills, capabilities and resources to deliver matters a lot to me
- I see execution as a key part of my role
- My role is to deliver what is expected

Negative Items (and indicators of blocks):
- I prefer to let others focus on the details
- Sometimes I wish people would focus less on the details and more on the bigger picture
- I find it frustrating when others get overly focused on the details and lose perspective on the overall strategy
- I prefer to bend the rules and look for creative ways to accomplish goals
- I prefer to leave it to others to figure out the details
- Sometimes people spend too much time thinking about strategy and not enough on how to get things done

Leaders high in a Strategic/Enterprise orientation would be more likely to think about their leadership role from an enterprise-wide perspective, extending well beyond the function/department and at the highest end seeing the organization as part of a wider system (i.e., community, industry, society, global entity) with an eye toward transforming the vision/purpose of the organization. They would be more likely to agree with statements such as:
- Creating positive change is more important to focus on as a leader
- Creating positive change is the most important task
- Contributing to the successful performance of the organization is my top priority
- My job is to do what’s right for the whole organization, even if it means having to make trade-offs that could hurt my area
- I see it as my role to challenge the way things are done
- Improving how we operate as an organization is a key focus for me
- I am continually thinking of the changing market and how it will impact us in the future
- I am always thinking about our reputation in the broader community
- I am passionate about how we can have a more positive impact as an organization
- My job is to develop people across the organization, not just within my group
- It makes me feel good when I see others go on to bigger roles
- I see my role as developing people for the broader organization

Negative Items (and indicators of blocks):
- I get frustrated when people spend too much time thinking about the big picture and not executing
- I find it frustrating spending all my time trying to get everyone to agree
- Setting standards and delivering what is expected is an important part of my role
- I am always concerned about the best people leaving
- I am always thinking about how to deliver on our immediate goals
- It’s possible to get too focused on the operational details

Overall, do you feel the questions relate to the Leadership Identity constructs (i.e., Achievement/Socialized Power, Tactical/Strategic orientation)?

Do the constructs represents clear and distinct areas?

Are there items you feel do not fit in?

Are there any items you feel we should be adding?

What do you feel would be most useful for clients?

How might this survey fit with the wider Hay Group leadership solutions (i.e., styles, climate, motives)?