Leadership is a crucial skill for any manager, but how do you know if you are doing a good job as a leader? And how can you improve your leadership skills and impact? In this article, we will explore some of the best tools and methods for measuring and enhancing your leadership effectiveness in the context of people management.
Measuring leadership effectiveness is not only important for your own development, but also for the performance and satisfaction of your team. By assessing your strengths and weaknesses as a leader, you can identify areas for improvement, set goals, and track your progress. You can also get feedback from your team members, peers, and superiors, and use it to adjust your leadership style and actions. Measuring leadership effectiveness can also help you demonstrate your value and impact to your organization, and increase your credibility and influence.
I have also found that leadership effectiveness should be assessed collectively and personally within an organization. The leadership team must be balanced and effective together, and yet we often fall short by only evaluating individuals. Moving organizations toward fulfilling business objectives requires regularly measuring the leadership effectiveness as part of our SWOT analysis and development of business plans.
Measuring leadership effectiveness is essential, and there are several metrics to consider. Employee engagement is a key indicator, and can be assessed through surveys, interviews, or observation. Team performance is another metric, and can be measured through metrics such as sales, revenue, customer satisfaction, innovation, or efficiency. Leadership competencies are also important, and can be evaluated through self-assessment, 360-degree feedback, or performance appraisal. These competencies include communication, decision-making, delegation, coaching, and emotional intelligence.
The “coaching tree” in sports is a great view that other organizations could benefit from. A coaching tree shows where all the assistants coaches who worked under a head coach ended up coaching in other places. It is seen as an indicator at how good a coach is at talent acquisition and development. The best coaches take pride in seeing their assistants graduate on to head coaching roles of their own, usually elsewhere since head coaches that hired them often stay for a long time. For large organizations, hopefully people wouldn’t have to leave to find bigger roles, so the “coaching tree” could be based on internal promotions.
Once you have measured your leadership effectiveness, you can use the data and feedback to create a personal development plan. Start by analyzing your results and feedback to identify your strengths and areas for improvement, and prioritize the most important and relevant aspects of your leadership. Then, set SMART goals based on your analysis. Choose the best methods and tools to enhance your leadership skills and impact, such as reading books or articles, taking online or offline courses, or joining a network or community. As you implement your plan, monitor and evaluate your progress regularly. Use the same metrics and feedback tools that you used to assess your leadership effectiveness, or create new ones. Celebrate your achievements, and adjust your plan as needed.
Contracting an executive coach can be an excellent way to improve your leadership effectiveness. They can help identify target areas to work on, curate the best resources to build those skills, set a plan to make those improvements, and hold you accountable for executing on that plan. Because a coach is often not from your organization and focused solely on you, they are uniquely valuable as independent voices and safe sounding boards too. PS - if you couldn’t already tell from my enthusiasm for coaching, yes, I am an executive coach.
I use John C. Maxwell's evaluation for the 21 Laws of Leadership. This evaluation guides team members toward honest introspection and identification of strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities for growth.
Improving your leadership effectiveness is not only a personal endeavor, but also a collective one. As a manager, you have the opportunity and responsibility to foster a culture of leadership effectiveness in your team and organization. To do this, you should model the way by leading by example and demonstrating your commitment to learning and growth. Additionally, you should empower your team by giving them autonomy, resources, and support. You should also coach and mentor them, providing them with regular and constructive feedback. Finally, you should promote collaboration and communication by fostering a culture of teamwork and cooperation, communicating clearly and frequently, and facilitating dialogue and discussion.
The key to fostering a a culture of effective leadership is to model it. People quickly see through leaders who talk about effectiveness but don't live up to it themselves - i.e., "they talk the talk but don't walk the walk." People will especially be looking to see if their leaders dig into the difficult, uncomfortable parts of their jobs as team leader - e.g., dealing with under-performers, resolving conflicts, standing up for their teams at budget time. Doing the tough parts of your own job as leader goes a long way to set the tone and expectations for others.
I believe the key to fostering leadership effectiveness is found in personal transparency and accountability. Too often in my career I have evaluated myself and failed to make myself available for feedback. Actively engaging our followers and fellow leaders assists in our remaining humble and sets an example that all of us are on a journey toward excellence.
Measuring and improving your leadership effectiveness can have many benefits for yourself, your team, and your organization. Gaining a better understanding of your strengths and weaknesses can increase your self-awareness and confidence, while improving your skills and behaviors can enhance your performance and satisfaction. Additionally, strengthening your relationships and trust with your team members, peers, and superiors can improve your influence and impact. Ultimately, measuring and improving your leadership effectiveness can help you achieve your goals, enjoy your work more, and make a difference in your organization and beyond.
As a manager, you OWE IT to your team to be the best you can be because people invest a lot of their lives at work and a good boss makes a HUGE difference in how much people enjoy their work. As a leader, you work for your team, not the other way around.