Are You Fit Lead?
Leadership potential can be assessed by determining if you demonstrate the competencies or effective leadership behaviours needed for a leadership role.
Allow yourself two points for each assertion that you make strongly agree with and 1 point for those you moderately agree with. If you disagree, give yourself 0 points.
__When I make a mistake, I try to do damage control so that no one finds out.
__Sometimes I don’t tell the whole truth to my boss.
__I get frustrated when the legacy mistakes of my predecessors affect my job, so I make sure that everyone knows it happened before my time.
__I am all for hearing the ideas of others, but I believe that the leader needs to have a strong opinion of the way it needs to be and stick with it.
__A leader is a compelling person that should be respected.
__A leader will always have their favourite employees; I strive to be one of the favourites.
__I am a fierce competitor who despises working with more intelligent or more competent people than I am.
__Sometimes, I get overwhelmed with information and ignore new information or changes as it can slow me down.
__I tend to deal with the immediate concerns first and consider the long term implications after things are under control.
__I will share information with others once I’ve had a chance to absorb it fully.
__I overlook challenging situations and wait for them to settle.
__Because writing is not my forte, I make sure that I have people below me that can write my memos, reports and other communication documents.
__I have a temper, and my coworkers are aware of it.
__I frequently cry at work, especially when stressed or frustrated.
__I find performance reviews very difficult as I know my weaknesses; I don’t need others to point them out.
__I am more interested in long term planning and leave the short term planning to others.
__There never seems to be enough behind-the-scenes resources to support my initiatives.
__I set strategic goals for my department first and then see if they mesh with corporate strategic plans.
__The job of the legal and PR departments is to cover my back if I say something inappropriate in public.
__I prefer to make things happen than create a vision or big picture.
Total your score. If you scored:
0-3 = You were born to lead. You are a natural at it. Leadership comes easily to you, and you excel at it. If you are not in a leadership role currently, you may find more career satisfaction if you move into a leadership role. Talk to your boss or supervisor and let them know your interest in a leadership role.
4-9 = You may have leadership potential, but you’ll need to take some leadership training to clearly understand a leader’s role. Read every leadership book you can get your hands on, as it will help you reprogram your thinking and know how you can be more effective as a leader.
Ten or more = You are more of a follower and probably have been criticized for having a bad attitude. Chances are high, you are miserable in your current career, and you can’t see a future for yourself – it is probably time for a significant career shakeup.