The most successful companies, notwithstanding industry or size, have highly-effective leaders, from the top of the organization to the bottom. A highly-effective leader can spark innovation, empower employees, spur creativity, and propel his company above his competitors. On the flip-side, a lackluster leader can stagnate a company, or even be a contributing cause of its demise.
That's exactly why it's vital for companies to assess the effectiveness of their leaders through a leadership survey tool. Effective leaders are not only evaluated by the conduct, actions, and behaviors of their followers, but by how they react to situations, adjust to their environment, and handle pressure.
Being a leader is a complex job; a successful leader needs to be multi-faceted and have many personal and leadership competencies all working in tandem. Vision, integrity, inspiration, courage, foresight, self-confidence, consideration for others, decisiveness, good judgment, fairness, competent, appreciation, flexibility, accountability, ability to set goals, charisma, and mentoring capabilities, are just a few of the many traits that envelop some of our world's most successful leaders.
With so many skills, qualities, characteristics intertwined into one role, it can be challenging to assess accurately how effective a leader really is. Fortunately, it can be done -- through a leadership survey constructed through survey software.
A leadership survey helps a company uncover a leader's effectiveness in achieving company goals and in working with others. More importantly, it can help identify critical behaviors that are impeding progress of company goals or are obstacles in carrying out the organization's vision and mission.
Although a survey tool that evaluates leadership can point out areas of skills or behavior where improvement is needed, it can also highlight areas of a leader's strengths. For example, identifying strength of first-level or mid-level managers can help polish and groom them for more senior leadership positions.
On a larger scale, assessing leadership effectiveness from an online survey software designed tool can help organizations obtain a competitive advantage through an enhanced reputation, increased business growth, and eventually increased profit. Organizations that focus on improving the effectiveness of their leaders can also help bolster their status in the eyes of future talent by becoming an "employer of choice", thereby attracting top talent to their firm.
There is not just one type of leadership survey. Rather, there are many. Two of the most popular include the 360-degree leadership assessment survey and the style leadership assessment survey. The 360-degree leadership assessment survey is multi-rater assessment, in which multiple competencies are rated from a number of coworkers at all levels (peers, subordinates, and superiors). A 360-degree leadership assessment can also include feedback from customers, clients, vendors, and partner. On the other hand, leadership style surveys provide insight into a preferred leader style (i.e. democratic, authoritarian, delegative) and actions and behaviors the leader chooses. The latter is often completed as a self-assessment survey tool.
Regardless of which type of leadership survey assessment tool you use, knowing the effectiveness of your organization's leaders -- and taking steps to improve it -- can help propel your organization to the next level.
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