One of my friend said that without being able to measure leadership competency, this idea will be difficult to implement. So today we shall explore the different ways of measuring the leadership competency, as we have defined it.
Measuring Part I competency of understanding external open system is quite simple. It is also called an ability to 'strategise' in a normal language. For a business manager, this competency therefore is quite straigtforward to measure.On the other hand, functional managers who deal with internal open system will find it difficult to measure their competency. How does one measure one's ability to find the right way of doing things internally in an organisation?
For instance, how should one launch an initiative of developing leaders in an organisation? This requires understanding of internal open system which managers/leaders often lack. Researchers call this 'change management'. This is not difficult to measure because one finds countless examples that can be used to assess this competency. For instance, how should BCCI have responded to the Harbhajan controversary?
If Part I competency is about understanding what 'should' one do, Part II competency is about understanding what 'can' one do. Assessing this understanding requires understanding of the recursive effects of actions, the interdependencies inherent in the sequencing of actions, the realistic understanding of the current situation without the bias, and often the symbolic effect of an action. This is more complex than Part I and may have to be decomposed a bit before one can assess it.
However the more difficult part in assessing Part II competency is knowing that Part II is not just 'understanding' content, but being able to 'act on it'. It is a skill. This therefore requires 'simulation of a situation' and can be quite difficult to measure. One can however take refuge in the knowledge that Part II competency is visible in the 'reportees', the 'colleagues' and above all the family members of the aspiring leader. Taking advantage of this consequence, one can do a 360 type of feedback and indirectly measure the leadership competency. Other visible indirect indicators like work-life balance, ability to react under stress, explanations of a leader can also be used as a substitute.
More importantly, one has to always remember that metrics can also lie if viewed outside their context. For instance, one should remember that when a leader is undergoing a transition, say from a functional manager to a business unit manager, one will not be able to display these competencies during the transition time. Ram Charan's six pasages of Leadership pipeline show such six transitions in the life of a leader.
In short, measuring the development of leadership competency in an aspiring leader is not difficult to determine, although some efforts will have to be taken to achieve this.
Measuring Part I competency of understanding external open system is quite simple. It is also called an ability to 'strategise' in a normal language. For a business manager, this competency therefore is quite straigtforward to measure.On the other hand, functional managers who deal with internal open system will find it difficult to measure their competency. How does one measure one's ability to find the right way of doing things internally in an organisation?
For instance, how should one launch an initiative of developing leaders in an organisation? This requires understanding of internal open system which managers/leaders often lack. Researchers call this 'change management'. This is not difficult to measure because one finds countless examples that can be used to assess this competency. For instance, how should BCCI have responded to the Harbhajan controversary?
If Part I competency is about understanding what 'should' one do, Part II competency is about understanding what 'can' one do. Assessing this understanding requires understanding of the recursive effects of actions, the interdependencies inherent in the sequencing of actions, the realistic understanding of the current situation without the bias, and often the symbolic effect of an action. This is more complex than Part I and may have to be decomposed a bit before one can assess it.
However the more difficult part in assessing Part II competency is knowing that Part II is not just 'understanding' content, but being able to 'act on it'. It is a skill. This therefore requires 'simulation of a situation' and can be quite difficult to measure. One can however take refuge in the knowledge that Part II competency is visible in the 'reportees', the 'colleagues' and above all the family members of the aspiring leader. Taking advantage of this consequence, one can do a 360 type of feedback and indirectly measure the leadership competency. Other visible indirect indicators like work-life balance, ability to react under stress, explanations of a leader can also be used as a substitute.
More importantly, one has to always remember that metrics can also lie if viewed outside their context. For instance, one should remember that when a leader is undergoing a transition, say from a functional manager to a business unit manager, one will not be able to display these competencies during the transition time. Ram Charan's six pasages of Leadership pipeline show such six transitions in the life of a leader.
In short, measuring the development of leadership competency in an aspiring leader is not difficult to determine, although some efforts will have to be taken to achieve this.
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