People leave managers, not organisations
The ability to use a variety of decision making styles is a vital step in developing leadership capability and in building effective teams. Most of us fall back on one or two preferred styles which we use in every situation. The Leadership Judgement Indicator (LJI) is a Situational Judgement Test which assesses leadership style through participants’ responses to 16 different scenarios.
It is a valuable tool for recruiting for key positions or for developing new and existing staff. It assesses the participant’s preferred leadership style as well as judgement in choosing the most appropriate course of action, based on the information provided in the scenarios.
What would you do?
A ‘flu epidemic has reduced available personnel by 15% and the Department is behind schedule. To get things back on track, work needs to be reallocated within the Department. You are one of six managers within the Department and, as your line manager is also a ‘flu victim, you have been assigned temporary leadership over the situation.
The question is, how do you engage with your team, and fellow managers, to resolve the situation?
In the questionnaire, participants are presented with several different ways of dealing with each scenario. As the “leader” of the team or group in the scenario, the participant is asked to rate how “appropriate” each option is, as a way of handling the situation.
Through offering a range of different scenarios, the LJI reveals the participant’s likely preferred leadership style – whether they lean to a task focus or an empowering style, for example. The LJI then assesses how accurate they have have been in identifying the most appropriate options, compared to a norm group of senior leaders. Read more about the Leadership Judgement model here.
The Leadership Judgement Indicator’s reports illustrate how the participant compares with a peer reference group. In the example below, it can be seen that the test-taker has a stronger preference for Directive and Delegative leadership styles. This shows a clear orientation towards a “task focus”. But the level of accuracy, or judgement, in selecting the right leadership style in each situation is poor. This raises questions when used in recruitment and provides a platform to build on in development and coaching.
The LJI is suitable for both new and existing managers or leaders – from supervisors to chief executives. It provides insight for all recruitment, development and coaching situations. It is frequently combined with the Coach on the Desktop to develop leadership decision making skills.
In addition to the original version, the Leadership Judgement Indicator is now available in several specialist versions:
Global Leadership indicator – for senior leaders in multinational organisations where cultural adaptability is required
Sales Leadership Indicator – with only sales-oriented scenarios, this questionnaire is perfect for recruiting and developing senior sales managers
Local Government Edition – developed specifically for leaders in UK local government, where the LJI is already widely used, this unique version uses scenarios set within a local authority context and an appropriate comparison group
Education Edition – unique scenarios to assess head teachers and other senior teaching staff in schools
The LJI is used and trusted by thousands of commercial and public sector organisations across the globe and is available in many languages. Contact bfpeople today to test your own leadership judgement, or to use it in your organisation.
