Do you know how leadership is changing?

Test Your Leadership Knowledge

Test your leadership knowledge

Within the last 30 years, leadership has radically evolved from traditional thinking. Unfortunately, the majority of professionals still act from traditional assumptions that can cause more harm than good. Here’s the question: Do you think from a traditional or 21st Century perspective of leadership?

1. Read the statement about leadership.

2. Ask yourself: Do you agree or disagree? The answer – True or Misleading – is on the next page.

3. Read the short explanation.4. Do 1-3 for each of the 10

statements. 5. After #10, total your correct

responses.Good luck!

Test your leadership knowledge

Leadership is a set of strategic practices that can dramatically improve productivity

Do You Agree?

1 of 10

Misleading

Maybe leadership can be majestic and world-changing, but real leadership happens in the daily moments.

James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner1

While leadership can dramatically improve productivity and…

…while you can have strategies to develop people in leadership…

… leadership itself is tactical.

Do You Agree?

2 of 10

Leadership is a mixture of learned behaviors and natural abilities

Misleading

Although it's true that some people are born with greater natural gifts than others, the ability to lead is really a collection of skills, nearly all of which can be learned and improved.

John C. Maxwell2

Everyone is born with genetic makeup, but leadership practices are learned behaviors.Genetics may influence how quickly and effectively you learn behaviors, but nobody is born with leadership capabilities.

Do You Agree?

3 of 10

Leadership is about getting things done through others

Misleading (1 of 3)

The art of getting things done through people3

This is Mary Parker Follet’s management definition. Leadership is about helping others develop mentally and morally.Not all managers practice leadership, and you don’t need direct reports to lead.For more about the leadership definition, read, “What Is Leadership?” Is the Wrong Question.

4

Misleading (2 of 3)Leadership is a choice. It is not a rank. I know many people at the senior-most levels of organizations who are absolutely not leaders. They are authorities, and we do what they say because they have authority over us, but we would not follow them. And I know many people who are at the bottom of organizations who have no authority and they are absolutely leaders, and this is because they have chosen to look after the person to the left of them, and they have chosen to look after the person to the right of them. This is what a leader is.

Simon Sinek5

Misleading (2 of 2)

Leadership is not about getting people to do stuff. It’s about getting people to think……I believe that what’s going to win in the 21st Century and in the future is organizations that allow everyone in their organizations to think.

L. David Marquet6

Do You Agree?

4 of 10

The skill of listening is often underrated and misunderstood, and developing listening skills is more difficult than expected

True (1 of 4)

Many don’t understand how to listen, and Grenny et al. may have the explanation…When a skill becomes automatic, arrested development can occur.7 Having used listening all their lives, people often believe that they have reached an acceptable proficiency. What actually is happening is that they experience a developmental plateau.

True (2 of 4)

With arrested development, people fail to fully develop skills, like listening, without realizing that they aren’t proficient.Listening seems simple, but it’s more complex and difficult than believed. Listening:• Is more than empathy• Requires integrating skills such as• Observation• Clarity seeking• Summation• Reflection and evaluation

True (3 of 4)The average speaker talks at a rate of 135 words a minute. But the average listener comprehends at a rate 400 percent faster. This means that when you are listening, your mind unavoidably races ahead of the speaker. You can't help but think other thoughts and sandwich in random observations as the speaker is telling you what she wants, thinks, or is concerned about.

Jason Jennings8I vowed to treat every encounter with every person on the ship as the most important thing at that moment.

Captain D. Michael Abrashoff9

True (4 of 4)

We may even believe that we are good listeners, but what we are often doing is listening selectively, making judgments about what is being said, and thinking of ways to end the conversation or redirect the conversation in ways more pleasing to ourselves.

James C. Hunter11

Do You Agree?

5 of 10

Having a managerial role makes it easier to practice leadership

Misleading (1 of 3)

Having assigned authority can interfere in leadership practices.For many managers, it’s easier to rely on authority and coercion to get things done.Frequently, the habit of using authority – something many are more comfortable using – can be too tempting for the novice leadership practitioner.

Misleading (1 of 2)

Managers who try not to use authority unnecessarily can regress to using old authoritative habits without realizing it.Using authority to coerce doesn’t complement leadership practices and can result in causing long-term harm. At an extreme, authority and power can lead people away from leadership completely.

Misleading (2 of 2)

The more attention leaders focus on their own wealth or power, they stop acting like leaders and start taking on more of the attributes of tyrants... the tyrant leader exists only to preserve his wealth and power.

Simon Sinek13

Titles have a smothering effect on leadership.

Kevin and Jackie Freiberg12

6 of 10

Leadership involves helping others practice leadership

Do You Agree?

True (1 of 3)

Leadership is not about attracting followers who merely “follow” a “leader’s” direction.

Leadership is about developing people mentally and morally, including developing them on how to lead.

Ultimately, organizations should strive for leadership at every career level.

This is what L. David Marquet advocates for: a leader-leader structure.

True (2 of 3)

At [the leader-leader structure] core is the belief that we can all be leaders and, in fact, it's best when we all are leaders.

L. David Marquet15

If you develop yourself, you can experience personal success.If you develop a team, your organization can experience growth.If you develop leaders, your organization can achieve explosive growth.

John C. Maxwell14

True (2 of 3)

And we've also found that in the best organizations, everyone, regardless of title or position, is encouraged to act like a leader. That's because in these places, people don't just believe that everyone can make a difference; they act in ways to develop and grow people's talents, including their leadership capabilities.

James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner16

Do You Agree?

7 of 10

Problem solving is one of the most important behaviors of successful leadership teams

True (1 of 2)

According to McKinsey and Company, successful high-quality leadership teams typically have 4 key behaviors:

1. Solve problems effectively2. Seek different perspectives3. Operate with a strong results

orientation4. Be supportive17

The first item involves 2 distinct capabilities:

5. Solving problems 6. Developing others in problem

solving For leadership, you need proficiency with both.

True (2 of 2)

Some corporations have made hiring the most intelligent individuals a core strategy on the basis that smarter people can solve problems more quickly than the competition. But that only works if the organizations can access that intelligence.When leaders teach, they invest in their people’s ability to solve and avoid problems in the future. It is one of the most power ways that Multipliers [leaders] build intelligence around them.

Liz Wiseman with Greg McKeown18

Do You Agree?

8 of 10

Leaving your legacy isn’t about ego or being portrayed as a hero – it’s a reflection of being an accomplished leader

Misleading (1 of 2)

Leadership isn’t about you and your accomplishments. It’s about helping others develop mentally and morally.

Heroes leave legacies, but…

…leadership differs from heroship.

Misleading (2 of 2)

Leadership is not what you achieve in the moment. Leadership is what others achieve the moment you leave.

L. David Marquet19

Legacies aren’t inherently bad things.Jack Welch and Steve Jobs have legacies about their CEO accomplishments that have influenced other CEOs and executives. Their legacies have nothing to do with how they practiced leadership.Legacies have everything to do with their managerial accomplishments.

Do You Agree?

9 of 10

Intimacy builds trust

True (1 of 3)

According to Oxford Dictionaries, intimacy means close familiarity or friendship.20

Kouzes and Posner cite a study that compares groups of acquaintances and groups of friends. The friends:• Completed 3 times more projects

than the acquaintances• Performed with 20% more

effectiveness• Experienced 2.5 times more

satisfaction in their roles21

True (2 of 3)

[about Southwest Airlines] Employees who wear masks and avoid the kind of intimacy that may consider a sign of vulnerability and weakness don't last very long.

Kevin and Jackie Freiberg22

The deeper the relationships, the stronger the potential for leadership.

John C. Maxwell23

Intimacy is a way to:• Connect with others• Improve communications• Build positive feelings towards

others

True (3 of 3)

Building trust is a process that begins when someone (either you or the other party) is willing to risk being the first to open up, to show vulnerability, and to let go of control. Leaders go first.To become fully trusted, you must be open to and with others. This means disclosing things about yourself in order to build the basis for a relationship. This means telling others the same things you'd like to know about them - talking about your hopes and dreams, your family and friends, your interests and your pursuits.

James M. Kouzes24

Do You Agree?

10 of 10

If you change the conditions in which others operate, you often can change their behaviors

True (1 of 3)

There’s a popular belief that you cannot change people, but you actually can influence others to change their behaviors. After reviewing 30 years of change literature, Grenny et al. discovered that less than 1 in 8 change efforts achieve desired results.Here’s the problem: Most professionals are unskilled at influencing change. Typically, they use only 1 preferred influence technique to change complex behaviors.Those accomplished at influencing behaviors leverage multiple influence techniques.

True (2 of 3)

Grenny et al. identify what they call Six Sources of Influence ™. Here’s what they discovered:When combining 4 or more influence techniques (1 from each of the 6 sources), you are 10 times more likely to sustain substantial behavioral change when compared to using 1 influence technique.Many professionals responsible for change spend little time developing their ability to influence change (arrested development). Hence why they tend to use 1 influence technique.

True (3 of 3)

To our astonishment, most of the leaders had used only one or two [influence] methods. Not to our astonishment, most of their change efforts had failed.26

Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, David Maxfield Ron McMillan, and Al Switzer

We call this ability to create changes in human behavior influence and the people who do it influencers. At the end of the day, what qualifies people to be called “leaders” is their capacity to influence others to change…25

How well did you do?

Your Leadership Knowledge

How well did you do?

For your total correct answers, If you scored…

9 – 10 …then you’re knowledgeable

about how leadership is changing

6 – 8 …then you have some awareness

of how leadership is changing

1 – 5 …then you have a traditional

mindset about leadership

Here’s a key point (1 of 2)

Knowing everything about leadership isn’t enough to practice leadership effectively. Without deliberate practice supported by feedback, coaching, and goal-setting, few can transition theory to application.Imagine 2 novices spending a day practicing tennis. The first has a coach, but the second doesn’t. By the end of the day, who do you think improves the most?

Here’s a key point (2 of 2)

Getting people to agree with the principles of servant leadership is an easy task. Getting people to change and get the principles into their game is another matter altogether. The greater challenge is how to move the principles from their head to their heart, and from their heart into making it their habit.It can be a long journey from head to habit.Becoming an effective leader is precisely analogous to becoming an accomplished musician or athlete. Has anyone ever learned to swim reading a book?

James C. Hunter27

Want to learn more?

Check out a preview of the Nine Practices book on Amazon.com.

In this highly praised guide, learn about how leadership is radically changing and how you can apply this at your work and in your personal life.

About Gary A. DePaul, PhD, CPT

Gary A. DePaul has two decades of experience as a practitioner and scholar of leadership, has worked in fortune 500 companies, and consults with organizations to improve leadership practices.

Gary speaks at conferences, companies, firms, associations, and association chapters.

https://www.garyadepaul.com

Endnotes1. Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge, 342-43.2. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, 25.3. Ideas on Management, Mary parker Follett (1868-1933).4. Photograph source: http://www.management.com.ua/hrm/hrm146-follett.jpg (accessed

October 29, 2015).5. TED, Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action.6. Marquet, Live Event, Skillsoft Books24x7, 2014.7. Grenny et al, Influencer, 126.8. Jennings, The Reinventors, 143.9. Abrashoff, It’s Your Ship, 44.10. Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge, 118.11. Hunter, The Servant, 104.12. Freiberg and Freiberg, Nuts!, 303.13. Sinek, Leaders Eat Last, 140.14. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, 249.15. Marquet, Turn the Ship Around!, xxvii.16. Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge, 14.17. Feser, Mayol, and Srinivasan, Decoding leadership.18. Wiseman and McKeown, Multipliers, x.19. Marquet, No Title Facebook Post. 20. Oxford Dictionaries, Intimacy.21. Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge, 289.22. Freiberg and Freiberg, Nuts!, 302.23. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, 17.24. Kouzes and Posner, The Leadership Challenge, 222.25. Grenny et al, Influencer, 6.26. Ibid, 292.27. Hunter, The Servant, xxiii.

References

Captain D. Michael Abrashoff. It’s Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy. New York: Business Plus, 2002.

Claudio Feser, Fernanda Mayol, and Ramesh Srinivasan. Decoding leadership: What really matters. McKinsey Quarterly, 2015. http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/leading_in_the_21st_century/decoding_leadership_what_really_matters. Accessed January 8, 2015.

L. David Marquet, No Title Facebook Post. https://www.facebook.com/ldavidmarquet/photos/a.423828260989518.89519.423471681025176/963470767025262/?type=3. Accessed October 24, 2015.

Ideas on Management. Mary parker Follett (1868-1933). http://ideasonmanagement.blogspot.com/p/mary-parker-follett-1868-1933.html. Accessed October 29, 2015.

James C. Hunter. The Servant: A Simple Story About the True Essence of Leadership. New York: Crown Business, 2012.

References

James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner. The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations, 5th edn. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2012.

Jason Jennings. The Reinventors: How Extraordinary Companies Pursue Radical Continuous Change. New York: Penguin Group, 2012.

John C. Maxwell, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2007.

Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzer, Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change, 2nd edn. New York: McGraw Hill Education, 2013.

Kevin Freiberg and Jackie Freiberg, Nuts! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success. Austin: Bard Press, 1996.

L. David Marquet, Captain, US Navy (Retired), Turn the Ship Around! A True Story Turning Followers into Leaders. New York: Penguin Group, 2012.

References

L. David Marquet, Live Event: Turn the Ship Around! How to Create Leadership at Every Level. Skillsoft Books24x7, 2014. http://sp8-1.skillport.com/skillportfe/main.action#summary/VIDEOS/RW$9227:_ss_video:65944. Accessed January 10, 2015.

Liz Wiseman and Greg McKeown. Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter. New York: Harper Business, 2010.

Oxford Dictionaries. Intimacy. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/intimacy. Accessed October 24, 2015.

Simon Sinek. Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t. New York: Penguin Group, 2014.

TED. Simon Sinek: How Great Leaders Inspire Action. http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action. Accessed December 24, 2014.

Special thanks

Special thanks to Joel Rodriguez, Ed.D., for providing valuable feedback on how to improve this experience.