THE 3T LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT
Strategy execution is becoming more common at all levels within the white-collar business hierarchy, making more of us de facto executives. Good execution requires you to do the right things right: that is, you have to be both efficient and effective in completing your tasks or meeting your objectives. The assessment is divided into sections that follow the book’s parts and chapters. Each question has a focus highlighted in bold and repeated in the scoring section.
Before you start, I recommend photocopying the assessment, rather than marking your answers in the book itself. That way, you can come back and retake the assessment as your working conditions change and your career advances. Or you can go to www.3TLeadership.com to take the assessment online. After you take the assessment, use the Score Sheet at the end to analyze your scores further.
TAKING THE ASSESSMENT
For each question, begin by asking yourself “To what extent do I…”, and then answer it using the following scale:
1 = to no extent
2 = to a small extent
3 = to some extent
4 = to a considerable extent
5 = to a great extent
PART 1: STRATEGIC THINKING
1. Goals
Align Strategy and Objectives
1. Understand our overall strategic planning process from beginning to end?
1 2 3 4 5
2. Work toward actively aligning our team and individual goals with organizational goals?
1 2 3 4 5
3. Focus on establishing team goals and encouraging my team to take ownership of them?
1 2 3 4 5
GOALS SUBTOTAL: ________
Embrace Innovation and Adaptability
4. Foster innovation and continually nurture and implement new ideas?
1 2 3 4 5
5. Encourage faster adaptability to the agile business environment?
1 2 3 4 5
6. Increase flexibility and embrace chaos during times of change?
1 2 3 4 5
CHANGE SUBTOTAL: ________
Share Mission, Vision, and Ideas
7. Communicate our mission in straightforward terms and ensure my team’s understanding?
1 2 3 4 5
8. Promote my vision to my peers and upper management clearly?
1 2 3 4 5
9. Create cohesion and present a united front when I sell new initiatives to senior leaders?
1 2 3 4 5
COMMUNICATION SUBTOTAL: ________
Resolve and Execute Decisions Promptly
10. Resolve indecision quickly?
1 2 3 4 5
11. Collaborate and emphasize the value of teamwork?
1 2 3 4 5
12. Avoid procrastination, encouraging the team to execute and implement strategy immediately?
1 2 3 4 5
DECISION-MAKING SUBTOTAL: ________
PART II: TEAM FOCUS
Build an Open Team Culture
13. Create a culture of team efficiency by simplifying workflow and improving processes?
1 2 3 4 5
14. Encourage team receptiveness toward urgency, nimbleness, and swift execution?
1 2 3 4 5
15. Reward risk-taking and challenge my team to think creatively?
1 2 3 4 5
ENVIRONMENT SUBTOTAL: ________
Forge a Results-Oriented Team
16. Teach my team that results matter first, emphasizing substance over style?
1 2 3 4 5
17. Encourage team unity and mediate clashes?
1 2 3 4 5
18. Build on strengths and reduce weaknesses to create greater team success?
1 2 3 4 5
PERFORMANCE SUBTOTAL: ________
Harness Creativity and Loyalty
19. Understand and implement employee engagement techniques?
1 2 3 4 5
20. Encourage creativity and resourcefulness on my team?
1 2 3 4 5
21. Maximize loyalty, treating my team members with respect, trust, and gratitude?
1 2 3 4 5
MOTIVATION SUBTOTAL: ________
Emphasize Continuous Improvement
22. Stretch my team’s abilities by encouraging them to grow?
1 2 3 4 5
23. Emphasize accountability and expect team members to take responsibility for their needs, shortcomings, and errors?
1 2 3 4 5
24. Encourage healthy conflict on my team?
1 2 3 4 5
GROWTH SUBTOTAL: ________
PART III: TACTICAL WORK
Focus on High-Impact Activities
25. Place a high value on my time and maximize my personal impact?
1 2 3 4 5
26. Clear time-wasters for my team, making it easier for everyone to be productive?
1 2 3 4 5
27. Add productivity enablers to my team, such as by saying no and reducing wasted time in meetings?
1 2 3 4 5
VALUE SUBTOTAL: ________
Master Data Handling and Workflow
28. Deal effectively with information overload and efficiently handle workflow?
1 2 3 4 5
29. Pioneer new technology?
1 2 3 4 5
30. Establish tight control over my technology without letting it control me?
1 2 3 4 5
TECHNOLOGY SUBTOTAL: ________
Maximize Speed and Flexibility
31. Stress improvement by focusing on genuine, quantifiable results?
1 2 3 4 5
22. Emphasize speed when responding to unexpected situations?
1 2 3 4 5
33. Use consistent training and learning opportunities to stay ahead of the changes in my field?
1 2 3 4 5
AGILITY SUBTOTAL: ________
Sustain Your Physical and Mental Health
34. Practice personal self-care and relaxation on a regular basis?
1 2 3 4 5
35. Maintain my personal health?
1 2 3 4 5
36. Work to sharpen my mental acuity and intelligence?
1 2 3 4 5
BALANCE SUBTOTAL: ________
THE 3T LEADERSHIP SCORE SHEET
Copy your subtotals from the previous sections and add them up to find your grand total. See the key below to interpret your score.
PART I. STRATEGIC THINKING
1. Goals |
SUBTOTAL __________ |
2. Change |
SUBTOTAL __________ |
3. Communication |
SUBTOTAL __________ |
4. Decision-Making |
SUBTOTAL __________ |
|
PART I TOTAL __________ |
PART II. TEAM FOCUS
5. Environment |
SUBTOTAL __________ |
6. Performance |
SUBTOTAL __________ |
7. Motivation |
SUBTOTAL __________ |
8. Growth |
SUBTOTAL __________ |
|
PART II TOTAL __________ |
PART III. TACTICAL WORK
9. Value |
SUBTOTAL ________ |
10. Technology |
SUBTOTAL ________ |
11. Agility |
SUBTOTAL ________ |
12. Balance |
SUBTOTAL ________ |
|
PART III TOTAL __________ |
|
|
|
GRAND TOTAL (ADD PARTS I, II, III TOTALS): __________ |
SCORING
151–180: Congratulations! You have a deep understanding of what it takes to be an efficient, effective modern executive and how to help your team members maximize their productivity. At most, all you need to do is fine-tune a bit. Keep up the good work!
121–150: You need a few tweaks here and there. You’re on the right track! Strive to improve any question where you gave yourself less than a “5.” Give yourself credit for what you do well. Acknowledge where you can improve to become an even better executive.
91–120: Average. You’re in the middle of the bell curve. You’re not the worst, and you’re not the best. Work on kicking your efforts toward achieving effective, efficient execution up a notch, so you can perform at a higher level and produce greater results. For twelve weeks, focus on one of the twelve chapters each week and work to improve your weak areas and build on your strengths.
61–90: Major overhaul required. Get serious about changing the way you handle your team and projects. Are you efficient but ineffective, or effective but inefficient? Without neglecting your area of strength, start focusing on improving your area of weakness. Stop working so hard on the wrong things or doing the right things wrong—whichever happens to be the case. Break your weaknesses down into subcategories, based on the ones in the assessment above. Work on one item on this list over the course of several months until you systematically improve your competence level.
36–60: Danger! You’re both ineffective and inefficient. Your leadership productivity skills need a jumpstart fast! Both your job and your organization’s future may depend on it, so start working hard on doing the right things the right way right now.
HOW TO USE YOUR SCORES
Comparing scores on each part of this assessment will help you determine which of the 3Ts is the weakest link in your executive process. I’ve divided the assessment as I have so that within each part, you can delve deeper by comparing the chapter subtotals, thereby better understanding in which topics you’ve expressed a weakness. Even more useful is looking at the individual quiz items with the lowest scores; in fact, those represent your best places to start working. Regard this as a bottom-up method of continuous improvement.
As you study each chapter (especially those in which you’ve scored poorly), think about how you can improve your process. If your weakest of the 3Ts is Team, where do you face your greatest challenges: in Environment, Performance, Motivation, or Growth? If you’ve marked a full slate of 5s except in the Performance chapter (chapter 6) where you drop to 4 on Results, 2 on Unity, and 1 on Success, then your scores mark a clear line of action. Start with working on improving your team’s success, followed by encouraging team unity.
Make a sincere effort to weld your team together as an effective, productive unit, providing the training and education needed to improve their return on investment as both individuals and a team. Aim to increase their performance all around. Do the same for yourself.
Once you’re happy with your new results, move on to another unsatisfactory function and work on bringing it up to par. While I would normally tell you to focus on improving what you’re already good at—i.e., pushing your scores from good to great rather than wasting time on things you don’t do well—the functions I discuss in this book represent exceptions to that rule. They’re so fundamental that they require the highest level of competence you can bring to bear. That way, you and your team can strategically execute on the spot so automatically that you ensure your survival in an increasingly difficult business world.
As you successfully put new concepts into play, retake the assessment to determine how much you’ve improved. You may not even recognize that original you a year from now!
Don’t forget to visit www.3TLeadership.com for additional tools and information to supplement this book.