CHAPTER 1

THE DIAGNOSTIC TOOL

HOW ARE YOU DOING?

We have dedicated this chapter to presenting our diagnostic tool, the Leader iD profile. It is the outcome of the research upon which we have based this book.

It is a self-assessment tool. It enables you to score how well you think you are doing at each of the nine areas that our research has identified as vital to your development as a leader.

Completing the Leader iD profile is a first step for you to explore the Leader iD model for yourself and to find the best route forward on the journey to future success. It is important to focus fully, dedicating at least an hour of your time to this task. It may not take that long, but be prepared that it might, and remember that it is time well invested, time that will be more than paid back in terms of success in a short period of time.

Completing the Leader iD profile will give you an insight into how you currently shape up against the model and help you to identify priorities that require immediate attention if you are to survive and thrive as a leader, both now and in the future.

Whilst we are all born with a range of abilities, the human characteristics and qualities required to be a leader are open to be developed by anyone. The challenge is knowing what to develop so that your efforts are efficiently spent in improving the right areas. When you look at your Leader iD profile results, you may discover that you are already acting as a leader in some areas. These are strengths for you to build on. The questions at the end of the exercise invite you to reflect on both your areas of strength and weakness, and to make some initial plans for action based on this new awareness.

We encourage you to ask some of your colleagues to evaluate you too. You could also ask them to give you some concrete examples to support their view of the areas in which you excel and the areas where they think you could improve. You can complete the Leader iD profile right here in the book or you can access it online by visiting the following URL: www.glennpwallis.com/leader-id

If you would like to take the 360° feedback version of the Leader iD profile, please go to:

Ready? Let’s go …

YOUR LEADER iD PROFILE

1. The 45 statements in the Leader iD profile describe behaviours that we believe you need to consistently engage in at work in order to achieve future success.
2. The analysis section groups these 45 statements into 9 sets of 5 statements, corresponding to the 9 elements that form the Leader
   iD model.
3. Work through each of the statements and consider ‘How frequently do I engage in the behaviour described?’ Then choose the response that best applies to each statement and draw a circle around it.
4. Be honest with yourself and realistic about the extent to which you actually engage in the behaviour. Do not answer in terms of how you would like to behave or how you think you should behave, but how you typically behave on most days, on most projects, with most people.
5. Be thoughtful about your responses. For example, giving yourself all 5s on all items is most likely not an accurate description of your behaviour. Likewise, giving yourself all 1s or 3s may not be an accurate description either. Most people will do some things more or less often than they do other things.
6. If you feel that a statement does not apply to you, it is probably because you don’t frequently engage in the behaviour. In that case, assign a rating of 1.

Make sure that you are in a comfortable environment, have all you need (a cup of coffee or your favourite brew perhaps?) and will not be disturbed for at least an hour.

INTERPRETING YOUR SCORES

NEXT STEPS?

Keep your Leader iD profile scores close by as you develop your skills and self-awareness by reading the relevant chapters in this book.

You may want to create your own road map through the book, dipping in and out of the chapters, as your learning from this diagnostic suggests.