|
5-D
Leadership Strengths Checklist
According
to conventional wisdom, the best way to improve your performance
in any given areas to identify your relevant weaknesses and
devote time and energy to overcoming them. This is the typical
approach most organizations use when developing the leadership
potential of their people. It’s also the common approach
recommended in leadership development books and seminars.
But there is a serious problem with this approach: it doesn’t
work!
As explained in
depth in our book, 5-D Leadership, one of the fastest ways
to demoralize someone is force them to work on improving their
areas of weakness. Such an approach is to rightly be called
“working harder, not smarter.” Not only is it
frustrating, but focusing on deficiencies often ends up shaking
people’s confidence. For some leaders this can happen
when they are seen as not caring about their people and sent
to a seminar to develop empathy.
5-D Leadership
offers a better way to develop yourself and your leadership
potential through a dynamic process that guides individuals
to identify and leverage the strengths they already possess.
The principle
of leveraging your natural strengths defines the 5-D Leadership
approach to leadership development. The reason it is effective—in
contrast to the typical emphasis on overcoming weakness—is
that it allows you to work with the way your brain is wired,
making your development fast, effective, and satisfying!
The Leadership
Strengths Checklist sample, available below, is designed to
identify the strengths you can leverage as a leader. A PDF
of the full checklist is available at the bottom of the page
Think
broadly about your leadership experiences as you do this exercise.
You may not be using a particular strength in your present
organizational role, but maybe you used it extensively in
the past or use it frequently outside of work. The purpose
of this activity is to determine the strengths you already
possess not whether you are currently using them at work.
Directions:
Read each of the twenty items and decide which statements
match one of your own strengths. Mark each of your personal
strengths with a checkmark in the Step 1 column. Then
go back over your list, for each of the items you checked
off as a strength , rate yourself from 1 to 3 in the
Step 2 column: (1 = competent, 2 = superior, 3 = masterful).
Note: This
is a particle sample of the full list.
|
|
Strength |
Step
1 |
Step
2 |
1 |
I adapt what I have, to the needs/opportunities of the
moment. |
|
|
2 |
I am calm under pressure |
|
|
3 |
I am proactive rather than reactive towards situations. |
|
|
4 |
I
am optimistic when facing problems or disappointments. |
|
|
|
I am able to calculate risks effectively. |
|
|
6 |
I take the initiative. |
|
|
7 |
I use my gut-feelings to guide me. |
|
|
8 |
I
am confident in my decisions and abilities. |
|
|
9 |
I
offer meaningful praise and recognition to others. |
|
|
10 |
I am able to get others to buy in to ideas and plans. |
|
|
11 |
I am articulate in expressing ideas, concepts, or plans. |
|
|
12 |
I delegate tasks effectively. |
|
|
13 |
I manage crises effectively. |
|
|
14 |
I
tell stories for impact or clarifying meaning. |
|
|
15 |
I
recognize and develop others’ potential. |
|
|
16 |
I strategize to achieve goals effectively. |
|
|
17 |
I am enthusiastic. |
|
|
18 |
I am intuitive. |
|
|
19 |
I see the big picture. |
|
|
20 |
I use humor well. |
|
|
Step
3: Record your most highly rated strengths, starting with
the ones
you rated as 3.
For
a printer-friendly sample checklist click
here
For
the full checklist in PDF format click
here
You are invited
to submit stories of outstanding examples of the 5 Leadership
Dimensions described in the book click
here
To
learn about the book 5-D Leadership: Key Dimensions for Leading
in the Real World, and how to leverage your strengths to become
a better leader click
here
Contact
Us
Leadership
Strengths Checklist - Top of Page
|
