Leadership Quiz

Do you aspire to be a Premier 100 IT Leader? Are you being an authentic, strategic leader who spends their time wisely – on the right value-add leadership work that delivers exceptional business results? Ouellette & Associates Consulting, Inc. has developed the following quiz to help you assess whether or not you are REALLY focusing on the right areas as a leader OR if you are among the growing numbers of IT executives and leaders who are caught up in the lethal “I have no time to be strategic” epidemic!

We invite you to have your leadership team take the quiz and compare notes. You will see that some of the time savers are overt while others are more inconspicuous but just as rich! Using these questions, discuss your leadership time savers and time robbers along with strategies for raising your level of leadership capability and maturity.

Good luck - we look forward to seeing you recognized as a future Premier 100 IT Leader!

Please respond to each of the following statements according to your leadership tendencies. (Scoring: 1/highly inaccurate to 5/highly accurate)

Timesaver #1
Resist Tactics Temptations: Stay Strategic

• You understand why you were hired -- your true “value proposition” to your company, customers and team – and that is where you focus the lion’s share of your leadership time and energy investment.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You regularly assess the most important areas that require your attention as well as how you’re actually spending your time – mentally assigning each activity a value of “stop”, “start”, “continue” or “delegate” – and use your analysis to create and execute your personal change plan.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You challenge yourself to take on new leadership roles, responsibilities and assignments that are outside of your comfort zone vs. gravitating toward the roles, responsibilities and assignments of your former position -- the old, the familiar and the comfortable.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You trust and empower others to do their jobs by allowing them to take ownership, make decisions, be accountable and perform their roles and work that they have been assigned without second-guessing and micro-managing work progression.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

Timesaver #2
Stop the Insanity: Get Back to Basics

• You ensure that you and your team value everyone’s time and show respect as meeting leaders by conducting only value-add meetings, inviting the right people, distributing meeting materials and time-boxed agendas in advance, arriving and ending on time, being prepared, staying focused, demonstrating proper meeting etiquette and distributing meeting summary bullets and next steps (action items, owners, dates) in a timely manner.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You ensure that you and your team value everyone’s time and show respect as meeting participants by insisting that a time boxed agenda be distributed in advance, arriving on time, being prepared, staying focus, demonstrating proper meeting etiquette, questioning your participation if you are not adding value and following-up on assigned next steps.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You ensure that you and your team regularly take a step back and question the value-add of “standing meetings” – keeping those that deliver real results and stopping those that are time and productivity wasters.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You ensure that you and your team use proper email etiquette whereby the right audience is targeted, concise information is presented and email is only used for simple information exchange vs. discussing complex topics and resolving conflicts.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You ensure that you and your team leverage effective time management skills including scheduling uninterrupted “thinking and planning” time; focusing on the most important, value-add work first; managing to your “top 10 things to accomplish” list; tracking key performance indicators vs. everything; short circuiting walk-up interruptions and time-waster conversations; and embracing “progress” vs. “activities” and “important” vs. “urgent”.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

Timesaver #3
Don’t Over Commit: Learn How to Manage Others Expectations

• You recognize that “making everyone happy” isn’t achievable or business prudent, so instead you work closely with your business leaders and customers to understand their needs and wants, then you and your team devise and present realistic options and negotiate realistic expectations.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You and your team do not find yourselves in situations where you have made promises to your business leaders and customers that you cannot keep.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You are able to positively influence and persuade business leaders and customers to see your point of view because you present the WIIFMs (What’s In It For Me) so that the involved parties can clearly see that your options align with their best interests.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

Timesaver #4
Solve Supply & Demand: Practice REAL Demand Management

• You know that a critical success factor of delivering exceptional service is to be able to quickly and effectively balance resource demand with supply including accommodating peaks and valleys.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You have effective leadership, strategies, people, processes and systems in place to quickly and effectively provide business leader and customer communication as to how and where resource dollars are being spent and how that translates into business value and results.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You know at any given point in time which technology levers to push and pull in order to quickly and effectively accommodate changing market and business needs and demands that include an Information Technology component.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

Timesaver #5
Never Say Never: Plan for Exceptions

• You know that there will always be exceptions so instead of spending countless hours defending policies, standards and rules, you have created effective ways for business leaders and customers to present their exceptions and to have those exceptions objectively evaluated based on business value, cost and risk.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You know that the most well constructed plans (technical and non technical) encounter problems during execution, so you ensure that you and your team plan for carefully devised contingencies.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

Timesaver #6
Fix Adversarial Relationships: Build Trusting Relationships That Last

• You swiftly break through organizational levels, hierarchies and barriers by successfully working well with all levels of people and across all functional lines in order to quickly and effectively facilitate business value delivery.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You do not allow confrontations to fester but rather you approach conflict constructively by keeping an open mind, giving others the benefit of the doubt, talking with those involved, being candid, gathering the facts and devising a workable plan for future.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You identify key client and IT relationships that are critical to your team’s and company’s success and take specific action to build or strengthen those relationships.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You ask your clients how you and your team are performing “through their glasses” and you closely listen to and take corrective action based on their feedback.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You look for ways to make it easier for your clients to work with your team and approach each client interaction with a positive, “can do” attitude.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

Timesaver #7
Get Everyone Rowing in the Same Direction: Build & Execute Your Winning Game Plan

• You establish and effectively communicate clear strategies, direction, goals, objectives and decisions so that others know exactly how they plug into and contribute toward the big picture.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You work closely with your direct reports to develop your team’s strategy so that it closely aligns with the Business Strategy and key performance indicators.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You establish shared leadership and team goals and measurements and instill collaborative thinking and behaviors into your culture so that everyone is acting in the best interests of the business and your customers.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

Timesaver #8
Communicate with Impact: Know How to Reach Your Audience

• You deliver effective communication by keeping the right people informed at the right time via the right medium.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You create effective ways to proactively elicit feedback from customers, peers and team members on a regular basis because you value their perspectives and their feedback helps you shape your ideas and actions and allows you to anticipate and mitigate future surprises.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You recognize that when delivering a message, your body language and tone of voice/writing carry more weight than message content – as seen through the eyes of the receiver -- so you consciously focus on all three communication components to eliminate misinterpretations and confusion.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

Timesaver #9
Score a Touchdown on Your First Attempt: Sell Business Ideas with Success

• You use Business English vs. “Technical Speak” when interacting with business leaders and customers.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You understand what’s important to your business leaders and customers, how they make business decisions and can anticipate what their objections will be and therefore you present ideas, concepts and solutions that will meet their needs, deliver benefits and mitigate their concerns.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You understand how your business leaders and customers prefer to receive information therefore you present your ideas, concepts and solutions using language, visuals and approaches that resonate with your audience’s learning styles and time constraints.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

Timesaver #10
Practice Tough Love: Hold Your Employees Accountable

• Through 360 degree feedback, you assess your leadership team’s capabilities; identify their strengths, challenges and accomplishments; provide effective, candid and timely coaching, guidance and feedback; and help them create and execute their Leadership Development Plans.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You give criticism constructively to your team by sharing specific, candid examples on a timely basis and in a manner that helps to foster an environment whereby mistakes are perceived as valuable and key to continuous improvement.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

Timesaver #11
Be Proactive: Tackle Tough Problems Head-On

• You look for ways to seek out your internal clients’ complaints and proactively act on their concerns as opportunities for improvement.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You recognize that although “fire fighting” creates an adrenalin rush and rewards “hero mentality”, it’s counter-productive, so you instead focus you and your team on lessons learned and proactive and permanent problem prevention.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

Timesaver #12
Know Your Achilles’ Heels: Be Honest & Plug Your Talent Gaps

• You objectively identify and admit to your own weaknesses, and in those areas where you are lacking key leadership attributes and behaviors, you find a trusted advisor to help you reinvent yourself.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!
• You objectively identify your team’s weaknesses and help them create and execute their personal change plans because you know that it is your responsibility to help them become the very best version of themselves.
  __1 Not me __2 Somewhat __3 Sometimes __4 Mostly __5 That's me!

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Copyright 2005 by Ouellette & Associate Consulting, Inc.

Ouellette & Associate Consulting, Inc. (O&A) is the IT leadership and professional development firm that focuses on the human side of technology. Working in partnership with CIO’s and IT Leaders, the firm specializes in helping IT organizations make the transition from a reactive, technology centric, order taker culture to one that is the consultative, client focused, leadership savvy, business partner of choice. For more information about their IT leadership and professional development services, visit the O&A website at www.ouellette-online.com.