Miles Crisp, managing director at Schuitema Associates likened any corporation to a beautiful and calm ocean. What we see on the surface is calmness and serenity. This apparent calmness and serenity is however only skin deep. If one endeavors to look below the surface what one will find is a vicious and competitive submarine race. This submarine race is completely hidden from view, it is submerged beneath the surface. The only evidence we get for the existence of this submarine race is an occasional oil-slick that bubbles up from one of the casualties of the submarine race. As Miles explains, this metaphor accurately describes most of modern organisations. On the surface they appear to be calm and supremely functional but dig a little deeper and you will find them mired in ambition, political maneuvering, alliances, plotting, and one-upmanship.
One of the greatest challenges standing between an organisation and its own success comes in the form of this submarine race, all of this stuff that goes on beneath the surface, particularly in the leadership of the organisation that is not immediately apparent but is substantially damaging. The challenge then on the road to achieving success is coming to understand what is going on in the submarine race so that we are able to ensure that what is going on is healthy for the organisation and not damaging to it. What we need is an “inverted periscope” to quote Miles.
Schuitema has a range of leadership assessment tools that are aimed at achieving precisely this, namely getting to grips with what is going on in the submarine race. One of the most popular is the Leadership Profile (also known as the Leadership Audit). This tool comprises 41 items commenting on the experience that direct reports have of their leader. It is a “bottom up” survey consistent with the Schuitema thematic that it is the direct reports who are best place to make an assessment of the leadership of the manager. The instruments comprises 4 scales ie. Care, Means, Ability and Accountability. Items on each scale can be combined to reflect certain themes which are graphically presented along with the numerical scores for each discrete item. A 21 point scale is employed with scores ranging from +10 to -10.
Respondents also have an opportunity to provide clarifying responses (motivating their rating) which yields rich data that supports the interpretation of the scores. Individual Profiles can be combined to produce customised overall profiles across levels, departments, divisions etc.
Leadership profiles are typically run at the start of an engagement with an organisation- as it provides a baseline measure of the status of the leadership culture measures against the Care & Growth criteria. They act as the inverted periscope giving an insight into what is going on in the submarine race. The assessment can be completed online or in hard copy. Typically organisations request a second assessment a year later – as a measure of impact and organisational shift. Long standing clients extend the run over a number of years.
The leadership profiles provides diagnostic insight at personal and organisational level. Feedback takes the form of an Executive Feedback session – where the collective profile is shared with the executive team – highlighting trends, implications, recommendations and a commitment to action. Individual managers participate in a Feedback Coaching session with a Schuitema coach which frames the leadership agenda for the individual and may serve to identify coaching outcomes for one-on-one coaching or team coaching sessions.
How is your leadership shaping? How about benchmarking your leadership against the Care & Growth criteria. If you are interested please get in contact with one of our consultants here.