Discussion: View Thread

List members,

I will be conducting a small group leader development workshop for my congregation
in a few weeks. For one part of the workshop I want to use a leadership style
instrument. I am familiar with the Leadership Style Inventory which correlates with
the Situational Leadership Model. I am wondering if you know of and/or can recommend
any other self-administered instruments which can be used to open up a discussion on
styles of leadership for small groups. Thank you for any help you can offer.

David Miron
Miron and Associates
717-581-6659
djmiron@concentric.net

David:

You might like the Dimensions of Leadership Profile. It is a
self-directed/self-scoring assessment tool that provides valuable
feedback about one's leadership focus/tendencies. Check out the
following site for a description (please pardon the website
construction). http://www.progrowthassociates.com/pDimension.cfm

Tom Sullivan
ProGrowth Associates
1-877-315-6857

David Miron wrote:

<Clip>
I am wondering if you know of and/or can recommend any other
self-administered instruments which can be used to open up a discussion
on styles of leadership for small groups.
>
> David Miron
> Miron and Associates
> 717-581-6659
> djmiron@concentric.net

RE: Leadership Styles Instrument request for information.

Depends on what you're trying to measure... and what you want to know...

1. Change Style Indicator by W. Christopher Musselwhite and Robyn P. Ingram,
published by Discovery Learning, Inc. (336-272-9530). Measures change styles
and places examinees on a scale from Conserver to Pragmatist to Originator.
The instrument is supported by the Style Guide which explains the ratings and
how each type reacts to the others.

2. Achieving Styles Indicator by Jean Lipman-Blumen, published by the
Achieving Styles Institute (818-584-5800). Measures achieving styles and
places examinees into the achieving styles with a comparative rating (from 0
to 7 on each style) on vicarious, contributory, collaborative, entrusting,
social, personal, power, competitive and intrinsic styles. Supported by the
text The Connective Edge: Leading in an Interdependent World by Lipman-Blumen
(Jossey-Bass).

3. Myers-Briggs and/or Keirsey-Bates Type Indicators. Places examinees into
multi-categorical configurations (Extraversion or Introversion; Sensing or
iNtuition; Thinking or Feeling; Judgement or Perception). Each category is
tallied and a preference is selected from category. The preferences are then
combined, into a four-letter classification (using the upper case letters) ex.
ESTJ.... Reference: Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in Organizations:
A Resource Book, by Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. (1985). The
Keirsey-Bates is the shortened version of the instrument, and can be found in
Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types by David W. Keirsey and
Marilyn Bates (1985), published by Prometheus Books.

4. Leadership Practices Inventory and the accompanying Participant's
Workbook, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, published by Jossey-Bass
(1-800-274-4434). Places examinees into five leadership practice categories
(enabling, inspiring, challenging, modeling, and encouraging) with a score for
each area to highlight preferences in the styles. Instrument requires peer
evaluations.

5. Decision Style Indicator by Alan Rowe and Richard Mason from Managing with
Style by Jossey-Bass (see # above). Categorizes examinees according to
decision styles (analytical, directive, conceptual and behavioral) with scores
in each area to determine preferences for styles.

Each of these instruments is good. Some of these instruments can be costly.
Recommend the Keirsey-Bates (or the longer Myers-Briggs Type Inventory). The
book should be relatively easy to find on-line or at a library and the
congregation wouldn't be hit for big bucks. These tests are relatively easy
to score and results are pretty clear with the charts from the book. The
results are very "telling" and the "customers" should be quite happy.

I recently completed a leadership course at school and we used all five of
these instruments in self-assessments. The combination of the five
instruments would be optimum, but quite costly. The results interlocked and
supported each other. Doubts to validity disappeared as each instrument was
compared to the others. Even though the each measured different areas, the
behaviors being identified had roots to the same base behavior.

Best of luck:

Bruce Pawlak

(NOTE: I'm leaving on a business trip and won't be back on-line for a week)

David,
Check with Pauline George <pgtrain@ihm.net>. She uses a version of DiSC
that is specifically designed for use with church leadership groups. You
can also reach her by phone at 724-934-2836.

Emily Schultheiss
Why settle for surviving...when you could be thriving?
http://www.npimall.com/architect/emily/

David--

If you are interested in styles, specifically, the Hershey and Blanchard
instrument, Situational Leadership, is the obvious choice--it is
research-based and has undergone some reliability and validation
testing. While there are hundreds of leadership instruments out there,
few can claim those attributes.

You might want to consider looking at leadership in a different
framework--examining and focusing on what leadership is really all about,
the major tasks and behaviors that it involves, rather than taking a
summary view and labelling the way that each individual approaches
it.

You can do this using SL, of course, but I suggest that you also take a
look at Kouzes and Posner's work. You can browse their books, "The
Leadership Challenge" and "Credibility" in any good bookstore. Their
model and way of expressing the important aspects of leadership will have
very high appeal (face validity) for a mission-driven group since it is
people as well as task-oriented. Its dimensions are "challenging the
process," "inspiring a shared vision," "enabling others to act," "modeling
the way," and "encouraging the heart." Their Leadership Practices
Inventory (LPI) is available from Jossey-Bass (800-274-4434).

Alternatively, I have started to do some research with Marshall Sashkin's
Visionary Leadership Theory. Sashkin is, arguably, the only one of the
purveyors of leadership instruments who incorporates the elements of both
personality characteristics and behavior into a theory that encompasses
what we know about (1) transforming and (2) transactional (managerial)
leadership and (3) influence on organizational culture (which Schein and
others see at the single most important task of the leader.) The ten
dimensions include "focus (vision)," "communication," "trust," "caring,"
"creativity and risk-taking," "self-confidence," and "capable management."
The instrument, the Leadershp Profile (TLP), is available from HRD Press
(www.hrdpress.com; 800-822-2801).

Since leadership development is my major area of interest, both for
research and teaching, I would be happy to discuss this further off-line.

Good luck with your session--it is groups such as this that tend to
nurture principled leadership...which is to the benefit of us all.

Ruth
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ruth H. Axelrod | For every complex
Organizational Behavior & Development | problem, there is a
The George Washington University | simple solution--
Home: | and it's wrong.
(301)593-4938 |
11372 Baroque Road, Silver Spring, MD 20901 | H. L. Mencken
Mailto: raxelrod@gwu.edu |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

On Mon, 11 Jan 1999, David Miron wrote:

> List members,
>
> I will be conducting a small group leader development workshop for my congregation
> in a few weeks. For one part of the workshop I want to use a leadership style
> instrument. I am familiar with the Leadership Style Inventory which correlates with
> the Situational Leadership Model. I am wondering if you know of and/or can recommend
> any other self-administered instruments which can be used to open up a discussion on
> styles of leadership for small groups. Thank you for any help you can offer.
>
> David Miron
> Miron and Associates
> 717-581-6659
> djmiron@concentric.net
>

Dear Colleagues, While I have used many of the instruments Bruce Pawlak
mentions in the classroom setting, I would be careful about using them in a
training setting unless you are aware of the validation evidence for these
instruments, or any instruments you use. Feedback and training based upon
scores from an invalid instrument can potentially do more harm than any
good you might hope comes from a training session especially if the results
wind up in a permanent personnel folder.

As a general rule, I would avoid any commercially available instrument that
does not provide data about scale reliability and the results of validation
studies.

Regards, Kim Boal

At 10:13 PM 1/11/99 -0500, you wrote:
>RE: Leadership Styles Instrument request for information.
>
>Depends on what you're trying to measure... and what you want to know...
>
>1. Change Style Indicator by W. Christopher Musselwhite and Robyn P. Ingram,
>published by Discovery Learning, Inc. (336-272-9530). Measures change styles
>and places examinees on a scale from Conserver to Pragmatist to Originator.
>The instrument is supported by the Style Guide which explains the ratings and
>how each type reacts to the others.
>
>2. Achieving Styles Indicator by Jean Lipman-Blumen, published by the
>Achieving Styles Institute (818-584-5800). Measures achieving styles and
>places examinees into the achieving styles with a comparative rating (from 0
>to 7 on each style) on vicarious, contributory, collaborative, entrusting,
>social, personal, power, competitive and intrinsic styles. Supported by the
>text The Connective Edge: Leading in an Interdependent World by Lipman-Blumen
>(Jossey-Bass).
>
>3. Myers-Briggs and/or Keirsey-Bates Type Indicators. Places examinees into
>multi-categorical configurations (Extraversion or Introversion; Sensing or
>iNtuition; Thinking or Feeling; Judgement or Perception). Each category is
>tallied and a preference is selected from category. The preferences are then
>combined, into a four-letter classification (using the upper case letters)
ex.
>ESTJ.... Reference: Using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator in Organizations:
>A Resource Book, by Consulting Psychologists Press, Inc. (1985). The
>Keirsey-Bates is the shortened version of the instrument, and can be found in
>Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types by David W. Keirsey and
>Marilyn Bates (1985), published by Prometheus Books.
>
>4. Leadership Practices Inventory and the accompanying Participant's
>Workbook, by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, published by Jossey-Bass
>(1-800-274-4434). Places examinees into five leadership practice categories
>(enabling, inspiring, challenging, modeling, and encouraging) with a score
for
>each area to highlight preferences in the styles. Instrument requires peer
>evaluations.
>
>5. Decision Style Indicator by Alan Rowe and Richard Mason from Managing
with
>Style by Jossey-Bass (see # above). Categorizes examinees according to
>decision styles (analytical, directive, conceptual and behavioral) with
scores
>in each area to determine preferences for styles.
>
>Each of these instruments is good. Some of these instruments can be costly.
>Recommend the Keirsey-Bates (or the longer Myers-Briggs Type Inventory). The
>book should be relatively easy to find on-line or at a library and the
>congregation wouldn't be hit for big bucks. These tests are relatively easy
>to score and results are pretty clear with the charts from the book. The
>results are very "telling" and the "customers" should be quite happy.
>
>I recently completed a leadership course at school and we used all five of
>these instruments in self-assessments. The combination of the five
>instruments would be optimum, but quite costly. The results interlocked and
>supported each other. Doubts to validity disappeared as each instrument was
>compared to the others. Even though the each measured different areas, the
>behaviors being identified had roots to the same base behavior.
>
>Best of luck:
>
>Bruce Pawlak
>
>(NOTE: I'm leaving on a business trip and won't be back on-line for a week)
>
--------------------------------
Kim Boal
College of Business Administration
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX 79409
(806) 742-2150
KimBoal@ttu.edu

Dear Colleagues, Ruth Axelrod recommended Hershey & Blanchard's instrument
as an obvious choice. Hershey & Blanchard's writings have reminded us that
leader behavior can/should be flexible and adaptive, and the need to treat
different subordinates differntly, or even treat the same subordinate
differently as the situation changes. However, the research on their
theory finds little empirical support and much conceptual weakness.
Therefore, despite it popularity, I strongly recommend against using their
theory or instrument. The intrested reader is referred to:

Fernandez, C. F. & Vechio, R.P. 1997. Situational leadership theory
revisited: A test of an across-jobs perspective. Leadership Quarterly, 8:
67-84

Yukl, G. 1998. Leadership in organizations, 4th Ed. Prentice Hall.

Regards, Kim Boal

At 09:05 AM 1/12/99 -0500, you wrote:
>David--
>
>If you are interested in styles, specifically, the Hershey and Blanchard
>instrument, Situational Leadership, is the obvious choice--it is
>research-based and has undergone some reliability and validation
>testing. While there are hundreds of leadership instruments out there,
>few can claim those attributes.
>
>You might want to consider looking at leadership in a different
>framework--examining and focusing on what leadership is really all about,
>the major tasks and behaviors that it involves, rather than taking a
>summary view and labelling the way that each individual approaches
>it.
>
>You can do this using SL, of course, but I suggest that you also take a
>look at Kouzes and Posner's work. You can browse their books, "The
>Leadership Challenge" and "Credibility" in any good bookstore. Their
>model and way of expressing the important aspects of leadership will have
>very high appeal (face validity) for a mission-driven group since it is
>people as well as task-oriented. Its dimensions are "challenging the
>process," "inspiring a shared vision," "enabling others to act," "modeling
>the way," and "encouraging the heart." Their Leadership Practices
>Inventory (LPI) is available from Jossey-Bass (800-274-4434).
>
>Alternatively, I have started to do some research with Marshall Sashkin's
>Visionary Leadership Theory. Sashkin is, arguably, the only one of the
>purveyors of leadership instruments who incorporates the elements of both
>personality characteristics and behavior into a theory that encompasses
>what we know about (1) transforming and (2) transactional (managerial)
>leadership and (3) influence on organizational culture (which Schein and
>others see at the single most important task of the leader.) The ten
>dimensions include "focus (vision)," "communication," "trust," "caring,"
>"creativity and risk-taking," "self-confidence," and "capable management."
>The instrument, the Leadershp Profile (TLP), is available from HRD Press
>(www.hrdpress.com; 800-822-2801).
>
>Since leadership development is my major area of interest, both for
>research and teaching, I would be happy to discuss this further off-line.
>
>Good luck with your session--it is groups such as this that tend to
>nurture principled leadership...which is to the benefit of us all.
>
>Ruth
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>Ruth H. Axelrod | For every complex
>Organizational Behavior & Development | problem, there is a
>The George Washington University | simple solution--
>Home: | and it's wrong.
> (301)593-4938 |
> 11372 Baroque Road, Silver Spring, MD 20901 | H. L. Mencken
>Mailto: raxelrod@gwu.edu |
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>On Mon, 11 Jan 1999, David Miron wrote:
>
>> List members,
>>
>> I will be conducting a small group leader development workshop for my
congregation
>> in a few weeks. For one part of the workshop I want to use a leadership
style
>> instrument. I am familiar with the Leadership Style Inventory which
correlates with
>> the Situational Leadership Model. I am wondering if you know of and/or
can recommend
>> any other self-administered instruments which can be used to open up a
discussion on
>> styles of leadership for small groups. Thank you for any help you can
offer.
>>
>> David Miron
>> Miron and Associates
>> 717-581-6659
>> djmiron@concentric.net
>>
>
--------------------------------
Kim Boal
College of Business Administration
Texas Tech University
Lubbock, TX 79409
(806) 742-2150
KimBoal@ttu.edu

David and the MED list:

The Center for Creative Leadership has just published the 3rd edition of Feedback for Mangers, A Review and Comparison of Multi-Rater Instruments for Management Development. Out of 45 commercially available instruments reviewed by the authors, only 24 met the authors' criteria. To me this says that one needs to be careful in selecting an instrument. You will find some well known ones missing from the recommended list.

Two that are on the list with which I have done both consulting and research on are the Survey of Management Practices and the Survey of Leadership Practices both published by the Clark Wilson Group (800) 537-7249.

Beyond selecting an instrument, another criteria for selecting an instrument is what follow-up is available for the instrument. Feedback without follow-up equals frustration. Please keep that in mind as you proceed down this path.

On my web site listed below you will find some exercises based on self-administered instruments (Employee Feedback: Revealing Managerial Blind Spots; Employee Feedback: Revealing Leadership Blind Spots An Interactive Exercise: Demonstrating the Positive Side of Control; and An Interactive Exercise: Commitment, Tension, and Leadership Skills) and other exercises (Surviving Through Teamwork: A Group Survival Exercise: & Management Task Cycle Quiz) which can be used to open up a discussion on styles of leadership for small or large groups.

Good luck with your workshop.



Frank Shipper, Ph.D.
Professor of Management
Perdue School of Business
Salisbury State University
1100 Camden Avenue
Salisbury, MD 21801
Phone: (410) 543-6333
Fax: (410) 548-2908
E-mail: fmshipper@ssu.edu
Home Page: http://perdue.ssu.edu/~fmshippe/welcome.htm

Ruth H. Axelrod wrote:

> David--
>
> If you are interested in styles, specifically, the Hershey and Blanchard
> instrument, Situational Leadership, is the obvious choice--it is
> research-based and has undergone some reliability and validation
> testing. While there are hundreds of leadership instruments out there,
> few can claim those attributes.

David,
Given this criteria you might like to also consider Dr John Adair's work into Functional
Leadership. It has one over Hersey and Blanchard (or even Hersey or Blanchard depending on
which point in history you are reading them) - it has been used in organisations to
actually increase productivity and bottom line profitability. ICI for one, several million
dollars increase in one year alone.

One of the criticisms of SL is that it concentrates on leadership as a one-on-one activity
while FL looks at the individual and the work and the workteams set up to do the work. In
fact it puts greater concentration on organisational needs than SL appears to.

One book alone says it all - Action-Centred Leadership. Admittedly he isn't from the US
therefore doesn't get much publicity over there but if you want a balanced view I'd
encourage you to at least read it.

Phil Rutherford

Dear Phil and MG-ED Colleagues,

In addition to Leadership Style instruments, I would be very grateful to be
given advice and/or leads on any form of 'leadership simulation' and sources of
leadership role-play scenarios.

I find computer-based strategic management simulations so successful in
engaging students with the 'big picture' issues of management that if there is
something specifically designed to emphasis leadership issues I'd like to hear
about it. Alternatively, it doesn't have to involve technology: it could be a
'paper-based' exercise.

Additionally, since there are so many 'scripts' or scenarios for role-playing
in ethics/communications/industrial relations, etc, I assume that someone must
have written something similar for leadership situations.

Thanks in anticipation for your assistance,

John Thornton
Lecturer in Management and Leadership
School of International Business
Division of Business & Enterprise
University of South Australia

----------
From: Phil Rutherford[SMTP:robnphil@OZEMAIL.COM.AU]
Sent: Sunday, 24 January 1999 10:58
To: MG-ED-DV@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU
Subject: Re: Leadership Style instrument

Ruth H. Axelrod wrote:

> David--
>
> If you are interested in styles, specifically, the Hershey and
Blanchard
> instrument, Situational Leadership, is the obvious choice--it is
> research-based and has undergone some reliability and validation
> testing. While there are hundreds of leadership instruments out
there,
> few can claim those attributes.

David,
Given this criteria you might like to also consider Dr John Adair's
work into Functional
Leadership. It has one over Hersey and Blanchard (or even Hersey or
Blanchard depending on
which point in history you are reading them) - it has been used in
organisations to
actually increase productivity and bottom line profitability. ICI for
one, several million
dollars increase in one year alone.

One of the criticisms of SL is that it concentrates on leadership as a
one-on-one activity
while FL looks at the individual and the work and the workteams set up
to do the work. In
fact it puts greater concentration on organisational needs than SL
appears to.

One book alone says it all - Action-Centred Leadership. Admittedly he
isn't from the US
therefore doesn't get much publicity over there but if you want a
balanced view I'd
encourage you to at least read it.

Phil Rutherford

John
Phil has referred to John Adair who developed the Action-Centred Leadership
model. He developed the use of the film "Twelve O'clock High" as a vehicle
for Leadership training as well as, I think, "The Flight of the Phoenix".

I certainly use "TOH" in a two day Leadership training course along with
projects. The details for running the film are quite lengthy (10 pages from
memory) but could be obtained for you with a little effort on my part if
this is what you might be looking for.

Alistair McEwen
Training for Profit
Edinburgh, Scotland
Mailto:amcewen@fife.ac.uk <mailto:amcewen@fife.ac.uk>