Chances are if you are like most of the business professionals that take the 10 question Leadership Culture Index below, your organization can use some improvement.  A lot of improvement.

I deliver this simple and I’m sure non-scientific survey (see author’s note for origin) almost every time I’m in front of a group of managers and executives talking about leadership, and I’m still shocked by the scores.  I suppose I should quit being shocked by how abysmal many businesses are at identifying, developing and retaining leadership talent, but the optimist in me continues to believe that people are too smart to ignore this important issue.

Author’s note: this survey was co-developed with Rich Petro as a follow on to our book, Practical Lessons in Leadership and part of our article Gauging Your Firm’s Leadership Culture Index.  The survey is a subset of a much broader process for evaluating a firm’s leadership development maturity, and the simple, ten question format is designed to take a quick temperature reading, not complete a full diagnosis.  Rich has a lot to say about this stuff, and I’m hoping to have him in as a guest blogger sometime soon.

Here is the short-form of the Leadership Culture Index survey, slightly modified from the original article.  Each one of the statements are worthy of either one or multiple blog topics, so you’ll see these again in the future.

Instructions:

Rate each of the following 10 statements on a scale of 1 to 3

1. = We don’t do this or we don’t do it well
2. = We sometimes do this or we do it well
3. = We routinely do this and we do it well

(Note: if you are front-line or mid-level manager, you can answer the questions based on your perspective of the organization or based solely on your specific department or business unit.)

Sum the scores and divide by 10 and compare score to results key.

Statements:

1. We have the processes in place to identify and assess potential leaders well ahead of the point in time where they are ready for promotion.

2. Leadership Development is a frequent, recurring agenda item for our (top) management team.

3. Performance expectations for Leadership Development are clear and challenging for all leaders.

4. Our organization has a formal succession plan in place and it is actively managed to remain current.

5. Constructive Feedback is expected, encouraged, taught and practiced in our organization.

6. Individual development plans are in place for all associates.

7. Leadership development is a specific component of our strategy plan.

8. Assignments are engineered for developmental purposes.

9. There is a formal mentoring program in place.

10. Less experienced managers have easy access to senior managers.

Sum=________ divided by 10 =_________ This is your quick LCI rating

Interpreting the Ratings: Maximum=30/10=3

1 to 1.7:  Immediate action is required.  Don’t delay in search of "perfect" solutions.  Act now and adjust as you go.

1.8 to 2.5: Look for ways to increment your routines.  Aim to make them more consistent, visible    or robust.  Find ways to measure your results.

2.6 to 3: Monitor your activities to ensure that you are gaining the desired results.  Adjust as needed.

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How did you do? 

I can tell you that the majority of participants in my workshops score lower than 1.7, with the average at 1.5.  The scores seem to rise with the title, as executive audiences average right in the middle at 2.  (I’ll trust the scores coming from the non-executives to be a better proxy for perceived reality.)

The bottom-line for now:

I encourage seminar attendees to give this same survey to their co-workers, peers and reports, and if nothing else, use it as a tool to start having some of the right conversations about strengthening  leadership development practices.  The beauty of a number of the issues highlighted in the survey is that you don’t need expensive consultants or even an official organizational blessing to start making improvements.  Now is a good time to start!

I welcome additional suggestions for the survey or comments from brave souls willing to report their scores and share perspectives.  I’m particularly interested in finding some people that score high and believe that there organization really gets the whole issue of leadership development.  The optimist in me is looking for you!