The Leadership Scorecard
By Michael Wilkinson, CMF
Managing Director, Leadership Strategies, Inc.
“Okay, Michael, you give a pretty compelling case for the impact of effective leadership. But my leadership team is pretty stuck in the old paradigm. I can just hear one of them now, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t have time for all this leadership stuff. I’ve got real work to do.’ Help me out here. How do I get my leadership team to focus on leadership?”
That’s a problem, isn’t it? When the leaders of an organization see little value in “this leadership stuff,” what do you do? First, let’s be very clear: the number one priority of leaders must be the survival of the organization. And since getting the “real work” done is critical to organization survival, it is quite understandable that leaders would naturally focus first on Level 1 activities such as getting the work done, on-time and within budget. Further, any leader that is struggling with the basics had better get back to the Level 1 basics.
The Levels of Leadership
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Level 3 – VISIONARY "Forward Focus" |
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Level 2 – COACH "People Focus" |
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Level 1 – OVERSEER "Task Focus |
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However, once past the organizational equivalent of food, clothing, and shelter, real leaders recognize that these Level 1 issues are not enough to ensure long-term success. They recognize the importance of such Level 2 activities as coaching and developing people; and they make investments in Level 3 activities such as anticipating the changing needs of customers, shaping the organization’s vision, and aligning resources to that vision.
So back to the question, how do leaders get their leadership team to focus on leadership?
The Leadership Scorecard
In our course, From Management to Leadership, we recommend implementing a Leadership Scorecard as a coaching tool for your leaders. While other scorecards are in place to get the organization to focus on the “real work,” the purpose of the Leadership Scorecard is to provide a vehicle for leaders to encourage their leadership team to focus on the work of leadership.
While the specific elements in the scorecard may differ by organization, we find that the following six elements can provide a solid foundation. We recommend having every leader establish a quarterly goal for one or more of the six leadership elements. The goal and results are reviewed monthly and scored (1-10) at the end of the quarter.
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Category |
Goal |
Result |
Score |
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Visioning What is your current vision of your department and what will you implement this quarter to help your team stay inspired and focused on achieving it? |
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Customers What will your department do this quarter to better understand or adapt to the needs of your entire customer base? |
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Coaching Whose performance are you most concerned about this quarter and what will you do to help ensure success? |
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Resources What is your most pressing resource constraint currently? What will you do to address the constraint? |
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Continuous Improvement What will you implement this quarter to improve the way your department operates? |
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Execution What is the priority initiative for your department this quarter that will drive the success of the organization and how will you ensure that it is successfully executed? |
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Some leaders will find that they will be able to focus only on one or two elements per quarter. Others will be able to cover three or four of the elements. Yet, leaders who naturally focus on leadership and who have developed strong leaders under them may find that they are able to cover all six with little trouble.
How are your leaders doing in focusing on leadership? Do they understand the importance of moving beyond simply getting the job done? They may be good candidates for our course, From Management to Leadership.
Michael Wilkinson is the Managing Director of Leadership Strategies – The Facilitation Company and author of The Secrets of Facilitation and The Secrets to Masterful Meetings. He is a Certified Master Facilitator and a much sought after leadership trainer and facilitator.
