Table of Contents
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to present the findings of the Managerial Behavior Profile (MBP) survey completed by myself and 3 other associates. The MBP survey consist of several statements regarding leadership behaviors that are rated on a scale of 1 to 5. This paper includes the results of a self-assessment as well as assessments complete by coworkers. Leadership orientation and individual competencies will be compared based on the Competing Values Framework. The cumulative results will be presented in this paper and used to create a Leadership Development Plan (LDP) for myself.
Introduction
The Competing Values Framework was created to “help leaders work more comprehensively and consistently in improving their organizations’ performance and value creation” (Cameron, Quinn, Degraff, & Thakor, 2014). This Managerial Behavior Profile assignment required me to rank myself in each of the twelve leadership competencies on this survey and then ask associates to rank me on those same behaviors. This report then compared my results to the average of the group response. Figure 1.1 shows the overall leadership profile comparison. I sent an invitation to five colleagues and/or superiors to complete the survey for me. I received four response evaluations which gave me a participation rate of 80%, however, one of the surveyor’s results were excluded from the cumulative report because they had ranked me as a 5 in every category. I felt like those results were not going to contribute any worthwhile information concerning improvement opportunities. The self-assessment (self) is in black and the cumulative results of my colleagues (360) are in orange.
The leadership profile comparison (Figure 1.1) indicates that there are slight discrepancies between the self-assessment and the assessments from my associates. These differences will be discussed in detail in the remaining sections of this paper. According to the Competing Values Framework, the first step toward improvement is understanding your strengths, weaknesses and “blind spots” (Cameron, Quinn, Degraff, & Thakor, 2014).
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Significant Gaps
The results of the cumulative results of the MBP survey did identify some gaps between my self-assessment and the assessments performed by my colleagues as seen in Figure 1.2.
There were three areas identified where I ranked myself slightly higher than my associates. The area with the biggest discrepancy between my assessment and my colleagues was in the Monitor category with the associated behavior of expecting accurate work. Working as a compliance coordinator in an acute care laboratory, part of my job was to ensure the testing personnel were reporting timely, accurate test results. Within the hospital laboratory strict adherence to proper policy and procedure are required to ensure patient safety. I think based on the results of the gaps, I have a realistic view of these three leadership behaviors, however, under the category of hidden strengths, the gasps were a bit larger. Under hidden strengths there were five statement where my colleagues ranked me higher than I did myself (Figure 1.2).
The highest-ranking competency was in the Driver category, emphasizing speed. While I have always thought that accuracy is more important in work, I do not like procrastination and tend to address issues or concerns as they occur. One of the hidden strengths identified was in the competency of competitor. Interestingly, this same quality is identified as a weakness later in this report, which indicates to me that perhaps I am a bit more critical of my leadership skills than my coworkers as Figure 1.5 illustrates in the section on balance.
Strengths
All four of these competencies ranked at a t 14.7 out of 15. Two of these four catagories, Driver and Facilitator were identified as two of my hidden strengths. According to the MBP, producers are characterized as having a hard work ethic, drivers emphasize speed, facilitators encourage particpation and regualtors clarify policy. All of these behaviors are important qualities to have in the medical field. Regulator is important because strict policy and procedures must be followed to ensure accurate pateient results. The process of specimen collection, processing and testing requries coordination, speed, and a good work ethic in order to get a physician an accurate and timely result.
Impediments
Competitor was my lowest ranking score by myself as well as my colleagues. This was not a surprise for me because I have never felt the need to compete at work in the sense of having to be the best at something. However, one of the competencies listed in the compete category is showing a hard work ethic, which was ranked as one of my highest scores from my colleagues. I tend to think if I have a good work ethic and by doing my job to the best of my ability, everything else takes care of itself. The most concerning to me of the lowest scores were probably the motivator and empathizer. These are two qualities that I think are important for a good leader to possess because they are part of the foundation of a relationship.
Balance
Within the Competing Values Framework, there are four basic dimensions of leadership; Collaborate, Create, Control, and Compete. A good leader will be well balanced in all four areas (Cameron, Quinn, Degraff, & Thakor, 2014). Figure 1.5 shows the combined results from my self-assessment and the 360 report for my overall leadership orientation.
These results demonstrate that my strongest leadership orientation is in the control category. I was not surprised by this result as most of my career was spent in the health care industry. Author, Jeff DeGraff says that professions that typically fall into the control orientation are medical professionals and engineers because they are process driven and mistakes can cause loss of human life (Cameron, Quinn, Degraff, & Thakor, 2014). Leadership behaviors under the control category include, regulator, monitor and coordinator as seen in Figure 1.6. My lowest scoring orientation was in the Compete category. As discussed in the Impediments section, my job does not require me to compete, which is why I ranked competitor so low which may have slightly skewed that category in the combined results. A better overall balance is demonstrated in Figure 1.6 where each individual behavior is ranked.
Leadership Action Plan
This Managerial Behavior Profile assignment has provided some very good insight into my future as a leader. I have identified some strengths, known and hidden, that I will continue to demonstrate as well as areas that I can refine over the next five years.
- In the health care profession, control is necessary and expected, so I would like to focus on becoming a leader more focused on employee relationships (showing more empathy at work). As Richard Goossen says in the book Entrepreneurial Leadership, “leadership is rooted in relationships” (Goossen & Stevens, 2013). Empathy is about establishing trust and being a good listener. Sometimes in the busyness of the day, I tend to be more task driven than relationship driven. In Mark 10:43-44, Jesus says “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be a slave of all”.
- I would like to work on being more innovative toward the way work is done. While my peers ranked me higher than I did myself, this was still one of my lowest scoring competencies. One of the open ended comments I received from one of my superiors was that they would like to see me “engage in discussions that will spark new ways of doing things in my specific area to improve outcomes as well as discussions on strategic planning for the organization.” Improving in this area should help me with my third goal.
- Even though my job does not require me to directly compete as in a competition, I think this is still something I could work on improving. Innovation creates better products or services which creates a competitive advantage.
Conclusion
Tools such as the Managerial Behavior Profile and Competing Values Framework, give leaders an opportunity to see how their own perceptions of their leadership behaviors may differ than peer’s perceptions. One of the authors of Competing Values Leadership says that the first step toward improvement is understanding your strengths, weaknesses and “blind spots” which is what the MBP and Competing Values Framework is designed to do. This assignment has helped me to see where I am doing a good job of leadership and where I need to improve. The most effective leaders are well balance in all quadrants. I want to be remembered as an effective leader who was able to inspire other people to become a leader.
References
- Cameron, K. S., Quinn, R. E., Degraff, J., & Thakor, A. V. (2014). Competing Values Leadership 2nd Ed. Northhampton: Edward Elgar.
- Goossen, R. J., & Stevens, R. P. (2013). Entrepreneurial Leadership – Finding Your Calling, Making a Difference. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books.
