Test: Is Your Boss a Bold Leader or a Flaky Bureaucrat?

A new study led by Kevin Wilde, Chief Learning Officer at global food-maker, General Mills and author of Dancing with the Talent Stars, found that managers who excel at a) providing clear strategic direction and b) taking bold, decisive action are eight times more likely to be excellent leaders.

If you feel like your team at work or your career is in a rut or on a plateau, whether or not your boss possesses these two skills is a good place to start looking for the root cause.

Dynamic Duo

Wilde's results should not be terribly surprising. In a study reported by the Wall Street Journal in 2009, Strategic Thinking topped the list of most important skills for modern managers. A huge body of empirical evidence that I've written about before also indicates that people who possess an innately decisive mindset perform better on measures of everything from sales and customer service to annual incomes and job satisfaction.

What is so fascinating about Wilde’s research is his discovery of what happens when you combine these two skills in a single leader. His analysis of more than 20,000 managers from a cross-section of industries and job levels found that only one percent of managers who demonstrated sound strategic judgment were high-performing leaders if they failed to demonstrate decisive action. If that clear sense of strategic direction remains hidden between said leader’s ears, it is impossible to generate results. On the flipside, only 11% of decisive managers who lacked sound strategic judgment were among that elite group of top-performing leaders. The grimmest finding of all may be that those managers who excel in neither skill have zero chance of becoming an excellent leader, regardless of their other gifts.

But when a leader demonstrates both skills, you get what we call Strategic Behavior--a habitual pattern of strategic thinking and decisive action. And Strategic Behavior changes everything.

Strategic Behavior

A remarkable 88% of managers who have nothing else in common except the twin abilities to think strategically and act decisively end up in the top 10% of highest performing leaders across job levels, companies, and industries. That means when a leader learns how to transform those sharp strategic thoughts into bold decisive actions, it changes the entire competitive landscape for her team, and her organization.

So what kind of boss do you have?  Answer the questions below to find out.

1. My Boss…

a. Usually picks one big priority he wants our team to focus on.

b. Sometimes states a clear top priority.

c. Rarely clarifies what our top priority is.

d. Treats everything as a priority, which really means that nothing is a priority.

2. My Boss…

a. Often articulates our team’s role in the organization’s big picture strategy.

b. Occasionally connects the dots between our team and the organization’s strategy.

c. Rarely shows our team how our role fits within the big picture of the organization.

d. Never gives us any clue about why we need to do what we’re doing.

3. My boss…

a. Has a real knack for deciding which opportunities and issues most need our focus.

b. Doesn’t usually get distracted by trivial issues. 

c. Has a hard time distinguishing between real emergencies and minor hiccups.

d. Treats every issue like it’s urgent, all the time.  

4. My boss…

a. Is really good at killing pet projects that don’t align with our strategic direction.

b. Sometimes calls out pet projects that are potential distractions for our team.

c. Sometimes gets sucked into projects that don’t fit with our current focus. 

d. Chases pet projects like a dog chases cars.

5. My boss…

a. Typically acts very decisively.

b. Usually has little trouble making decisions.

c. Rarely makes decisions without waffling first.

d. Is the textbook definition of “indecisive.” 

6. My boss…

a. Almost always holds him/herself accountable for making leadership decisions.

b. Usually accepts responsibility for making leadership decisions.

c. Sometimes passes off responsibility to his/her boss or others on our team.

d. Avoids accountability like the plague. 

7. My boss…

a. Rarely puts off making tough decisions.

b. Sometimes delays tough decisions.

c. Often creates bottlenecks on our team by avoiding tough decisions.

d. Is nowhere to be found when a tough decision needs to be made.

8. My boss…

a. Is not afraid to ruffle some feathers when necessary to pursue an opportunity.

b. Has been known to push the envelope from time-to-time.

c. Rarely makes decisions without total consensus.

d. Does far more hiding than deciding.

Give your boss:

4 points for every"a";

3 points for every "b";

2 points for every "c";

1 point for every "d."

27-32 – Your boss is a keeper. 

You may not always agree with your boss on everything, and sometimes his/her boldness might come across kind of tough or callous, but s/he demonstrates that decisiveness for sound strategic reasons that aren’t political or mean-spirited. In the end, your team gets results and that will be a huge asset for your career.

22-26 – Your boss is solid.

Overall, your boss has a good understanding of what needs to get done to build momentum for your team. S/he sets priorities and holds everyone—including his/herself accountable—for making the decisions that will make you all successful. Your boss probably has some room to grow, but in general s/he is doing pretty well for your team.

16-21 – Your boss could be more effective.

Your boss doesn’t usually set clear priorities for your team, and may struggle to make timely decisions.  It could be that s/he has a such a strong need for social acceptance that s/he has a hard time telling anyone “no” which is critical to both strategic prioritizing and decision-making.  Or it could simply be that your boss has never received proper training on these skills. Whatever the case, your best bet is to stay focused on your most important projects and tactfully help drive team decisions.

15 or below – Your boss is holding you back.

His/her shortcomings could have many causes. Your boss could be far too political in which case s/he is always trying to fly under the radar and cover his/her you-know-what.  Or the most challenging scenario is that your boss is just really, really nice.  In an effort to try to please everyone all the time, s/he won’t kill anyone’s distracting pet projects and won’t make a decision until the team reaches total agreement…which may never happen.  If you really like your boss, you might want to talk with him/her about this and offer to help put together a gameplan. If your relationship is not so solid, you might just need to grin and bear it until you can find a different position.