It is high time that organizations start aggressively cranking up the dial on their Leadership Quotient (LQ) right now!
Turbocharging LQ does not mean doing more of what has typically been done in the past; i.e., delivering on the Leadership Development needs via 'flavor of the month', 'episodic intervention', 'proxy high potential associate perks' events. It also will not be solved by the more recent big tech interventions of constructing HR 'data lakes' hydrated with employee metrics and learning content. I am grateful for and am thrilled there is a 'HR Analytics' buzz these days; reminds me of the 'Big Data' buzz from all those years ago. This is a significant and important step in the right direction but is not enough.
We are getting better and better at investing in and understanding "what" is happening with our leaders and "where" we think they will land. The big missing piece for me in all this is that there is no discussion in upgrading our capabilities on understanding the "how" to impact the "what". The focus ought to be learning "how" as well and that is when I would consider LQ turbocharged.
Let me lay out my point via an example of one tool. Organizations have leveraged Gallup's Employee Engagement Survey ever since the framework was discussed in the 1999 book, “First, Break All the Rules,” by two Gallup researchers, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. According to their research "there are 12 needs managers can meet to improve employees' productivity." The engagement survey that collects data on these 'needs' is also referred to as the 'Gallup Q12.' Some organizations have collected this data for 10+ years. Basis this data evidence, there has been extensive research done to show that the Q12 data is significantly and inversely correlated to employee attrition. In effect what we have gotten pretty good at teaching organizations, via tools like the 'Gallup Q12', is that leaders must aspire to get high(er) Q12 scores to drive higher retention. Nothing wrong by itself but what is puzzling is what we leave out. What is often times left out, and in my opinion this is the lynchpin of leadership development, is evaluating the leaders themselves on their 'capability' and 'capacity' to drive high(er) Q12 scores. What is also puzzling is how completely taken for granted, in todays leadership deployment initiatives, is the action step of teaching our leaders "how" to drive high(er) Q12 scores.
To be fair, Gallup does provide some perspective but does not go far enough. So let us take the example one level lower. Qn#1 (of the 'Q12') is associates rating themselves on how much "I know what is expected of me at work" with the implicit understanding that the ratings (high or low) are attributed to the ability of their leaders to communicate this to them. Further, Gallup explains that "... most effective managers define and discuss the explicit and implicit expectations for each employee. They paint a picture of outstanding performance and help employees recognize how their work leads to the success of their coworkers, their business area and the entire organization." The "what" of what effective leaders must aspire to is super clear. The glaring gap, on the other hand, and where tools like the 'Gallup 12' don't go far enough, is in identifying, evaluating and teaching leaders the "behaviors" (capabilities) and "business practices" (capacity) to land the "what" consistently in a way that these become predictive & prescriptive. Doing this will make leaders and organizations effective at improving "employee' productivity".
This "how" gap must be addressed right now. The good news is that this gap is being addressed by combining deep Leadership Development expertise with Consumer Insights and robust Analytics creating a new genre of Leadership Development tied to Business Impact Analytics. A pathway where organizations can tie Leadership Development intervention initiatives to top-line and bottom-line business outcomes has been laid. Do you want to learn more?
If so, reach out as it is time to turbocharge our Leadership Quotient!
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