“At assessment centers, leaders go through simulations and must exhibit behaviors that reflect a leadership position,” said Richard Wellins, Senior Vice President, DDI. “Different from survey results, the results gathered from assessment center data represent a more accurate, predictive picture of what is required to perform effectively as a leader. As such, this report measures how leaders around the world are really behaving and clearly identifies areas for improvement.”
Common Interaction Mistakes Leaders Make
The research concludes that the ability to facilitate effective conversations is critical at every level of leadership. As part of a core set of interaction skills, this behavior must be mastered in order to build relationships and get work done. Senior leaders have not mastered these skills and are no better off, even though they have been at it longer.
Ninety percent of executives act before checking their understanding of an issue and are ineffective at inviting ideas from others. For frontline leaders, the trend was similar. Only 11 percent of executives successfully preserve their colleagues’ self-esteem and display empathy demonstrating interpersonal diplomacy. Frontline leaders fair only slightly better in these areas.
Why Interactions Go Bad—Missteps and Derailers that Trip Up Effective Conversations
Leaders lack the fundamental frameworks, skills, and tools to have effective conversations. While they can identify what constitutes a good and bad conversation, our research confirms that leaders struggle to incorporate these behaviors when required. Common missteps that leaders at all levels of an organization trip through—what we call the 7 Interaction Sins—are: jumping straight to fixing the problem; one size fits all approach; avoiding the tough issues; inconsistent application across different contexts; influencing through the facts only; spotting opportunity for change but not engaging others; and neglecting to coach in the moment.
Research also indicates that leaders may lack the self-awareness of personal characteristics that can derail their intentions. It identifies 11 personality derailers that impact leadership performance at all organizational levels. The derailers most likely to negatively impact a leaders’ performance include: impulsivity, volatility, eccentricity, and attention- seeking. While derailers tend to play a larger role in senior-leader failure, our research uncovered it can wreak havoc at any level.