Leadership Mindset Assessment

It seems that an epidemic of negative thinking has swept through corporate America and is infecting the ranks of employees at all types of organizations—from IT and healthcare to financial services and higher education. The mantra we frequently hear nowadays is, “We don’t have enough resources to get it done.”

It is true that most businesses are strapped and this has become the new norm. But what’s more concerning is that organizations lack the resourcefulness to achieve strategic objectives—and they’ll never realize them without a dramatic mindset change.

The truth is that executives and their teams have the ability to transform adversity into opportunity, creating powerful solutions to seemingly impossible problems. Since the primary obstacle standing in the way is what is going on in between each employee’s ears,  how can leaders assess mindset?

To help answer that question, I created the 10-question "Leadership Mindset Assessment." Rate yourself one to 10 on the 10 questions below. Choose one if you either don’t have this item or don’t do it, and 10 if you do this regularly and or have it in place. Tally and record your score.

1. I have a clearly defined and communicated leadership purpose.
2. I am currently and actively engaged in growing my leadership mindset and skillset.
3. I devote a minimum of 10 percent of my workweek to thinking holistically and strategically.
4. I set, pursue and accomplish my priorities with fun and enthusiasm.
5. I track leadership results and share them with a trusted partner weekly.
6. The people I interact with most say I infuse hope, confidence and optimism into the workplace.
7. I read broadly and welcome opposing viewpoints and perspectives.
8. I’m committed to having a positive impact on one person’s life, both personally and professionally, daily.
9. I am comfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity.
10. I am having fun, love life and savor my personal and professional life.

Your raw score today isn’t supremely important. Rather the trend in your score is what matters. So ask yourself these additional questions to evaluate your score:

1. Where am I today on the results of my assessment?
2. Where was I one year ago? If your score has ave gone up, do more of what you’re doing! If your score has gone down, it’s likely your job has changed, your responsibilities have changed or something in your family life has changed. I say that because most people don’t just fall of the tracks, something has happened. The follow up question is, “What prompted me to have a lower score one year later, and what can I do about it?”
3. Where do I want to be in one year? When you answer this question, you can identify one of the 27 strategies from the special report and implement that to help you master your mindset.

Take some time today to complete the Leadership Mindset Assessment and ask yourself the three analysis questions. When you do, you’re going to gain insights and know what to implement.

Hugh Blane is the president of Claris Consulting, a leadership advisory firm in Seattle. His forthcoming book is titled 7 Principles of Transformational Leadership: Creating the mindset of passion, innovation and growth. If you liked this post, you may also want to download the Mastering Your Mindset report.