Psychological tests for leaders. Test to identify the organizational skills of the head test on the topic. Criteria test validity
When managing a team, managers are more likely to be fascinated by the status and exciting functionality of the leader than by caring about the quality of management services provided.
Nevertheless, the leader is responsible for the competent implementation of management. After all, even if the organization has a strong leader who will inspire the team, show the goal and challenge it, it is pointless to count on a good result without effective implementation of the processes.
Will management skills pass the test?
To become a great manager, you need to have a wide range of skills - from planning and delegation to communication and motivation. From this list, it is enough to apply only some of the components and this will already give some kind of result. But if the goals are more global, and ambitions do not allow you to be content with little, then you need to develop yourself in all facets of managing people.
Before starting any development, it is important to transparently understand the level of ownership of each competence that is significant in management. This approach will allow you to hit right on target, saving time on analyzing illusions and images of an imaginary result. The test below will help you evaluate your strengths and weaknesses, thereby making the most of the former and managing the latter.
Instructions for the test
There are 20 statements in the test. For each of them, you need to write out the score of the answer that most corresponds to reality. When taking the test, it is important to describe the actual situation, and not the one in which you would like to be and which is considered correct. At the end of the test, you need to sum up the resulting scores.
Test:
| 20 statements | Never | Seldom | Sometimes | Often | Is always | |
| 1 | When I have a problem, I try to solve it myself before asking my boss what to do. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | When I delegate work, I give it to the one who has more windows in the schedule. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 3 | I correct team members whenever I see their behavior negatively impacting customer service. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 4 | I make decisions after careful analysis rather than relying on intuition. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 5 | I do not let the team waste a lot of time discussing strategies and assigning roles, many changes can still occur during the implementation of tasks. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 6 | I wait before disciplining an employee by giving them a chance to improve on their own. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | Being able to do the job that my employees do perfectly is the skills I need to be an effective manager. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 8 | I take the time to discuss with the team what is going well and what needs to be improved. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 9 | During meetings, I take on the role of facilitator/facilitator when necessary. This helps the team reach a better understanding of the issue or come to a consensus. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 10 | I fully understand how business processes work in my department and eliminate bottlenecks. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 11 | When it comes to putting together a team, I determine what skills are needed and look for people who best fit the selected criteria. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 12 | I do my best to avoid conflicts within the team. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 13 | I try to motivate people by adapting my approaches to them to meet the needs of each employee. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 14 | When the team makes a big mistake, I report it to the boss, and then I analyze the importance of the lesson learned. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 15 | When a conflict arises in a new team, I perceive it as an inevitable stage in the process of its development. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 16 | I discuss with team members their individual goals, and combine this with the goals of the entire organization. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 17 | If I form a team, I choose similar personalities, ages, tenure with the company, and other characteristics. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 18 | I think that the statement: "If you want to do it well, do it yourself" is true. | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 19 | I find an individual approach to everyone to ensure efficient, comfortable and productive work. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 20 | I inform team members about what is happening in the organization. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
Result:
| score | Interpretation |
| 20 — 46 | Managerial skills urgently need to be improved. If there is a goal to become an effective leader, you need to learn how to organize and control the work of the team. Now is the best time to develop these skills and increase the success of the team. |
| 47 — 73 | The right way to become a good manager has been chosen. A number of competencies have already been successfully developed and provide a certain amount of comfort at work. Along with this, certain skills and abilities still need pumping. It is necessary to focus on those elements where the lowest score was obtained. |
| 74 — 100 | There is a strong work in team management! It is important not to stop there and continue to build your skills. Competencies with a lower score are what are waiting for work to be improved! |
Effective management requires a wide range of skills, all of which are complementary. The manager's task is to develop and maintain all these competencies in order to guide the team to achieve a stable result. It is important to remember: as soon as development stops, degradation begins! Below is a brain booster to become even stronger and more professional as a leader.
Effective management model
The test is based on eight critical management skills. These are precisely the foundations, the secret of success, which demonstrates aerobatics in managing people.
Understanding team dynamics and building good relationships.
Selection and development of personnel.
Effective delegation.
People motivation.
Discipline management and conflict management.
Information exchange.
Planning, decision making and problem solving.
Understanding team dynamics and building good relationships
Questions: 5, 15, 17
Competent management implies awareness of the principles of team work. As a rule, each team adheres to a certain development model:
1) Formation.
2) Conflicts.
3) Rationing.
4) Execution (effective work).
It is important to encourage the passage of each stage of development, this contributes to the rapid formation of an effective team. When forming a team, the role of the manager is to ensure a balance in the recruitment of the diverse skills of the members of the group. Undoubtedly, it is easier to manage a homogeneous group, but only with the maximum heterogeneity of people can mistakes be almost completely avoided. The most valuable competence in this direction will be the ability to direct all the differences in the right direction.
Selection and development of people
Questions: 11, 17
Finding the right people and leveling them up is the shortest path to success. Systematic training and analysis of the need for it quickly bring the team to a new level.
Effective Delegation
Questions: 2, 18
Some managers, especially those who have risen from lower positions, tend to do most of the work themselves. They are convinced that only this will allow to produce a high-quality result. In such cases, a valuable rule is forgotten: a leader is needed for management, not execution. And the team can achieve much more if all the work is distributed to the right people, and not concentrated on one person. Sometimes it is difficult to trust, in this case it helps to realize that if the team has selected the right functionality, people are trained and motivated, as a rule, the work will be done with high quality.
people motivation
Questions: 13, 19
Another essential skill to manage is motivation. Motivating yourself and someone else are completely different things. It must be remembered that motivation is individual and what warms one is completely uninteresting to another. Just as life values and goals differ, so do the ways of motivation. If a warm trusting relationship has developed with team members, then motivation will not be difficult.
Discipline management and conflict management
Questions: 3, 6, 12
Sometimes, despite all efforts, some subordinates experience difficulties in their work: systematic failures, underperformance. If you close your eyes, let things take their course, do not correct and do not correct such failures, then this will negatively affect the entire team. Staff motivation is reduced when someone who consistently fails to meet expectations works alongside them.
There are frequent cases when direct conflicts arise between employees due to differences in values. The task of the manager is not to panic, but to facilitate the solution of the situation. But it is important to remember that disagreements also have a positive side, they highlight systemic problems and places of possible failure in the organization. In any case, confrontation requires dealing with the cause of the disagreement, rather than suppressing the symptoms or avoiding them.
Information exchange
Questions: 8, 9, 16, 20
The ability to communicate, convey information correctly is significant in any profession, but for a manager it is of particular value. It is necessary to convey to the team everything that is happening within the company. Employees need to understand the nature of decisions made, job changes and other situations. This not only eradicates rumors, discussing issues allows you to establish contact.
Planning, decision making and problem solving
Questions: 4, 10
This competence acquires special significance when the leader is promoted from an ordinary employee. At the initial stages, priorities go from planning and solving team issues to rocking yourself as a former specialist. Without changing priorities in development, without switching to swinging managerial skills, you can very quickly get into a puddle and return to your previous position. You need to constantly make sure that you are focused on the most important thing!
How to avoid common manager mistakes
Questions: 1, 7, 14
Building interaction in a team helps to avoid a number of difficulties and simplifies the procedures. A common mistake is the unwillingness to think your own is ready and the inability to ask yourself the question “What can I do to solve the situation myself?”. Often novice managers knock on the thresholds of their leaders, urging them to solve a problem that has arisen, thereby distracting them from completing more global strategic tasks.
Another mistake is the shift in development priorities when moving from a line employee to a leadership position. It is necessary to say “stop” to yourself in time, otherwise the entire routine of the department can fall on the shoulders of the manager, because he will try not to teach others to do tasks correctly, but to take on more obligations than he should.
Delegating, motivating, communicating, and understanding team dynamics are some of the key skills a leader needs. With these skills, along with patience and a developed sense of balance, they reach incredible heights in management.
DIAGNOSTICS OF MANAGEMENT ABILITIES
EAT. BORISOVA, G.P. LOGINOVA, M.O. MDIVANI
The professional activity of a manager, which has always been considered one of the most meaningful, interesting and prestigious abroad, in recent years has begun to receive a similar assessment in our country, is gaining popularity, and is increasingly called high school students among the most attractive.
A very large number of publications in our country and abroad are devoted to the study of the features of this activity, the conditions and factors for achieving success in it (, , , , , etc.). It can be stated that the psychological characteristics of the activities of the leader, manager have been studied quite fully. Therefore, when studying the psychological content of their work, we relied on the already available and generalized data on the activities and professionally important qualities of managers at various levels and on our own empirical results.
All studies of professional qualities of managers known to us from publications were conducted either on the basis of a complex of well-known diagnostic methods (D. Wexler's test, R. Cattell's questionnaire, etc.), which, in our opinion, did not allow us to fully identify the specifics of the structure of specialists' abilities this profile, or using questionnaires, the reliability and validity of which have not been proven.
Since we are not aware of any domestic test of special abilities intended for managers, the original General Managerial Ability Test (OTUS) was developed. Foreign tests, such as, for example, the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), cannot be used not only for reasons of socio-cultural differences, but also because foreign managers have advanced very far in professionalism compared to ours, and the criteria for professionally important qualities adopted in Russia do not fully meet their standards.
M. Shaw distinguishes general (intellectual) and special abilities; there is evidence that managers with an average level of intelligence work most effectively. According to R.L. Krichevsky, a high-level leader should have high intelligence, but it should not be so much theoretical intelligence (which, in fact, is revealed by classical tests), but practical. Among the special abilities are awareness, competence, special skills.
R. L. Krichevsky, referring to R. Stogdill, highlights the most important qualities of a leader: "Dominance, self-confidence, emotional balance, stress resistance, creativity, striving for achievement, enterprise, responsibility, reliability in performing tasks, independence, sociability"; A.G. Shmelev et al. - intelligence, competence, activity, energy, self-control, sociability; A.U. Kharash - independence of judgments and decisions, the ability to accept and master new things, focus on business (business orientation), respect for the personality of another person, the ability to find an individual approach to each subordinate, readiness to assist and empathize, "dialogic", t .e. constant readiness to listen and understand another person, to take into account his point of view when making his own decision. Among the qualities that interfere with the leader, conformity, rigidity, suggestibility, authoritarianism, formalism, egocentrism, "monologic" are listed. Thus, in many authors we find similar features that are singled out as the most important for a leader: intellect. independence, activity, ability to work with people, etc. It should be borne in mind that different levels and profiles of managers can introduce specifics into this list.
To clarify the list of professional abilities and personality traits of the manager, a study was conducted on a sample of 20 highly qualified managers. They were asked to fill out a questionnaire developed on the basis of an analysis of literature data and the results of individual interviews with professors from the MGIMO School of Business. The experts were asked to rate the qualities listed in the questionnaire as follows: “not necessary at all” (0 points), “more likely not than yes” (1 point), “moderately necessary” (2 points), “definitely necessary” (3 points). ), "necessary to the maximum extent" (4 points).
Based on the analysis, a number of qualities were identified that are most important for the successful implementation of professional management activities. First of all, this is a fairly high intelligence. It provides the ability to perceive and analyze a variety of information, systematize and summarize it, quickly grasp the meaning of documents, orders, clearly formulate the goals of the activity, predict the development of the situation, evaluate the consequences of one’s decisions, organize the activities of other people, build a logical system of evidence, if necessary, convince subordinates of one’s own rightness. At the same time, an important feature of the leader's thinking is the ability to produce new ideas, to be able to see elements of novelty and creativity in the activities of other people ("hunting for ideas"), which is closest to the concept of creativity.
Equally important are systematic, analytic thinking, its flexibility and plasticity, which allow abandoning the usual stereotypes of behavior when the situation changes, as well as readiness for learning, mastering new knowledge, techniques and ways of working.
Among the personal characteristics, the experts identified the following: dominance (the ability to influence other people, "inspire subordinates"), self-confidence, perseverance and the ability to convince, restraint, the ability not to lose self-control in an extreme situation, the ability not to exaggerate the difficulties and obstacles to achieving goals, but to look for ways to overcome them, business orientation, the desire to take responsibility. Activity, the ability to manage one's emotions and behavior were also highlighted.
Among the dynamic features of mental processes, the most important are the ability for long-term hard work (high performance), speed of thinking, the ability to quickly engage in new activities and switch from one type to another, emotional balance, avoidance of impulsive reactions.
Thus, three main blocks of professionally important qualities of a leader were identified: intellectual (competence, analytical thinking), personal (leadership, resistance to frustrations, activity, business orientation) and dynamic (strength and lability of nervous processes).
Of course, the test developed by us cannot include all professionally important abilities, but it covers a fairly large range of them.
When developing a test for diagnosing the corresponding "qualities, we used three questionnaires known in psychology: 1) to identify the threshold of activity, 2) the severity of the achievement motive, and 3) the strength of the nervous system. The remaining seven subtests are the original developments of the three authors of the test.
Thus, the test included ten subtests. Intellectual abilities were studied using four subtests: "Awareness", "Analogies", "Classifications" and "Generalizations". When selecting concepts for these subtests, we held consultations with MGIMO teachers, who helped to outline the range of terms from the field of economics, politics and jurisprudence. Along with the latter, some socio-political and scientific-cultural concepts were included. We proceeded from the fact that their possession is necessary for the competent implementation of managerial and legislative activities in modern conditions. The terms introduced into the test are not highly specialized, they are now "on hearing" for everyone, they are constantly used in the media.
Let us give examples of tasks for each of the subtests aimed at diagnosing the level of development of conceptual thinking.
1. Subtest "Analogies" - three words are offered; there is a certain logical connection between the first two; it is necessary for the third word to choose one of the proposed to choose from and marked with the letters a, b, c, d, e concepts to establish a similar connection.
Price increase: cost increase = bankruptcy: ?
a) decrease in profits;
b) profitability;
c) inability to pay debts;
d) poverty;
d) loss.
2. Subtest "Classification" - you require "to choose two words out of six, which are combined by one general concept of the highest category:
a) a democrat
c) urbanist;
d) reservist;
e) a monarchist;
e) Buddhist.
3. Subtest "Generalization" (it is required to generalize two concepts according to the most common feature):
A share is a bond.
4. Subtest "Awareness" - it is necessary to insert the proposed pair of concepts instead of the missing words in the sentence:
Good ... knows how to clearly articulate ...
a) broker - loans;
b) broker - rates;
c) manager - goals;
d) producer - resources;
e) manager - prices.
To study the features of operating with quantitative relations, the flexibility of thinking, the ability to switch from one algorithm to another, the subtest "Number series" was used (this subtest was used only when testing students). For example, it was necessary to continue the numerical series:
47 39 32 26 21 17 ...
To diagnose the manifestations of nervous system lability, a special subtest was developed, in which it was required to follow a series of simple instructions as quickly and accurately as possible. The subject had to follow as many simple instructions as possible in a limited time. For example: "Underline the second letter and in the word legitimacy. Write here ... any letter of the English alphabet except the letter k, and here ... write the word no if the result 144:12=12 is the correct answer. If Feuerbach is not a poet , then underline all the vowels in the word license ".
The legitimacy of using this type of tasks for diagnosing the manifestation of the lability of nervous processes in mental and speech activity was proved in the study by V.T. Kozlova.
To identify resistance to frustration, the style of responding to emerging barriers and obstacles, a special test was developed by analogy with the Rosenzweig test, which includes 20 situations. In contrast to the Rosenzweig test, which assumes free wording of answers, all drawings were accompanied by answer options, one of which was chosen by the subject.
In eleven cases, frustrating situations caused by the accusation and the presentation of claims were asked. Extrapunitive, intrapunitive and impunitive reactions of the subject were recorded. The predominance of extrapunitive reactions was considered by us as a sign of aggressiveness, conflict, the desire to blame other people or circumstances. Intrapunitive reactions indicated a tendency to self-accusation, anxiety, self-doubt; impunity (or neutral) - about resistance to frustrating influences, the ability to cope with them without falling into self-flagellation or aggression.
In nine cases, situations of the occurrence of an obstacle or an obstacle were set.
on the way to achieving goals. Three ways of responding to it were envisaged: fixation, when an obstacle is perceived as insurmountable, causes acute emotional experiences, blocking the adoption of the right decision; leaving, when the barrier does not affect the emotional sphere, does not personally affect, but no attempts are made to overcome it (it is, as it were, depreciated by the subject); business response, which involves an active search to overcome the obstacle and find the optimal solution.
To determine the ability to assess the causes and consequences of events, the ability to take responsibility, make the right decisions, 10 problem situations were developed, presented in writing. Each was a short story about some important and dramatic event that happened in a particular small group (formal or informal) or established team. To resolve a difficult situation, answers were offered that implied the choice of a certain strategy for the leader's behavior. Situations were designed in such a way that the right decision could require an authoritarian, democratic, or even conniving style of managerial decision-making. At the same time, the adoption of some of them required the help of experts, the need to involve which was also determined by the head. Thus, the subtest allowed not only to reveal the ability to choose the right decision in a difficult situation, but also to determine the prevailing leadership style. To make the right decision, the subject needed the ability to analyze the situation, the consequences of his decisions for each member of the team.
Let's take an example of one of the situations.
"After a long interstellar expedition, the spacecraft returns to Earth, where a thousand years have passed during this time. On board the ship, the commander and crew, who over the long years of flight have become a close-knit highly qualified team. When approaching the solar system, the commander receives a confidential message from Earth, in which it is said that during the absence of the ship on Earth, irreversible environmental changes have occurred and civilization in the form familiar to people no longer exists.Intelligent life on the planet has been preserved in another form - energy - and created a new civilization on the planet.The new inhabitants of the Earth offer their help to the team either to transfer each member of the crew into an energy form, or to create a reservation for the team with the usual forms of flora and fauna.The commander is invited to inform the team himself about what happened.
What would you advise the commander to do in this situation?
A. Make a decision for the whole team and report it to Earth. The team is presented with a fait accompli.
B. Talk to each crew member, find out their personal preferences, and then make a decision for everyone.
C. Assemble a team, report the radiogram and listen to the collective opinion. After that, make your own decision.
D. Call the first assistant and the doctor of the expedition and together with them make a decision for everyone.
E. Assemble a team, report the radiogram and invite everyone to work out a joint decision, participating in this process as an ordinary member. "
In this case, the decision placed under the letter D, which is characteristic of the conniving style of managerial decisions, can be recognized as correct. It is true for the reason that every person has the right to choose his future on his own and the commander cannot take on this responsibility and decide the fate of people.
Thus, the developed test (OTUS) made it possible to diagnose the intellectual characteristics of managers (the level of conceptual thinking,
its analyticity); professionally important personal qualities - business orientation, resistance to frustration, leadership style; dynamic characteristics of the psyche (manifestation of strength and lability in mental and speech activity).
The test was tested for reliability and validity on samples of high school students with different training programs (more than 200 subjects) and groups of professional managers (more than 300 subjects). Satisfactory data were obtained for all parameters.
To identify the dynamics of the formation of professional abilities of managers, a comparative study of three samples of subjects was undertaken: students of the Faculty of Business Administration of the Institute of Business and Business Administration of the Academy of National Economy under the Government of the Russian Federation (44 people), a group of highly qualified managers who passed a special selection (16 people) and a group of managers of different levels, applying for work in the apparatus of the State Duma (329 people) (the survey of the last group was carried out jointly with M.K. Akimova, V.T. Kozlova, A.M. Raevsky).
To compare the results of diagnosing intellectual abilities, we compared the data obtained on a sample of students and established professionals. The overall success score of four subtests (awareness, analogy, classification, generalization) was calculated for each subject. Then these results were ranked within each sample separately and divided into five groups according to the success of the intellectual block of test items as follows: group 1 (high level of performance - 10%), group 2 (close to high - 20%), group 3 (average - 40%), group 4 (closer to low - 20%), group 5 (low level of performance - 10%). For each group, the upper and lower limit values of the total score for the four subtests of the intellectual block were allocated; for example, for students they turned out to be the following: 97-81, 80-67, etc. In table. 1 shows data on the ratio of indicators for these groups in samples of students and professionals.
In general, individual data for students range from 24 to 97, in the sample of managers - from 50 to 92, managers - from 14 to 107 points (such a strong scatter in the last sample is due to the fact that approximately one third of it was occupied by heads of various economic services and departments for which the development of practical rather than theoretical intelligence is more important.It is they who fall into groups 4 and 5.
As can be seen from Table. 1, according to the upper limit of indicators of the level of intelligence development, the best results were demonstrated by the managers of the State Duma, whose main function is to analyze diverse information, prepare various documents, reports to top management, hold meetings and conferences. The requirements of the profession for intellectual development are very high, therefore, the corresponding abilities are constantly improved and developed in the course of professional activity.
Table 1
Numerical score limits
Group numbers
students
Managers
Managers
The professional requirements for the intellectual abilities of managers are somewhat lower, they remain less in demand and, as a result, are less developed.
degree than in the previous group, except for business executives (groups 4 and 5 in the sample of managers).
In students, we observe a less pronounced development of intellectual professional abilities in all indicators, except for the upper limit value of group 1 (97 points). Then there is a gradual decrease in indicators for all groups in comparison with professionals. Indicators of the intellectual development of students are lower than those of the heads of economic services (with the exception of the lower limit value in group 5). Students demonstrated somewhat better results in the intellectual part of the test than managers, only in one case - in the upper limit of indicators in group 1. Thus, the results obtained allow us to state that under the influence of the professional activity of a manager, a directed formation of intellectual skills important for her takes place. The greater the demands made by the "working post", the specialization within the profession for these abilities, the more they are expressed among the established highly qualified specialists. Students' professional abilities are at the initial stage of formation.
We will continue our further analysis of the dynamics of professional abilities by comparing a group of students and managers as an example.
In order to compare the severity of individual professional abilities of established and novice professionals, we calculated the average indicators of the severity of each of them in the studied groups (Table 2).
table 2
The severity of individual professional abilities in established and novice professionals
students
Managers
Indicators
Intelligence (total score for four subtests)
Properties of the nervous system
Lability
Block of personal indicators
Achievement motivation
Activity threshold
extrapunity
Intrapunity Immunity
5,6(51%) 4,9(44%)
Fixation on the problem
Decision avoidance Business focus
1,7(18%) 3,4(37%)
Making decisions
For a more detailed comparison of the results obtained, we used not only the values of the arithmetic means, but also the modes and medians, which, as is known, provide additional information about the characteristics of the numerical series of indicators.
Then these data were converted into percentages (from the maximum indicator on each scale) and on their basis a graph of the "ideal" manager was drawn. This method of analyzing the results based on drawing an individual test profile is generally accepted in psychodiagnostics.
Of the presented in table. 2 results can be made certain
conclusions about the dynamics of the formation of professional abilities of representatives of managerial professions.
With regard to intellectual functions, the average data confirmed that they are more pronounced in professionals than in students (78% and 60% of tasks are completed, respectively, in these two samples. Due to the very large scatter of the data, it was not possible to obtain unambiguous mode and median indicators) .
Dynamic characteristics are represented by data on the strength and lability of nervous processes. We did not obtain differences in the severity of the strength of nervous processes, which can be partly explained by the not very high differentiating power of the J. Strelyau questionnaire, which we introduced into our test. Probably, it should be duplicated by another technique. At this stage of the study, we state the absence of differences in the severity of the strength of nervous processes in beginners and established representatives of managerial professions.
As for the lability of nervous processes, the predominant severity of the manifestation of this property in mental and speech activity among managers was revealed.
compared with students. This advantage appears in all indicators (arithmetic mean, mode and median). Moreover, the average indicator obtained in the group of students (45%) qualifies as the average severity of the property, and in the group of managers (60%) - as its high representation.
Let's consider the personal block of professionally important qualities. We did not find differences in the severity of achievement motivation in the samples; moreover, it is somewhat higher in the group of students. A possible explanation is that for a manager who has achieved success, the average level of achievement motive is the most optimal (as it is known, too strong motivation can reduce the effectiveness of activity in the same way as too low one). Students who are just starting their careers may have more pronounced motivation, since their achievements in the profession are yet to come.
The activity threshold of managers and students differs significantly in all indicators. As you know, the higher the threshold, the lower the activity. In the sample of managers, there is a higher indicator of activity than students. This suggests that professionals are in a state of constant readiness to act, high activity. As expected, activity is a professionally significant quality of a manager and is formed in the process of mastering a specialty.
Very expressive data were obtained on the parameters of resistance to frustrations. Established professionals turned out to be more resistant to frustrating influences.
So, they have practically no extrapunitive reactions, i.e. they are not characterized by aggressiveness, conflict, blaming other people or explaining failures by external circumstances. They are more likely than students to have expressed impunity, neutral reactions to frustration, which indicates the ability to resolve difficult situations, not to get hung up on frustrating stimuli. These qualities are especially valuable in working with people and are important for a leader of any rank. At the same time, the average severity of intrapunitiveness testifies against this background to an adequate assessment of oneself, an understanding of the possibilities of one's miscalculations, and a readiness to take the blame on oneself.
Differences in the tactics of overcoming obstacles on the way to achieving goals are less pronounced. However, managers have a lesser degree of fixation on the problem, which slows down the activity to find a way out of a difficult situation and there are somewhat fewer avoidances from solving the problem compared to students.
And finally, there are differences in the ability to find the right managerial decision in a difficult situation related to the team. If managers find the right way out in an extreme situation in an average of 40% of cases, then for students this figure reaches only 28%.
Thus, it can be stated that with the help of OTUS it was possible to identify the professionally important qualities of managers, which include three blocks: intellectual, dynamic and personal. Each of the blocks in this structure carries a certain load, but the share of each is ambiguous. Yes, the main
The "elements" of the blocks, judging by the data obtained in our study, should be recognized as intellectual abilities, lability of the nervous system in mental and speech activity, activity, resistance to frustration, and the ability to make the right managerial decisions.
These abilities are not given to a person initially, they are formed in the course of mastering a profession and are determined by the specifics of tasks, the content of which depends on specialization, work position. The resulting model of the manager's ability structure, however, should not be absolutized, since some of its elements are changeable and may vary depending on the specifics of individual qualities and socio-psychological conditions of professional self-determination.
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Received on January 30, 1996
source unknown
Many people think that when hiring a new manager for a job, he can only be evaluated after an interview and a trial period, but for a manager of any level - from the head of a department to the CEO - hiring tests can be even more relevant than for an ordinary employee.
Surveys of HR leaders conducted in 2018 showed that 72% of companies in Russia with more than 100 employees use testing when hiring. By 2020, this number is estimated to reach 85-87%.
And the higher the position for which the company is looking for an employee, the more likely it is that psychological tests and assessments will be used for the initial assessment of applicants.
According to SHL data for 2017, global recruitment tests are used to select candidates for 60% of entry-level positions and 75% of middle management positions, starting with department heads. For senior management positions, this figure is 81%.
In Russia, this distribution is slightly different: we use tests more to evaluate entry-level and departmental-level positions, while companies rely more on traditional recommendations, personal connections and business intelligence to select senior management. In Russia, employment tests are applied:
- for 66% of positions of the starting level (most of all in the banking sector - 81%);
- for 83% of entry and middle management positions;
- for 61% of senior management positions.
Thus, the chances of testing and an assessment center are the highest if you are applying for a job as an entry-level or middle-level manager - this is a large number of positions, they are fundamentally important for companies and they are the most competitive.
In this article, we will examine in detail the tests for just such positions - middle managers.
Goals of Tests for Executives
Companies use tests to find managers with the experience and skills needed to perform specific job responsibilities and quickly weed out the wrong people.
In addition to employers, tests for the competence of managers in Russia are now actively used by state competitions for managers. The most famous and popular among them is the Leaders of Russia competition. Read more about the managerial capacity test phase of this competition on HRLider:
What can you do to successfully pass these tests, get the job you want, and be able to grow quickly in your career?
First of all, do not try to deceive them by trying to fit in. It still won't work for you. But it is worth getting acquainted with such tests in order to better understand their format and, in general, increase your chances of passing them.
If you have already taken these tests before, then you are more likely to be able to show your best side. Also, according to the proposed tests, you will be able to better evaluate your potential job - this is a valuable source of information for a competent candidate.
Employers take job tests very seriously, you need to take them seriously too.
What do executive tests measure?
The first mention of exams for candidates for officials - prototypes of tests for leaders - are already found in ancient China of the Han Dynasty. The most famous developer of ancient tests for employment is Confucius and his followers in the imperial office of the Celestial Empire. In the leaders of that time, with the help of many tests, they were looking for intelligence, knowledge and moral integrity.
Tests of the modern type were introduced for the selection of officials and commanders in the military departments of the United States and England during the First World War, and after the Second World War this process became widespread in private business to evaluate leaders at all levels.
Currently, hiring tests are an integral part of the HR process in most large companies. The use of tests can significantly save time and resources for the initial assessment of applicants. It is a fast, accurate and objective way to screen a large number of candidates.
When evaluating applicants for leadership positions, companies primarily test three key qualities necessary for success: competence, work ethic, and emotional intelligence. While employers primarily look for these qualities in resumes, references, and interviews, they need more information to make a hiring decision. The success of the entire company depends on the quality of selection of employees for positions in management, and a resume and an interview alone are not enough here. Testing allows you to make a much more accurate prediction of the future success of a leader than an analysis of his education or experience.
Let's look at these three qualities that leaders need in more detail.
Competence
Competence is usually tested with intelligence tests, which are multiple choice questions or tasks. These are the so-called aptitude tests, which are designed to assess the general level of mental abilities of the candidate. They range from well-known IQ tests to highly specialized tests of certain knowledge and skills, but in general they are tasks for determining what you know, can do or will be able to do in the future.
The most common types of such tests are numerical, verbal and logical tests. For employers, these tools are a great addition to a resume, especially when all candidates have similar characteristics.
For you as a candidate, an important detail of aptitude tests is that you don't have to work them to perfection. Companies rely on them just to make sure that you have the right level of intellectual ability - you just need to get into the top of the best candidates. To do this, it is enough to score 80% or more of correct answers, which is quite achievable results after 3-4 days of preparation.
A relatively new trend is the use of psychological tests to assess executive candidates. Other names for such tests are situational or behavioral. Like intelligence tests, situational tests present you with a specific problem, but the answers represent several possible solutions to the problem, and none of them are unambiguously right or wrong. The criterion for the correctness of answers is determined by experts or representatives of the employer - they themselves determine which answers are valuable and which are not. Behavioral tests for executives are usually not limited in time and their focus is more on experience and knowledge than on general intellectual abilities. In addition, in situational tests, their content is related to the performance of a specific managerial role, while roles are not prescribed in ability tests.
To prepare for the case tests, you will need to study the values and principles of the company you are applying for - this is the same preparation that needs to be done before an interview.
work ethic
Most companies are looking for executives who are ambitious, reliable and trustworthy. These qualities of a middle manager determine not only his success in accomplishing his tasks, but also how well he will fit into the structure of the company and how well he will interact with other employees at all levels. To determine these qualities, questionnaires or questionnaires are usually used, such as psychological tests, which allow you to clarify typical patterns of behavior for the applicant in a particular situation. Such tests can show how a person will behave in a difficult work situation that requires a choice. For example, as in the task below - intervene or pass by - something that is very important to know for most employers.
I wrote "most" because there are companies looking for a more specific set of work ethic qualities. For example, Reckitt Benckiser, a well-known manufacturer of FMCG products, is looking for people who are “cool to the point of impossibility” to promote many of their brands, such as Durex, so that they can even act provocatively. This example is a reminder that different companies and different departments in the same company may be looking for different people for different tasks.
Since the psychologist Daniel Goleman introduced this concept, companies around the world have begun to pay great attention to this quality and this well-deserved attention. Many studies show that emotional intelligence is closely related to overall work performance, entrepreneurial potential, and leadership talent. For leaders of all levels, the importance of emotional intelligence is even higher, because a manager is someone who constantly interacts with different people.
Employers typically rate emotional intelligence in interviews, but a growing trend is the use of psychological tests for executives. Such behavioral tests may take the form of personality questionnaires or case tests with a detailed scenario and response options. Your choice of answers can create a very accurate and objective picture of your most likely behaviors when dealing with other people, such as in interpersonal conflicts. The main task of psychological tests for emotional intelligence is to determine how capable you are of empathy and understanding of the feelings of other people.
Case tests for managers can include a huge number of variations. They usually evaluate your ability to make decisions when under emotional pressure or in a situation of choosing the answer that is most appropriate within the framework of work etiquette.
Some companies have gone even further in applying case tests to executives. For example, Heineken uses them in real life when interviewing in the form of unforeseen or uncomfortable situations. This can take the form of a handshake that becomes too strong and intrusive, or when the interviewer who meets you is late for an appointment and then pretends not to notice you and walks past. These situations are actually situational tests designed to assess your emotional resilience, communication skills, and team spirit.
While some scenarios for executive behavioral tests may seem too simple and even silly, they allow employers to create a fairly accurate picture of a job applicant's emotional intelligence and responsiveness - qualities that are vital for certain roles and organizational cultures.
Types of situational tests for managers
There are several basic types of behavioral tests for leaders at all levels.
Most and Least Effective Answer
In this kind of psychological test, you are given a scenario that describes a problem and 4-5 answers suggesting your response to that scenario. You are required to determine the most and least effective response.
See the answer and explanation of this test at the end of the article. Try to find the answer yourself first.
Rating questions on the performance evaluation scale
In such questions, you need to rank all the answers from the most productive to the most counterproductive. Sometimes the same rating can only be used once, and sometimes more than once.
Rating questions that require answers to be ranked by performance from 1 to 5
Where 1 is the least efficient and 5 is the most efficient. Sometimes the same rating can only be used once, and sometimes more than once.
Most and least likely answer
A variation of the test with the most and least effective answers is the test with the most and least likely answers. They require you to identify the answers you are most likely to make and which you are least likely to make.
Tests with one correct answer
The main type of behavioral test for executives remains the test to determine the one correct answer - your first answer, your best answer, and so on.
See the answer and explanation of this test at the end of the article. Try to find the answer yourself first.
Once you understand the types of executive tests and the qualities that employers are trying to identify, here are some tips on how you can improve your ability to quickly and accurately solve executive behavior tests.
Practice
In preparation for the exam, students solve hundreds of practice tests - this is the best way to come to the exam and pass it successfully. The same applies to getting a job. Passing exemplary behavioral practice tests can give you a significant advantage.
According to the data we have, approximately 50% of job applicants prepare for tests or assessments in one way or another. And this is the right tactic: after high-quality training, the average score grows by 20% - usually this is more than enough to successfully pass the testing stage even for high-level managerial positions.
If you are applying for a managerial position, then with a high probability you will have to pass psychological tests for managers. On HRLider you can prepare for all major types of executive tests currently used by companies in Russia.
A US study of 50 scientific papers, including 130,000 participants, proved that pre-workout improves the performance of all types of tests for four reasons:
- It reduces anxiety. The more practice tests you have completed, the more familiar they are to you and the more confident and calm you will feel at the next test, even though the stakes are rising.
- Pre-training helps to identify weak points in order to pay attention to them in advance and improve performance.
- Practice reinforces proven test-taking tactics such as skipping and returning to difficult questions. You will learn to ignore irrelevant information and avoid mistakes in understanding assignments. This significantly increases the speed of passing behavioral and any other types of tests.
- Pre-training allows you to strengthen those specific qualities that employers need. This is the most valuable result of the practice of situational tests for managers.
Of course, the practice will be more effective if you know exactly what types of tests your employer uses. Feel free to ask about it and ask for sample tests from the employer's HR representatives or other people from this company. Recruiters are paid for successful applicants, and in most companies (Sibur, Gazprom and Gazpromneft, etc.) existing employees are rewarded with bonuses for recommending new candidates.
Accounting for personal characteristics
The 2016 American Psychological Society (NCBI) study shows that personality type, daily activity rhythms, and stimulant intake significantly affect mental performance. This applied quite well to behavioral tests for executives at all levels.
For example, neat and non-confrontational people do better on tests in the first half of the day and they should avoid taking stimulants, nootropics, even coffee, since at this time they are already at the peak of their physical and mental activity. For creative extroverts, the opposite is true: they need time and coffee to get pumped up in the morning, but after lunch and late in the evening they have an increase in activity and stimulants can be placed. So, if you can choose the timing of your tests, be mindful of your personality type and choose your diet and stimulants wisely.
Be yourself (within reason)
This recommendation is most suitable for psychological and personality tests for the competence of a middle manager. Don't lie - sometimes it can slightly increase your chances of getting a job, but it's not a certainty that such a job will suit you. Qualitative tests have mechanisms to detect anomalous or fake responses, and experienced personnel officers quickly notice the discrepancy between test responses and real behavior. However, while passing tests and assessments, it is still better to be your best self - clearly demonstrate your strengths and not expose your weaknesses.
For example, in most cases, it's worth showing yourself to be passionate about being a passionate person, but not to the point where you criticize others or act unethically. Smart employers tend to look for managers with moderately high levels of ambition or a combination of high ambition and altruism. When something becomes too much, it often leads to negative consequences.
Most large companies conduct testing of candidates for leadership on already established competency models. This is a set of skills, qualities and values inherent in their best employees already working (for example, department heads) according to which new candidates for the same positions in management are evaluated. Before taking tests, you should carefully study these values and the company's priorities for employment and try to follow them on tests and assessments. Typically, these data are widely publicized on corporate websites and other open sources.
Since employers consider behavior tests for managers to be a valuable source of information about applicants for leadership positions, you should be prepared for all kinds and types of such tests. Most companies use simple questionnaires with 4-5 answer options, but more and more complex situational tests for managerial competence are appearing on the market. For example, with elements of gamification (games), where you need to earn points or chips. Some companies study and use data from your social networks and create tests based on it. It is expected that tests especially for experienced professionals and managers will become more complex and innovative.
An important recommendation: when preparing for psychological testing, consider tests not as a way to beat secret confessions out of you, but as a way for you to learn more about your potential employer. Behavioral tests for executives can give you valuable information about the company you are interested in - how it is done in it, how success criteria are defined, what traits are most valued. Quizzes give you an opportunity to assess the expectations of an employer, and this can be very useful in your career.
Last advice from HRLider: Remember, preparation is the key to success. If you have a test that includes behavioral tests for executives, start the training without wasting time. On our site you will find all the main types of tests for entry-level and intermediate-level managers. Give yourself an advantage - be prepared.
Answers and explanation of tests:
- You are the head of customer support in a large call center. You just overheard your employee telling a client on the phone that he "takes everything too personally" and then that he "needs psychiatric help." You do not know what the conversation was about, but the employee ended the conversation, and you can go and talk to him.
The strategy for responding to tests where it is required to find the most and least effective answers is to first determine the overall positive and negative answers.
In this task, answers 2 and 3 are positive. Answers 1 and 4 are negative. Of the positive answers, answer 2 is clearly better, since answer 3 - an order to call back an annoyed client and apologize to the problem, most likely will not solve. In some cases, this answer could even be classified as a negative answer.
Of the two negative answers, we need to choose the worst one. In this test, this is not as easy as it seems. In these answers, there is clearly a different direction in the development of events. Answer 1 - Threatening to fire an employee for some employers, where team spirit and team relationships are among the highest priority values, may be the least acceptable scenario and will be considered the worst answer. But if the priority for the company is, first of all, the quality of customer service, then the worst answer would be answer 4 - ignoring the employee's rudeness towards the client.
Thus, the best answer (most effective) is 2, the worst is 4 (least effective).
TEST DESCRIPTIONThe LeaderChart method is designed to diagnose managerial capacity and allows you to identify the general level of readiness to lead people in a team, as well as a range of individual psychological characteristics associated with success in management and leadership potential. This is a unique and innovative technique that includes:
TYPICAL TASKS
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STRUCTURE OF THE METHOD
The LeaderChart test consists of five blocks (five subtests).
The test run time is about 60 minutes.PRESENTATION OF RESULTS
There are three report options:
business report (assessment of the managerial potential of the respondent);for a specialist (detailed psychological portrait of the respondent);
for the respondent (soft feedback).
"Specialist Report" And "Report for respondent" contain the respondent's assessment on the following primary test scales:
Block "Case solving"
- Success in solving cases(assessment of the correspondence of the respondent's answers to the answers of successful managers)
Block "Intellectual abilities"
- Intelligence(assessment of intellectual potential)
Block "Personal qualities"
- Closure(isolation, restraint in communication) - Sociability(active position in communication, contact)
- Passivity(uncertainty in one's own abilities, indecision) - Activity(energy, initiative, determination)
- incredulity(strictness, rigidity) - Friendliness(responsiveness, willingness to empathize)
- Independence(independence, the desire for self-assertion and dominance) - conformism(the importance of the opinions of others, the desire to be accepted by the group, the willingness to give in)
- Moral Flexibility(freedom from moral norms, orientation to personal gain) - Morality(the desire to adhere to moral, ethical standards)
- Impulsiveness(flexibility, restlessness) - organization(discipline, accuracy, accuracy, the desire to follow plans)
- Anxiety(caution, tendency to fear) - Equilibrium(calmness, stress resistance, mental endurance)
- sensitivity(aesthetic view of things, sensitivity to beauty, shades in relationships) - Insensitivity(functional view of things, practicality, straightforwardness)
- intellectual restraint(selectivity for new information) – Curiosity(openness to new knowledge, information, willingness to learn new things)
- traditional(orientation to the preservation and maintenance of traditions, classical solutions) - Originality(the need to stand out from the crowd, the desire for everything unusual)
- concreteness(sensory type of perception and processing of information, accuracy in details) - Abstraction(intuitive type of perception and processing of information, the desire to highlight the main thing)
Block "Motivation to leadership"
- Motivation for Leadership(willingness to exercise leadership)
Block "Social sensitivity"
- social sensitivity(respondent's ability to correctly understand and evaluate the motives behind the behavior of the people around him, and adequately respond to them)
The "Business Report" is the main one and contains an integral indicator of the potential for leadership and a forecast of the success of performing individual management functions:
Block "Potential for Leadership"
- Potential for leadership(an integral indicator that allows you to build a forecast of the respondent's success in a leadership position)
Block "Functions of the head"
- Making decisions(ability to select the best alternatives from existing ones, take the initiative; responsibility and determination)
- strategic thinking(the ability to set distant goals, predict the consequences of one’s actions and the actions of subordinates, foresee the final result of the efforts made, quickly process large volumes, including contradictory information)
- Influence(the ability to influence the behavior, feelings and thoughts of other people, to use their own authority to achieve the goals of the organization, to show a personal example to subordinates, to use a variety of persuasion tactics)
- Delegation(the ability to delegate part of their own functions and powers to subordinates, to optimally distribute responsibility between subordinates)
- Control(the ability to control subordinates, check the quality of their work, maintain performance discipline in the team)
- Organization(ability to perform administrative functions in relation to the work of the team, coordinate employees, determine the necessary resources and provide subordinates with them, evaluate the result of work)
- Leadership(the ability to infect others with an attractive vision of the future, arouse the interest of employees in the implementation of common goals, use new opportunities, unite the team around common important tasks, increase and maintain involvement)
- Communication(the ability to communicate competently, be sensitive to the context of various communication situations, manage formal and informal contacts between subordinates, correctly convey information to employees and senior management)
A unique feature of the LeaderChart test is the presence of a special section "Perfect Deputy": depending on what personal characteristics the respondent has, it is recommended to "supplement" him with a substitute with certain character traits. The strengths of the deputy will make it possible to level out the possible shortcomings of the respondent as a leader and help the latter achieve the maximum result. This block is especially useful in the formation of a personnel reserve and the need to build several levels of management in a particular company.
REVIEWS AND CASE STUDIES
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"We used this methodology to assess the leadership potential of our managers who are in the talent pool for higher positions. The test helped us get to know certain characteristics of employees in more detail, such as: motivation and readiness for leadership, management decision-making skills in a short time (with the help of methodology cases). I want to note the convenience of using the online platform, the form for adding participants and sending out invitations - everything is very clear and accessible, and it works without failures. What is especially nice :) Employees also did not have any questions about using the platform - a clear interface, clear instructions for the user greatly facilitate testing. Vasyanovich Alexandra Vitalievna |
HISTORY OF CREATION
The first version of the LeaderChart test was released in 2014. Authors of the development: Altukhov V.V., Belorusets A.S., Portnova D.S., Rybnikova M.K.
May 2014 A.S. Belarusian and M.K. Rybnikova created the first research version personality test block. This subtest was notable for the content of the test tasks: all statements outlined the respondent's behavior in work situations and did not concern other areas of life, however, they were an expression of the general properties of temperament and character inherent in a person.
Development case block was multi-stage. February 2014 V.V. Altukhov and D.S. Portnova analyzed the main theoretical provisions of the psychology of management and the methodology of case tests (situational judgment tests). The Hersey-Blanchard situational leadership model and the Dressler-Sibbet team creation model were taken as the basis for constructing the block, which made it possible to reproduce the development of the team in dynamics in the test and build a sequence of problem situations related to leadership that would be as close as possible to real management practice. Also, the block included a model for a consistent assessment of the candidate's behavior as a leader in connection with the development of managerial activities over time.
After that, preliminary versions of 4 mega-cases were created, each of which consists of 10 mini-cases - ten problem situations within the framework of managing one team, interconnected and sequentially unfolding in time.
Options for solving each of the mini-cases (the most successful and unsuccessful actions) were offered by experts in the field of management (from 4 to 10 people for each of the mega-cases) in a free form, the realism of the cases was also assessed and their adjustments were proposed. Subsequently, the most significant actions were singled out from the experts' answers through content analysis, and the final wording of the cases themselves and their solutions were approved. Primary testing took place on a sample of volunteers (119 and 74 respondents in two series) with different experience in managing the client situation. The procedure for assigning keys in the final version of the case block was also multi-stage and took into account both the number of mentions by experts of a certain action during the collection of answers in free form, and the results of approbation: now the calculation involves both the respondent's choice of moderately successful and unsuccessful actions, and the lack of choice in favor of the most successful and unsuccessful of them, and mistakes in elections.
The keys were later tested on another sample of successful executives. As a result of the check, it turned out that the reference answers formulated by the experts from the first sample, in the vast majority of cases, coincide with the choices of successful managers from the second sample, which indicates a good performance of the cases.
The next stage of testing was carried out in volunteer companies to obtain data on the external validity of the methodology during testing in an examination situation. A total of 137 people took part in the re-testing. Based on this material, the test norms were recalculated, as well as the distribution of points on the test scales was checked for normality.
In addition to the principle of constructing a case block and calculating keys, the form of presenting mega-cases has no analogues: each of the respondents is presented with one of the four existing ones randomly in order to eliminate the differences between the respondents in terms of their experience in managing specific teams or the lack of this experience as such.
The basis intelligent block the tasks of the standardized test of intellectual potential "Business IQ" were laid, the content of which was recognized as the closest to the practice of management (scales of Computation, Vocabulary, Erudition, Information Processing, Spatial Thinking, Abstract Logic). The block uses an extended (triple) bank of tasks, equalized in terms of difficulty, their presentation is random, however, in each of the unique testing sessions there are questions from all of the above areas.
Motivational block is a questionnaire that allows you to collect biographical data about the respondent and assess his general readiness to carry out managerial activities.
The section of the business report “ Ideal Deputy”: it is based on the results of a special compatibility study conducted by the staff of the R&D Department of the Humanitarian Technologies Laboratory in 2013-2014.
The second version of the LeaderChart test, consisting of four blocks, was prepared in November 2014 and launched for secondary testing on volunteer companies to obtain data on the external validity of the methodology when testing in an examination situation.
In 2016, the third version of the methodology was released, consisting of five blocks. At the same time, the personality block was replaced by the 11LF test, which proved to be better in practice, and a case block for diagnosing Social sensitivity (the scale of the same name from the EmIQ test - Emotional IQ - Humanitarian Technologies Laboratories) was added to the methodology.
PSYCHOMETRIC PARAMETERS
You can read more about the psychometric parameters of the personality and intellectual blocks of the test in the annotations to the 11LF and Business-IQ methods, respectively.
1. Criteria validity of the test
The criterion validity of the methodology was assessed by comparing the test data with external criteria for the success of test participants in the manual. The first series of studies involved more than 400 respondents with varying degrees of success in management experience and length of service (about 40% had no management experience, about 60% had management experience of varying degrees of success). Self-report data were used as success criteria, the study was conducted in the format of voluntary testing for the purpose of self-knowledge.
In 2016, a validation study was conducted on a group of bank managers. As a result of the study, significant differences were found between groups of successful and unsuccessful leaders on the scale of Social sensitivity. Successful leaders score higher on this scale, with 65% of successful leaders scoring above average. While unsuccessful leaders rarely get a high score.In addition, a connection was found between the success of leadership and such personality traits as: Sociability, Moral flexibility, Curiosity, Originality, Abstraction.
2. Representativeness of the test
Initially, the test norms of the personal and intellectual blocks of the methodology were calculated on a gender-equalized sample of about 200 people, the age of the respondents was from 17 to 73 years (median - 30 years). The test norms of the case and motivation blocks are calculated on samples of about 150 people, the age of the respondents is from 18 to 56 years (median - 34 years).
The test norms were updated in the summer of 2015 on a sample of about 500 people who were tested in an examination situation. The age of the respondents is from 23 to 59 years (average age 38 years), women - 46%, men - 54%. Managerial experience of respondents:
- no experience - 8%;
- less than 2 years - 16%;
- from 2 to 5 years - 28%;
- more than 5 years - 48%.
Age and gender norms are not provided for in the methodology due to its more frequent use for the purposes of professional selection, rather than career guidance, development or self-knowledge. As part of the professional selection, it is more important to be able to accurately compare one candidate with another (without regard to gender and age), rather than identifying the age or gender characteristics of each candidate.
3. Connections of test results with personal data
Based on the results of the secondary approbation in the situation of examination, the connections between the data of the motivational and self-assessment questionnaires with scores on the test scales were analyzed. The following results were obtained:
A. Results on all scales of the Business Report (with the exception of the Delegation scale) were associated with responses to the motivational questionnaire. Highly motivated respondents receive significantly higher scores on secondary scales.
B. A number of interpretable links between indicators on secondary scales and management experience have been identified. In general, respondents with more experience and more subordinates score higher on the secondary scales.
EDUCATION
Training in working with the test methodology is available as a distance course. It is also possible individual (or in small groups) face-to-face training according to the program of individual user support. A methodological guide has been developed, which is supplied free of charge to all users of the test.
Test for assessment of managerial qualities
Instruction: Below is a series of statements with indication of answer options. Choose and underline your answer in the questionnaire itself.
1. I tend to build my relationships with subordinates rather on a) the basis of trust; b) the basis of control.
Answer options: a), b).
2. The basis of my good relationships with people is rather a) regular communication with them; b) the presence of a community
views.
Answer options: a), b).
3. If a subordinate performs poorly, then I usually tend to a) get rid of him as soon as possible; b) teach him to work well.
Answer options: a), b).
4. When producing various products, one should strive for a) their maximum durability; b) their durability, limited to a predetermined period.
Answer options: a), b).
5. You can not produce low-grade products, even
if it has a market.
Answer options: "it is possible", "it is impossible", "in some cases
you can, in others you can't.
6. Speaking to the audience, I rely more on a) preliminary preparation for the report; b) that I can find the right words in the process of the report itself.
Answer options: a), b).
7. I rather a) trust, b) distrust my first impression of a person.
Answer options: a), b).
8. I am more inclined to a) clean up my business papers myself; b) entrust it to the technical
secretary.
Answer options: a), b).
9. Which expression do you think is more correct: a) bureaucrats are generated by a certain type of managerial
society systems; b) they become bureaucrats due to a certain psychological make-up of the individual. Answer options: a), b).
10. Before solving the problem of selling goods, these goods must be produced.
Answer options: "agree", "disagree".
11. I like the beauty of a) panthers b) gazelles. Answer options: a), b).
12. I am more inclined to a) eliminate the risk of being late by arriving ahead of time and losing some time in the process; b) arrive on time, with some risk of being late.
Answer options: a), b).
13. I tend to strive for a) a variety of hobbies; b) "deepening" of the same hobbies.
Answer options: a), b).
14. I tend to a) do the necessary things in advance; b) to do the necessary things when "time is running out."
Answer options: a), b).
15. The basis for effective team management is rather a) a well-thought-out system of job descriptions; b) the authority of the team leader.
Answer options: a), b).
16. When making a report, I rather keep in mind a) a general holistic view of the topic of the report; b) a detailed idea of the topic of the report.
Answer options: a), b).
17. When I want to convince someone that I'm right, I rely more on a) a small number of "main" arguments; b) a large number of arguments that allow you to fully substantiate the idea.
Answer options: a), b).
18. I prefer rather a) to develop my opinion on a particular problem only after I have studied it sufficiently; b) immediately develop my opinion on the problem, considering that in the future, with a more detailed acquaintance with it, I can change this opinion.
Answer options: a), b).
19. I would prefer to have an assistant (deputy) who would rather a) be able to jointly search for solutions to managerial problems; b) would be able to work on the implementation of my decisions.
Answer options: a), b).
20. If a subordinate makes an unjustified blunder, then I tend to a) express my attitude to this to him in "strong" (even non-literary) terms; b) hold back.
Answer options: a), b).
Answer options: a), b).
A quantitative indicator that assesses the level of development of managerial qualities is the coefficient of development of managerial qualities (KRUK). Values CRUK, less than 40 tbsp. units correspond to a low (weak) group of subjects; KRUK values falling in the range from 40 to 60 st. units, correspond to the middle (normative) group; and KRUK values exceeding 60 st. units correspond to a high (strong) group of subjects.
Managerial qualities are the realization of managerial abilities. It may also be that managerial qualities are high, and managerial abilities are low. In this case, managerial qualities are a "trace" of the implementation of some other, non-managerial abilities.
Managerial qualities determine the effectiveness of activities in standard, typical situations, as well as the ability to use the accumulated (by oneself or others)
people) managerial experience, use it to solve current problems.
KROOK determines the degree of duty, punctuality, the ability to keep one's word, speak on the phone, fulfill obligations, as well as the ability to plan one's working day, keep business papers in order, etc.
If managerial abilities are needed in order to come up with something new, difficult or fundamentally not replicable, then managerial qualities are needed to implement already made decisions.
The level of development of managerial abilities does not reflect the KPUK.
The Art of Communicating with the Boss
1. Provide explanations for your posts.
Bosses are always very busy and have more than one subordinate. Don't expect your boss to know everything that's going on in your area. Begin each of your conversations with something like, "I'm going to look into a situation that came up in Friday's workshop. Last week you asked me to revise what is related to communication skills in order to pay more attention to interpersonal conflicts.
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2. Be direct, decisive and concise.
The bosses won't want to play guessing games with you. Use understandable language. Save on words. Shorten your speech, throw out everything unnecessary. Don't sound too enthusiastic or indifferent when you speak.
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3. Introduce questions in advance and what is needed for information.
Good conversations will answer most questions. If you've studied your boss, you know what questions might be. Prepare the answers and then you will look great.
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4. Learn writing style and relationships with other people.
Simulate this when you communicate (especially when you write) on his behalf. Draft draft letters so that the boss only needs to sign them without correcting them.
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5. Take criticism lightly.
Don't get defensive; rather, show your willingness to use his criticism to improve your work.
6. Accept praise calmly.
Accept the praise you deserve calmly, with dignity, without demonstrating or denying insincere modesty. A simple "thank you" is enough.
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7. Correct your boss with tact.
Do not challenge, threaten or criticize. Don't say, "You're wrong" when you could say, "It would be better if we (not you) take a different look at the decision..." Don't agree on everything, but don't justify yourself all the time either.
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8. Praise but don't flatter.
Bosses need friendly help from time to time. If what the boss designed is bad, don't be afraid to say so. ("The decision to hire a public relations manager, I think, is a mistake.")
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9. Don't make unnecessary promises to win favor.
Unfulfilled promises are a recipe for failure.
To keep any boss happy
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1. Do a good job.
Make sure everything you do is done on time, on budget, according to requirements, and with a sense of pride in craftsmanship.
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2. Be a leader.
Try to keep your subordinates happy, qualified, and act in such a way that they do not sit on your neck.
3. Save the organization's money.
Each boss at any level is under constant pressure of material resources. Your help in reducing costs will be remembered.
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4. Make money for your organization.
If you find untapped revenue potential in your sector of the organization, invite your boss to use it and your boss will lean towards you.
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5. Find out what's really important to your boss.
Demonstrate that the same things are important to you.
6. Study the boss's expectations.
Not all bosses express their expectations directly and definitely. However, they hope that you will meet their requirements. If your boss does not talk about his requirements for you, do not show your displeasure, and if necessary, find out what he wants from you. Phrase: "Did I give you enough details in my monthly report?" better than: "I'm not quite sure what exactly you expect from my report?"
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7. Ask for feedback on your work.
Find out how well you are doing. Some bosses refrain from giving praise, perhaps because you don't take it too kindly. Others do not like to criticize, perhaps because you immediately become defensive. Ask for his opinion without embarrassing the boss or appearing insecure.
^ 8. Make sure that most problems are solved before they get into the sight of the boss.
But do not go beyond reasonable limits.
9. Make sure that both good and bad news come from you.
Keep the boss as informed as he/she wants. Don't make your boss surprised by news from a third party. This can put both of you in a difficult position.
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10. Accept difficult and unpleasant tasks.
You will only win if you step forward to help your boss. And if you succeed where no one else can, you will become a rising star.
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11. Only advertise good ideas.
If your boss rejects most of your suggestions and requests, then you may look like a frivolous person. The secret to success lies in promoting an idea that raises the prestige of the entire organization and especially your boss. If this idea does neither, that idea is not worth it.
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12. Don't ask for unnecessary directions.
Many bosses are more informed about what you are going to do when they correct your plan.
It's better to say, "Here's my training plan. If I understand your instructions correctly and you have no objection, I'll send it to the printer by Friday" than "Let me know which form of training you prefer."
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13. Don't complain about others.
When things go wrong, accept your share of responsibility and don't shift the blame to others. Most bosses, however, want not so much for you to admit your mistake, but for it not to happen again.
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14. Be self-critical.
Your boss is about to tell you what you're doing wrong. It is better to know how you work, so be fully aware of your actions. Watch the attitude of employees towards you, listen to their opinion. Always work on yourself.
How to get rid of time wasters
The following is a list of "time wasters" that we have to deal with. In order for the reader to analyze their own "time wasters", we offer possible reasons for their appearance and tips on how to get rid of them. This is done in order to help establish the diagnosis. The reasons and solutions for each person may be different, while the "time wasters" themselves are the same for everyone.
| time waster | Possible reasons | Solution |
| Lack of planning | Failure to see its benefits. Action Oriented | You must understand that planning takes time, but in the end it saves it. Think about the results, not the activity itself. |
| Not ordering things according to their importance | Lack of long-term and short-term goals. | Write long and short term goals. Discuss with your subordinates the order in which things should be done, depending on their importance. |
| Overload | broad interests. Confusion in the order of doing things depending on their importance. The inability to set the order of things depending on their importance. | Say no. Do the first things first. Develop your own "philosophy of time". Correlate the execution of tasks, depending on their importance, with the events that occur. |
| Management in a crisis. | Lack of planning. Unrealistic timing. Problem orientation. Unwillingness of subordinates to report bad news. | Use the same techniques as if you weren't planning. Plan more time for each case separately. Plan time for possible breaks in work. Focus on the opportunities available. Convince subordinates to pass information to you quickly, as this is the only way to correct something in time. |
| Rush. | Impatience for details. Take care of everything urgent. Lack of planning for the future. Trying to do too much in a very short amount of time. | Spare no effort to do everything right. This will save you time spent reworking. Distinguish between urgent and important. Pick a time to plan. This will pay you back. Try to do less. Give more work to others. |
| Paperwork, reading. | Information explosion. Passion for computers. The inability to weed out the unnecessary. | Read selectively. Learn shorthand. Use computer data only in exceptional cases. Remember the Pareto principle. Assign reading to your subordinates. |
| Business as usual and routine. | Lack of order of doing things according to their importance. Too much control over the activities of subordinates. Inability to transfer cases to other people; feel safer when you're doing the little things. | Set goals and focus on achieving them. Delegate tasks to subordinates, and let them do them completely themselves. Look at the results, do not delve into either the details or the methods of work. You must understand that without commissioning, it is impossible to get others to do something. |
| Visitors. | The pleasure of communication. The inability to say "no". | Communicate elsewhere. Meet visitors at the office door. If necessary, offer to have lunch together. Hold stand-up meetings. Weed out visitors. Be unavailable. Cancel the open door policy. |
| Phone. | Lack of self-discipline. The desire to be informed and included in all affairs. | Filter and group phone calls. Be brief in conversations. Do not get involved in any business except those that are of decisive importance. Intervene only in exceptional cases. |
| Meetings. | Fear of taking responsibility for making decisions. Indecision. Too many connections. Poor meeting management. | Make decisions without having meetings. Make a decision even if you do not yet have some facts. Do not call meetings that are not necessary. Arrange only those that are really needed. Set an agenda ahead of time. Stick to the topic of the meeting. Prepare short notes as soon as possible. |
| Indecision. | Uncertainty about the accuracy of the facts. If you insist on collecting all the facts, then it paralyzes the ability to analyze these facts. Fear of the consequences of a possible mistake. Lack of ability to make rational decisions. | Improve the system for collecting and clarifying facts. Accept risk as inevitable. Decide without having all the facts in front of you. Along with transferring the case to another person, transfer the right to make a mistake to him. Use mistakes as an opportunity to learn from them. Gather the facts, set goals, think through all possible solutions and undesirable consequences, make a decision and stick to it. |
| Failure to delegate tasks to others. | Fear that subordinates will not be able to cope with it. Lack of confidence in the competence of subordinates. Overworked subordinates. | Train subordinates. Let them be wrong. Change them if necessary. Hand over things completely. Trust your subordinates. You will ensure the growth of your corporation if you give your subordinates a chance. Balance the amount of work. Increase staffing. Reorder the order of tasks according to their importance. |
Ideal Leader
As American and Japanese studies in the field of management show, stable success is achieved by firms in which a calm moral and psychological environment reigns. Its approval is possible in the labor collective where managers are respected and inspire confidence in themselves. Based on the results of these studies, an "ideal" type of leader was constructed. Its characteristics are recognized:
firm, but at the same time flexible;
serious but with a sense of humor;
friendly but able to keep his distance;
devoted to his work, but does not lose his head in successes and defeats;
dreamy, but with a highly developed will;
ready to take risks, but thoroughly calculating everything.
On our own behalf, we add that the "ideal" leader makes significant efforts to equip his office. Both in terms of its technical equipment, and taking into account ergonomic and aesthetic requirements. The author's personal experience in advising business people on how to decorate an office, a study, indicates that such steps are taken by those who understand how everything should be in its place in offices. The state of the office is a clear evidence of the culture of a business person. Its observance always brings civilized business people closer, makes them more open to each other.
Ergonomics of offices, their designs today is an actual problem. However, her solution is not always successful. In some cases, there are not enough funds to invite the relevant specialists. In others, the bad taste of the customer, his underestimation of the rules of labor organization, ruins the business. As a result, the professional image suffers. Just as the absence of a business card is a violation of business etiquette in communication, so the primitive, and even more slovenly appearance of the office and office rooms causes irreparable damage to the company's reputation. It's better not to let that happen. It is true that the miser pays twice. When it comes to personal prestige or corporate honor, it is desirable to minimize such miscalculations.
On the way to asserting the image of business people, various barriers inevitably arise. It takes a lot of time and effort to overcome them. It is humanly insulting when, having mastered complex problems, they allow the most elementary breakdowns due to the fact that they did not take into account the psychological nuances of communication. As you know, many reformers died at the hands of the crowd, which they wanted to enlighten. Let's remember Danko, who tore out his heart to light the way for people. Then these same people trampled on his heart, for they did not bother to look at their feet as they walked. For all the allegory of the example, business people should study well the weaknesses of people and be patient with those with whom they work and communicate, without getting angry at them, without despairing, even when faced with ingratitude and betrayal. Do not burn bridges of communication - this is the motto of the "ideal" leader. Always strive to leave behind the opportunity to continue and renew contact with people. Achieving this is a great guarantee of an attractive personal image.
Imaging - a series of deliberately built behaviors. Possession of the necessary specialized knowledge and experience for this is one of the purposes of professional training of modern leaders. Their personal capabilities crystallize in the image. Let's take a look at this fact. In mid-1992, an obscure Dallas businessman, Pero, gained national fame in three months through two dozen television interviews. For some time he was the leader in popularity among all candidates for the presidency.
How did he succeed? Let's turn to the next digest to find the answer.
According to most observers, the main trump card that Perot played in the first phase of his campaign was simplicity. In his speeches, speaking in a simple and at the same time figurative language, he constantly argued that simple solutions should be sought for any problems. Attacking Washington politicians," he accused them of "those guys in crocodile shoes" forgetting about the needs of ordinary Americans. much more "ours" than the refined George W. Bush and Bill Clinton.
According to some journalists, in the minds of many Americans, Perot has become something of a character from cowboy stories, who, strictly following his own
"code of honor", comes to "put things in order" among corrupt politicians.
Such an image in modern conditions looked very advantageous: for many Americans, who are distrustful of the political establishment due to an inefficient economic strategy and ongoing corruption, the way out seemed to be a return to healthy conservatism and traditional values, which Perot personified.
In the end, Perot lost in the race for the presidency, but there is much to be learned from those who have carefully studied the technology of asserting their image. First of all - - the exact calculation of the models of their behavior, their skillful demonstration in front of the public. Let's give him credit for this. With his billion-dollar fortune, naturally, without feigned artistry, playing the role of an ordinary American who sincerely wants to help all ordinary Americans is by no means easy.
A useful example to think about! Why do the voices of leading businessmen and managers sound mosquito-like in our political life? Not because they have nothing to say. To reach a mass audience, you need to master the technique of self-control and the ability to behave with dignity. And, importantly, while maintaining the ability to say what and how you need. It takes years to create entrepreneurial capital, but it is possible to lose it overnight, appearing in front of people. Here it would be appropriate to refer to the statement of Jean de La Bruyère: "Many people have no other virtues than a name. You look at them close up and you see how insignificant they are; but from a distance they inspire respect." one
A great tip for business people. No matter how great your achievements, no matter how economically and powerfully you surpass people, do not disappoint them in live communication. Without human recognition, no wealth will brighten up human life, will not bring true satisfaction from their possession.
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