Self-Assessment of Leadership Qualities and Skills

A. The Qualities of Leadership

Instructions: For each of the statements below, indicate how full your cup is.
That is, on a 1 to 5 scale, with 5 being full to overflowing, how do you measure
against your own sense of the optimum?

Empty to low Half full Full to overflowing

1 2 3 4 5

1. I know myself, my values and skills, my strengths and weaknesses. ______

2. I am confident of meeting most challenges and emerging intact and feeling good
about myself. _____
3. I have a vision of where we ought to be going as a group, community, society, and
people. ______
4. I call my group, community or organization to act out of values that transcend the
day-to-day, business-as-usual, garden-variety norms of operation. ______
5. I possess above-average intelligence; I have lived long and perceptively and use
that intelligence to create wisdom, and my actions are tempered by judgment. ______
6. The learning process constantly excites me. ______
7. I am constantly renewed by what I learn and by my interaction with others. ______
8. I am constantly amazed at how I pick out the very broadest implications of
enterprises and projects that others see in narrow terms. ______
9. I see events today along a continuum in time, with major trends and the sweep of
history propelling change. ______
10. I see the way to success is through steady coalition building. _____
11. I see great wisdom in building the capabilities of others, empowering them,
motivating them to do their best. _____
12. I possess stamina, energy, tenacity, and enthusiasm for my work. ______
13. I have the courage to take on what I know is right, regardless of my critics and
detractors. ______
14. I possess high integrity and intellectual honesty. ______
15. I have high moral character, I know what is right and wrong, and act accordingly.
______
16. I am willing to take risks for something I believe in, whether for people or ideals.
______
17. I am an active, effective listener; people seek me out as a listener. ______
18. I present my ideas logically, forcefully, and effectively; my ideas are often adopted.
______
19. I understand the nature of power; I exercise and respect power. ______
20. I translate authority as responsibility and assume my share of it. ______
 21. I achieve results through concentrating on clear goals over time; I build small
successes into something larger. ______
22. I have a healthy sense of humour; I laugh at myself and keep cynicism and
sarcasm in rein. ______
23. I keep perspective; I know where we are in a process, how far we've come, how far
we've got to go, what's important in the short run and the long. ______
24. I am known for my flexibility, responding to a variety of situations with appropriate
skills, styles and perceptions. ______

B. The Skills of Leadership

Instructions: The following skills have been identified as important to Leadership.

Use the scale to rate your skill level.

Low Level of Often Practice Skill Confident and Capable

Competence In order to Improve
1 2 3 4 5

Personal Relationship Skills (working with others):

25. I listen actively to colleagues and those with whom I work; I hear their words and
their feelings. ______
26. I maintain an open, warm relationship with others, encouraging them with praise
and genuine respect of their views and feelings. ______
27. I provide others with clear feedback, reinforcing positive contributions, clarifying
and confronting as is helpful. ______
28. I elicit information and ideas by asking open-ended questions. ______
29. I mediate for others, helping them find and reinforce the common ground on which
solutions can be built. ______
30. I facilitate interpersonal and group relationships, teaching by example; and by
making these relationships visible I provide both knowledge and skills about productive
behaviour. ______
31. I help groups maintain discipline and direction toward achievement, while
suggesting ways in which all members of a group can participate. ______

Task Accomplishment Skills (getting the work done):

32. I initiate ideas, actions, solutions, and procedures. ______

33. I elaborate on ideas, using examples and definitions. ______
34. I communicate ideas effectively. ______
35. I coordinate ideas, activities, relationships, making sense out of the piece. ______
36. I seek information and clarification to shed light on ideas and suggestions. ______
 37. I provide information, bringing a base of understanding to the subject at hand.
______
38. I analyze the idea, task or process, developing an understanding of each piece and
its relationship to the whole. ______
39. I diagnose the sources of difficulties. ______
40. I summarize for the group, offering information, alternatives, or perspectives for
consideration. ______
41. I evaluate progress, process and products, holding them up to comparison with
standards or expectations. ______
42. I manage, using a combination of planning, task assignment, and guidance to meet
goals. ______

Review each section (The Qualities of Leadership, Personal Relationship Skills, and
Task Assessment Skills), underline three or four which you feel are your strongest
assets as a leader and three or four on which you wish to work. Use these as one basis
for writing goals and objectives for your PLP.

Note: This document was produced by the New England regional leadership program.
It is posted by the center for rural studies for public use:
http://crs.uvm.edu/gopher/nerl/personal/assess/b.html. The center for rural studies
assumes no responsibility for the contents.