Definitions of 29 Reactive and Creative leadership dimensions of the LCP
Part 4. Definitions of all dimensions measured by the Leadership Circle Profile®
Welcome to part 4 of Inspiring Leadership series. Previously, I wrote about how to make sense of your LCP results. In this article, I will list definitions of all of the 29 Creative and Reactive dimensions of the LCP, as defined by Leadership Circle (they are not dictionary definitions). Feel free to skip through to the section most relevant to you and return to them as needed.
Creative and Reactive dimensions of the LCP
Creative Leadership Competencies
The top half of the circle maps Creative Competencies that correlate higher with leaders' effectiveness than Reactive.
Creative Competencies measure key leadership behaviours and internal assumptions that lead to high fulfillment and high achievement leadership.
Creative Competencies are composed of the following:
Relating summary dimension measures the leader’s capability to relate to others in a way that brings out the best in people, groups and organisations. It is composed of:
Caring Connection measures the leader’s interest in and ability to form warm, caring relationships.
Fosters Team Play measures the leader’s ability to foster high-performance teamwork among team members who report to him/her, across the organisation, and within teams in which he/she participates.
Collaborator measures the extent to which the leader engages others in a manner that allows the parties involved to discover common ground.
Mentoring & Developing measures the leader’s ability to develop others through mentoring and maintaining growth-enhancing relationships.
Interpersonal Intelligence measures the interpersonal effectiveness with which the leader listens, engages in conflict and controversy, deals with the feelings of others, and manages his/her own feelings.
Self-Awareness summary dimension measures the leader’s orientation to ongoing professional and personal development, as well as the degree to which inner self-awareness is expressed through high-integrity leadership. It is composed of:
Selfless Leader measures the extent to which the leader pursues service over self-interest, where the need for credit and personal ambition is far less important than creating results that serve a common good.
Balance measures the leader’s ability to keep a healthy balance between business and family, activity and reflection, work and leisure — the tendency to be self-renewing, and handle the stress of life without losing the self.
Composure measures the leader’s ability, in the midst of conflict and high-tension situations, to remain composed and centred, and to maintain a calm, focused perspective.
Personal Learner measures the degree to which the leader demonstrates a strong and active interest in learning and personal and professional growth. It measures the extent to which he/she actively and reflectively pursues growing in self-awareness, wisdom, knowledge, and insight.
Systems Awareness summary dimension measures the degree to which the leader’s awareness is focused on whole system improvement, productivity, and community welfare. It is composed of:
Community Concern measures the service orientation from which the leader leads. It measures the extent to which he/she links his/her legacy to the service of community and global welfare.
Sustainable Productivity measures the leader’s ability to achieve results in a way that maintains or enhances the overall long-term effectiveness of the organisation. It measures how well he/she balances human/technical resources to sustain long-term high performance.
Systems Thinker measures the degree to which the leader thinks and acts from a whole system perspective as well as the extent to which he/she makes decisions in light of the long-term health of the whole system.
Achieving summary dimension measures the extent to which the leader offers visionary, authentic, and high-achievement leadership. It is composed of:
Strategic Focus measures the extent to which the leader thinks and plans rigorously and strategically to ensure that the organisation will thrive in the near and long term.
Purposeful & Visionary measures the extent to which the leader clearly communicates and models a commitment to personal purpose and vision.
Achieves Results measures the degree to which the leader is goal-directed and has a track record of goal achievement and high performance.
Decisiveness measures the leader’s ability to make decisions on time, and the extent to which he/she is comfortable moving forward in uncertainty.
Reactive Leadership Styles
The lower half of the circle maps self-limiting Reactive Tendencies and leadership behaviors.
Although very useful, Reactive dimensions also limit leadership effectiveness as they reflect inner beliefs and assumptions that can only get us so far.
Reactive Styles are comprised of:
Complying summary dimension measures the extent to which a leader gets a sense of self-worth and security by complying with the expectations of others rather than acting on what he/she intends and wants. It is composed of:
Conservative measures the extent to which the leader thinks and acts conservatively, follows procedure, and lives within the prescribed rules of the organisation with which he/she is associated.
Pleasing measures the leader’s need to seek others’ support and approval in order to feel secure and worthwhile as a person. People with strong needs for approval tend to base their degree of self-worth on their ability to gain others’ favour and confirmation.
Belonging measures the leader’s need to conform, follow the rules and meet the expectations of those in authority. It measures the extent to which he/she goes along to get along, thereby compressing the full extent of his/her creative power into culturally acceptable boxes.
Passive measures the degree to which the leader gives away his/her power to others and to circumstances outside his/her control. It is a measure of the extent to which he/she believes that he/she is not the creator of his/her life experience, that his/her efforts do not make much difference, and that he/she lacks the power to create the future he/she wants.
Protecting summary dimension measures the belief that the leader can protect himself/herself and establish a sense of worth through withdrawal, remaining distant, hidden, aloof, cynical, superior, and/or rational. It is composed of:
Arrogance measures the leader’s tendency to project a large ego — behaviour that is experienced as superior, egotistical, and self-centred.
Critical is a measure of the leader’s tendency to take a critical, questioning, and somewhat cynical attitude.
Distance is a measure of the leader’s tendency to establish a sense of personal worth and security through withdrawal, being superior and remaining aloof, emotionally distant, and above it all.
Controlling summary dimension measures the extent to which the leader establishes a sense of personal worth through task accomplishment and personal achievement. It is composed of:
Perfect is a measure of the leader’s need to attain flawless results and perform to extremely high standards in order to feel secure and worthwhile as a person. Worth and security is equated with being perfect, performing constantly at heroic levels, and succeeding beyond all expectations.
Driven is a measure of the extent to which the leader is in overdrive. It is a measure of his/her belief that worth and security are tied to accomplishing a great deal through hard work. It measures his/her need to perform at a very high level in order to feel worthwhile as a person. A good work ethic is a strength of this style, provided that the leader keeps things in balance and is able to balance helping others achieve with his/her own achievement.
Ambition measures the extent to which the leader needs to get ahead, move up in the organization, and be better than others. Ambition is a powerful motivator. This scale assesses if that motivation is positive, furthering progress — or negative, overly self-centred and competitive.
Autocratic measures the leader’s tendency to be forceful, aggressive, and controlling. It measures the extent to which he/she equates self-worth and security to being powerful, in control, strong, dominant, invulnerable, or on top. Worth is measured through comparison, that is, having more income, achieving a higher position, being seen as a most/more valuable contributor, gaining credit, or being promoted.
A reminder: if you’re leading mostly through reactive styles, your effectiveness will likely be lower than if you tapped into creative competencies.
These definitions should help you make more sense of how you, and others, have assessed your leadership using the LCP circle.
Before continuing, you may want to reflect upon the following:
Which of these Reactive Styles do you recognise in yourself the most?
Which one(s) do you think most limit your effectiveness?
Which one, if you were to work on, would allow you to lead and collaborate better?
We usually start from there.
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