Leadership Competencies: Pros and cons for developing and measuring performance

What is it about?

What qualities make for good leadership? We analyse a number of competency frameworks, and identify what they have in common and the qualities that are generally sought. We then compare these with a large sample of reflective notes written by experienced line managers and organisational leaders who had been invited to look aback on their experiences of leadership in many settings over long periods, and to use their personal judgement to identify what really makes a difference. We find that the most important aspects of leadership as judged by thoughtful experienced managers do not even appear in most competency frameworks, so cannot be measured or even acknowledged. This explains the widespread ambivalence (even cynicism) about leadership competency frameworks, and we go on to suggest what can be done about this.

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Why is it important?

Leadership competency frameworks are widely used to measure, develop and reward peel who are expected to take on leadership responsibility. This is one of very few rigorous analyses of what is measured and what is excluded for the measurements. The paper explains the common-sense appeal of competency frameworks, why they are popular with HR professionals, and the otherwise puzzling distrust they seem o engender amongst experienced leaders and managers. The paper also suggest what can be done to ensure these frameworks contribute positively to effective and legitimate leadership in organisational settings.