Elizabeth Florent-Treacy

Development and Application of the Leadership Archetype Questionnaire

The Leadership Assessment Questionnaire (LAQ) is a 360-degree survey instrument designed to help organizational leaders identify their own style of leadership and formulate appropriate development objectives. It is designed to provide a means for developing an executive team in which multiple leadership archetypes are represented. The LAQ is based on eight leadership archetypes-Strategist, Change-catalyst, Transactor, Builder, Innovator, Processor, Coach, and Communicator. These archetypes are representations of ways of leading in a complex organizational environment. In this article we discuss the development, design, and psychometric analysis of the LAQ. We detail the conceptual foundations of the questionnaire and the psychometric methods used to confirm the validity and reliability of the instrument. We conclude with avenues for future research.

The development of the Personality Audit: a psychodynamic multiple feedback assessment instrument

The Personality Audit (PA) was developed to meet a need for a relatively simple multiple feedback instrument that could clarify the various motivational needs of executives. Using a psychodynamic approach to leadership, the PA allows the test-taker to assess him- or herself in seven personality dimensions important in human behaviour and to identify personal ‘blind spots’. The resulting insights can be used to formulate appropriate leadership development goals. The objective of this paper is to describe the design and psychometric properties of the PA. This instrument, in contrast with other tools that can be used to clarify the inner theatre of individuals, is designed not only to report information given by the test-taker but also to reflect the perceptions of observers representing both the test-takers public and private spheres. This paper describes in detail the conceptual foundations of the questionnaire, the psychometric methods used to confirm its validity and reliability, and possible directions for future research.

Executive Stress—Taboo or Opportunity for Change?

In November 2011, Antonio Horta-Osorio, CEO of Lloyds Banking Group, suddenly collapsed in a board meeting. He went on sick leave due to fatigue and did not return to his job for several months. The media talked about a shock departure.1 A year earlier, Horta-Osorio had been headhunted to turn around Lloyds Banking Group, which was in crisis. With the “savior” having taken leave,2 the market value of the bank plummeted by close to

Introduction: A Psychodynamic Approach to Leadership Development

1.5 billion.3 Board members, shareholders, employees, and the media agreed that a CEO position is indeed a high-pressure job. Lloyds’ chairman Win Bischoff said at the time: “We are not going to mollycoddle him. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen. But I believe Antonio can stand the heat. I expect CEOs occasionally to be tired.”4 Horta-Osorio had worked seven days a week, without a holiday, for over 40 weeks.5

Executive Coaches: Who are We, and Why?

Coaching is not a new phenomenon, despite the recent interest it has generated. Throughout most of human history, the vast majority of people lived out their lives in small communities, with their work and personal life experiences constricted and interwoven. Every passage in human experience was guided by elders. Babies were born, grew up (and sometimes died), watched over from their first breath by a circle of grandmothers, aunts, cousins, and sisters. The destiny of a child, male or female, was predetermined by ancestry and birth order. Religious obligations set the rhythm of daily life and measured the seasons. Nobility protected and exploited the peasants on their lands. Even queens were not exempt; in 1712 the poet Alexander Pope wrote of Queen Anne, “[she] dost sometimes counsel take, and sometimes tea.”

Themes in Tricky Coaching

There are two particularly interesting features of a career as an executive coach. First, entrance to this professional field is not possible without a substantial amount of previous work and life experience, and second, it is (consequently) a very attractive career transition option for individuals at a midlife and mid-career point. In this chapter, we explore why midlife readjustments and a transition to executive coaching often seem to coincide. We touch on how investments in what have been called the “three ways of knowing” (knowing-how, knowing-why, and knowing-whom) infl uence career transitions,1 and what kind of career divestments are required as a person transitions to executive coaching.2 We describe the process of career transition, highlighting the intelligent career, career entrepreneurship, and boundaryless career frameworks.3 We look at what kinds of environment (in particular, identity laboratories) help mid-career adults to experiment during the transition process. Finally, we also explore some of the underlying reasons why people decide to become coaches.

Conclusion: In Praise of Trickiness

Part Two of this book presents the coaching cases selected by the editorial team from the contributions to the first ESMT Coaching Colloquium held in Berlin in December 2009. Submissions to the Colloquium were based on real, challenging coaching assignments faced by leading coaches from all over the globe. Our participants had faced a variety of difficult situations, and as we listened to their stories, we identified several fundamental and recurring themes.

The Rescuer Syndrome

Many fairy tales and tribal stories highlight a mischievous character who, armed only with his native intelligence, is able to befuddle the wise, impoverish the wealthy, dethrone kings, and reward the poor and worthy. Sometimes, this trickster makes trouble for one and all, except those who realize that underlying all his tricks is a lesson to be learned. If you fool me once, shame on you. If you fool me twice, shame on me. The real winners in the tales are those who can make the elves, the magpies, the monkeys, or the djinns work for them.

The Coaching Assessment: A Sine Qua Non

Given the many changes in the world of work, leadership coaching is no longer viewed as merely a tool in the organizational repertoire for dealing with dysfunctional executives. On the contrary, it is fair to say that leadership coaching has become part of the mainstream, as people are much more aware of the high costs of performing below capacity. Ambitious executives now perceive having an executive coach as the right thing to do. Leadership coaches can be particularly effective in cases of change and transition, promotion, stretch assignments, or other new challenges. Whether executives are struggling with a specific career decision, a critical issue at work, or a major life change, coaches can provide the kind of guidance and feedback that is needed to help them attain a more complete grasp of themselves and organizational realities.

Failure in Family Business Coaching

Executive coaching is an art, not a science. As in other professions, however, the art can only happen when form and function are blended with imagination and sensitivity. Take medicine, for example. Although the best doctors are known for their intuition and ability to see connections where others do not, their expertise arises from years and years of training, and reliance on well-defined protocols for diagnosis and treatment. The same kind of rigor should be applied to the art of coaching.