Determine Your Personal Leadership Style

1. In leading a meeting at work, is it most important to:

Make sure you stay on schedule and get through the material you planned for the group.

Make sure each person has been “heard.”

Let the discussion run its natural course and see what happens.

2. If you are leading a group meeting and you find one person dominating the discussion, do you:

Invite others to participate in the discussion.

Hope he will eventually run out of steam or “catch the message” to stop talking so much.

Tell him right there that you’d like him to give others a chance to participate.

3. Your administrative assistant has consistently forgotten to submit the proper paperwork to your vendors. Do you:

Find someone else who can do the job.

Discuss with her why she’s having difficulty and ask how you can help.

Ask her to try harder next time.

4. A new employee has joined your team. The best way to get them started in their new role is to:

Make sure they have an opportunity to really get to know the other team members.

Let them have enough “adjustment” time to get used to their new role.

Make sure they understand very clearly what is expected of them.

5. The best way to keep people up to date on schedule changes is to:

Let everyone learn about the changes through the regular meetings and recognize that if any one has questions they can get in touch with you.

Send out an email explaining the changes.

Build time into your team meeting to let people know about the changes.

6. You have the most seniority on your team. In a team meeting, a newer team member questions a decision you have made. Do you:

Try to explain why you arrived at your decision.

Ask him to elaborate on why he has questions.

Ask him what decision he would have made.

7. You are the leader on a business project and you have some strong thoughts about how to lead the team. However, your manager disagrees. Do you:

Allow a little time to go by and see if he changes his mind.

Ask him to suggest other alternatives that will work.

Tell him that you can appreciate that he has a different idea, but you have strong reasons for your decision and he needs to trust them.

8. When solving a problem that affects others, do you:

Present the problem, the solution, and each person’s part in the implementation.

Discuss the problem and try to get everyone to agree on a common solution.

Trust that each person will solve their part of the problem that affects them.

9. You are in charge of planning a large work meeting/event. Do you:

Encourage spontaneous meetings to discuss plans.

Check to see that everyone knows what to do.

Let people get in touch with you if they have any questions.

10. In establishing a committee to plan an event it is best to:

Allow the committee to function at their own pace.

Ask the committee to establish their own timetable after they understand the objectives.

Give the committee clearly defined objectives, a timetable and standards of operating.

11. The best way to handle a difference of opinion between two members of your group is to:

State the differences of opinion and present a compromise position that both can accept.

Encourage the two to meet together and work out their differences.

Bring the two people together and help them arrive at a solution.

12. In a group of friends, do you:

Try to make sure everyone has been heard.

Enjoy listening to the ideas of others.

Easily offer you opinion.