Leadership IQ: The 100% Leader Assessment

1. You were previously at a company where employee safety was one of the core values, and the safety record was exemplary. At ChocoBot, the employee safety record is mediocre at best. The executives have historically avoided this issue because they fear resistance from the employees. Safety initiatives at chocolate factories are notoriously difficult and require significant procedural changes for employees. ChocoBot has many long-tenured employees and it's feared that they would be unwilling to change (they've evidenced similar resistance on other projects). And the employees have not raised any concerns about safety. The employees do love the Employee Satisfaction Initiative which tackles pleasant issues like upgrading the vending and coffee machines, improving employee parking, etc. What do you do?

2. Every day ChocoBot generates thousands of pieces of candy that don't meet the rigid quality standards. The candy tastes fine, but it's somehow misshapen or broken. During the previous CEO's tenure it was discovered that employees were stealing this defective candy for personal consumption. They thought this was unseemly, so he and the executive team instituted a task force to monitor and reduce this theft. That task force still exists today. All of your executives sit on the task force, which meets twice monthly, and during your most recent executive team meeting, you received an update. The task force has been very successful in reducing theft, in fact it's almost nonexistent. Of course, because they're reducing the theft of candy that would have otherwise been thrown-out, no money has been saved or other tangible benefits achieved. But your executives, managers and Board love this task force and it was a favorite project of the revered former CEO. As CEO it's your decision to continue or discontinue task forces. Do you...

3. You've got to motivate ChocoBot's middle managers to support a new, and necessary, change initiative. You're going to speak at the quarterly management meeting next week and all 300 middle managers will be in attendance. Neither ChocoBot nor these managers have much experience with change; they're in a very stable and protected industry. How will you tell them about the change initiative?

4. You've also heard rumblings that employees feel the change effort will be too difficult; that it won't succeed because it's too hard. One of your senior executives comes to you and says "At least half of our managers don't have the skill set to lead this kind of change. So before we can start any changes, we need to pause so they can learn a whole new skill set. Also, the rest of the managers, who might have the skills, are worried that we're biting off too much. Most of them are really nervous about whether we can actually pull this off." What do you do?

5. When you started as CEO of ChocoBot Inc., you were given the task of increasing profits in the candy necklace line. One potential cost savings that emerged was broken and damaged product in the Pearls and Baubles product line. This line is known for both its delicate blend of flavors and its delicate design. Currently about 10% of that product arrives to retailers broken, which costs you about $150,000 in lost profit. You meet with your Chief Operating Officer and Chief Research Officer and they each give you a recommendation. Which one do you choose?

6. To drive this change effort you've established a Steering Committee. So far it's comprised of powerful executives, managers and even a few employees. And you've still got a few open spots to fill. You have two very powerful executives that are not enthusiastic about the change effort; in fact, they're openly negative. But they are wired throughout the organization. Do you appoint them to the open spots on the Steering Committee? (They will both accept if asked).

7. There are 40 Senior Directors and Vice Presidents at ChocoBot. You know that 10 are really supportive of the change initiative and 10 are really against the change. The remaining 20 are sitting on the fence. What's the best way to sway the 20 fence-sitters?

8. You've got some senior managers and executives that are very difficult personalities. Your CFO, Hannah, is one such character. She's brilliant but mean. She believes that she's the best financial mind in the industry, and often belittles the financial skills of her fellow executives. When other executives give her feedback, she gets very angry and attacks them. She never changes the way she does things. When she's on an interesting project, she hoards the work and is very secretive. And all of her disruptive behavior has been going on for several years. On Tuesday, during an executive team meeting, she had another blow-up and made several nasty comments to other executives. A few days later you schedule a private meeting with her and you say...

9. You're launching a new ad campaign for the Pearls and Baubles product line. You're going around to your most important clients to do a very detailed review of the campaign and solicit their input using formal market-research interviewing techniques. You put Joe in charge of finalizing the itinerary for one such client meeting. Joe is an eager, up-and-coming marketing manager who seems to have good skills and a good attitude. However, despite the fact that you've seen several drafts of the itinerary, Joe shows up to the meeting empty handed. You're very angry about this because it leaves you looking unprepared and amateurish in front of the client. You pull through the meeting and then approach Joe to discuss what happened. You believe Joe has a long-term future here, but he needs to get a clue and wake-up to the seriousness of a mistake like this. How do you start your conversation with Joe?

10. You're a strong believer in developing the next generation of leaders for ChocoBot. To that end, you and your executives have identified a group of "high potential" employees, and over the past few months, they've been given special assignments (so you can get closer to them, retain them and further develop their potential). But one of these employees, Karen, has seemed pretty burned out and mentally disengaged in the past month. You don't want to lose her, so you invite her to lunch to learn more about what motivates her, so you can do a better job of retaining and developing her talent. How do you direct the conversation?