According to a recent survey of 200 HR managers by Top Employers the best way to assess a manager’s leadership skills is to look at how good their team is. This means assessing team members clarity of focus, collaborative behaviour , ambition, sense of purpose and also their own sense of leadership and accountability. So rather than asking team members how do you rate your manager you ask questions like What are your top five priorities? What would you say are your colleagues top priorities are? Who do you work most closely with? Can you give a recent example of when a colleague helped you out? Where do you see the service/ organisation in 3 to 5 years? What would success look like? How do you think the team makes a difference? If / when things go wrong where does the buck stop? When faced with a difficult situation do you think what would my boss do? If pushed for the team's position on a subject that has not been specifically discussed in the team what would your response be? What issues have recently divided opinion in the team , how was it left? This leaves two question for the manager Where an individual is not singing from the same song sheet as the rest of the team what are you doing about it? On an issue where there is a lack of consensus in the team what are you doing about this? The good leader is the one who is good at creating consensus and effective in dealing with dissent. Blair Mcpherson former director of community services, author, blogger www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
