1. What you will learn
This lesson helps you define what you want from your development as a chief executive and diagnose your current strengths and blind spots. You will score yourself on six leadership dimensions, collect your team's view of the same dimensions, and use the gap between the two to choose your first development priorities.
2. The idea explained
Development without a target is drift. The first step is therefore to say what outcome you want in twelve months. Owners tend to answer in terms of the business: more revenue, more profit, more branches. Those matter, but this programme asks for outcomes in terms of your role. Perhaps you want to spend two days a week outside operations, to run a management meeting that makes decisions rather than distributing tasks, or to have a second-in-command who can run the business for a month. Role outcomes lead to business outcomes, but they are the part you control directly.
To find where to start, the programme uses six dimensions of the chief executive role. Direction covers whether the business has a clear choice about who it serves and what it will not do. Decisions covers how you make, record and review significant choices. People covers hiring, delegating, giving feedback and building a team that can act without you. Money covers understanding margins, cash and returns well enough to steer. Systems covers the routines and procedures that let the business run predictably. Self covers your time, energy, habits and capacity to learn. A strong chief executive is not equally strong in all six, but knows which are weak.
Self-assessment alone is unreliable. Most people overrate the qualities they value and underrate their blind spots. The remedy is to ask two or three people who work closely with you to score you on the same dimensions, ideally anonymously through a colleague or adviser. The point is not to seek praise. The gaps between how you see yourself and how others see you are the most valuable data in the diagnostic. A person who rates their communication as four out of five while their team rates it as two has found something worth working on.
Finally, keep perspective. A diagnostic offers a snapshot, not a verdict about your worth, and the scores will move as you practise. Its use is to pick two priorities, not to fix everything at once.
Apply it
3. How to apply it in your own business
Write your twelve-month role outcome in one or two sentences. Then draw a table with the six dimensions in rows and columns for your score, the team's average, the gap and the evidence. Score yourself from one to five, writing a concrete fact for each score, such as the number of decisions recorded in your journal or the number of tasks only you can do.
Ask two or three trusted colleagues, a manager or an adviser to score you. Explain the purpose, give them the dimension definitions and ask for a short example behind each score. Guarantee that you will not react defensively, and keep the promise. If anonymity matters, ask your accountant or a mentor to collect and average the scores before showing you.
Compute averages and gaps. Highlight the two dimensions with the lowest team score and the two with the largest gaps. Choose two development priorities from these, preferring a dimension that is both low and where the change would affect many others. Write for each a specific behaviour to practise for the next four weeks and the measure you will use.
Thank the people who gave feedback and tell them what you plan to do. This closes the loop and makes them more likely to give honest feedback again in three months, when you will repeat the exercise.
Worked example
4. Worked example
Vishal runs a coaching institute with 40 staff and 900 students. His twelve-month outcome: to be away from daily operations for two days a week, with the institute running well. He scores himself on the six dimensions: direction 4, decisions 3, people 4, money 3, systems 2, self 3. His average is 19 divided by 6, which is about 3.17.
He asks two of his senior faculty and his accounts manager to score him. Their averages are: direction 3.5, decisions 2.5, people 2.5, money 3, systems 2 and self 3. The team average is 3.5 plus 2.5 plus 2.5 plus 3 plus 2 plus 3, which is 16.5, divided by 6, about 2.75.
The gaps between his score and the team's are: direction 0.5, decisions 0.5, people 1.5, money 0, systems 0, and self 0. The largest gap is on people, where he thought 4 and the team said 2.5. Their examples: he gives feedback in public, changes timetables at short notice and rarely thanks people. He is surprised but writes it down.
His two priorities are people, because of the gap, and systems, because both he and the team score it at 2 and it links to his goal of stepping away. For people, the behaviour for the next four weeks is to give all feedback privately and to send one appreciation note per week. Measure: the count of notes sent and a short pulse question to the three colleagues after a month. For systems, he will write two SOPs, for timetable changes and fee collection.
He thanks the three colleagues and shares his plan. In three months, he will ask them to score again, and he will record the change in his journal.
5. Common mistakes and how to fix them
The first mistake is choosing only business outcomes. Define a role outcome as well, since it is the part you control.
The second mistake is trusting self-scores. Ask colleagues to score you and focus on the gaps.
The third mistake is reacting defensively to feedback. Listen, ask for examples and thank people. Defensiveness ends honest feedback.
The fourth mistake is trying to fix all six dimensions at once. Pick two priorities, practise one behaviour each and measure.
Key takeaways
6. Board summary
Define a twelve-month role outcome, not only a business outcome. Score six dimensions: direction, decisions, people, money, systems, self. Ask colleagues to score you and study the gaps. Choose two priorities and one behaviour each. Thank contributors and repeat the exercise in three months.
Check your understanding
7. Practice and self-check
- Name the six dimensions. Answer: direction, decisions, people, money, systems and self.
- Self-scores 4, 3, 5, 2, 3, 3. Average? Answer: 20 divided by 6, about 3.33.
- Why ask others to score you? Answer: self-assessment overrates strengths and hides blind spots.
- Your people score is 4 and the team says 2. What is the gap? Answer: 2 points.
- Which dimensions should you pick as priorities? Answer: the lowest team scores or largest gaps that would affect many other things.
- How should you respond to unwelcome feedback? Answer: listen, ask for examples and thank the person.
- Why write the behaviour to practise? Answer: a specific behaviour can be tried and measured, while a vague intention cannot.
- Vishal's team average is 2.75 and his self-average 3.17. What is the difference? Answer: about 0.42.
- When should the exercise be repeated? Answer: after about three months.
- Is a low score a verdict on your worth? Answer: no, it is a snapshot that shows where to practise.