Someone asked me what my favorite skill of executive leadership was to examine. My answer was the ability to deal with complexity. Now that may sound vague and illusive, however leading a business and creating opportunities requires a great deal of mental flexibility, resilience, and critical thinking. After all, we are in a world where it’s essential to be able to navigate a very complex business marketplace. Circumstances and opportunities change quickly. Therefore how well you and your leadership adapt to the landscape requires a great degree of each of these skills.
So how do we take a deeper look at a leadership candidate’s mental flexibility, resilience, and critical thinking that lead to adaptability? To begin with, a comprehensive interview can uncover a great deal. The important thing is what questions are asked followed by what those responses suggest. I’m not saying there are “right answers” necessarily – because sometimes we have to be able to examine as much of what’s not said as much as we examine what is said. I know that may sound esoteric, but it’s a skill set that many of us in the field of psychology have honed. Next, we can look at the results from measures tailored to specifically assess these skills. Are we assessing someone’s psychological profile? No. Are we taking a close look at how well someone’s responses fall within the spectrum of responses that proven leaders provide? Yes. Absolutely! And when we combine the measured results with a solid interview, we’ve got a firm foundation for recommendations that are on target.
This is what makes our leadership assessments and recommendations so strong. If we can help an organization put someone with the mental flexibility, resilience, and critical thinking needed in place to get the job done – then that organization is going to thrive in this complex business marketplace.
The icing is the executive coaching we provide to new hires (or even seasoned staff) as they grab the reins and move towards excellence.
Let’s talk about your organization. Who do you need in what key positions? Who has the ability to lead the organization?
Give us a call. We would love to help! 720.612.0244