What is your leadership “IQ” (i.e., “Influence Quotient”)? This test, developed by the Forum Corporation is designed to provide a simple baseline to evaluate our influencing skills. Though originally developed for use with professional managers, not CEOs, this test has been validated through more than 4000 previous samples and has proven to be helpful for this purpose. Simply read each question and then select the answer that best reflects your opinion.

1. CEOs are generally successful, energetic, and influential group leaders. Hopefully, the group you lead is a good one. But what would happen if you stepped away from your leadership role without warning? What would your team most likely do?
A. Suffer “analysis paralysis” and spend tons of time clarifying procedures and rules.
B. Probably take the initiative to establish workable, flexible ground rules early on.
C. Leave the starting gate at a fast, confident clip, but get lost somewhere along the way, needing to regroup in order to maintain proper direction.

2. You’ve got a problem, and the only way you can solve it is through the help and cooperation of your colleagues. How will they respond to your request for assistance? You know the answer. Now, if the shoe was on the other foot, and we asked your team members how you respond to their cries for help, what would they say?
A. That I’m often willing to go the extra mile to promptly provide needed information.B. That I want to help but I’m so busy that I have little time to talk. It takes my office longer than it should to supply needed information.C. That I’m a person who has a multitude of ‘high priority’ responsibilities and am reluctant to take time out to help anyone else.

3. You’re at a difficult meeting with business colleagues when pandemonium breaks out. The pressure is on, it’s the eleventh hour and, after months of work, the problem still hasn’t been solved. Accusations are flying, confusion and anarchy reign, and decisions must be made on the spot or the meeting will end in disaster. What do you do as one facilitating a meeting of professionals?
A. Make a ‘battlefield’ determination to take control of the meeting by restoring order and making the decision.B. Suggest an agenda and get the consent of everyone present.
C. Make helpful, informed decisions without altering the meeting’s format.

4. You’ve worked for months to get your part of a major project ready to present to the rest of the company. Just when you’re ready to present your work, another member of the project team asks you to make some major modifications. The rework effort will beenormous. What do you do?
A. Stall or deflect the other person while going to another, uninvolved, key leader for advice, direction, or mediation.
B. Request information about the change you’ve been asked to make and objectively determine how the change will affect the overall project.
C. Call the team together and ask them whether this last minute request makes sense.

5. You’re busy facilitating a meeting when, out of left field, comes a badly-timed suggestion that has little or no merit and contradicts everything the group as a whole has just agreed upon. You hear gasps of disbelief from around the table. You feel everyone’s eyes on you. How do you handle the situation?
A. Ignore the outburst and move the meeting along to another subject.
B. Firmly, but politely look the speaker in the eye and say, “We’ve already been over this ground, George.”
C. Throw the ball into the troublemaker’s court and challenge him or her to quickly test and justify their suggestion against the group’s prior decision.

6. You’ve got to make a critical decision and make it fast. Sally’s proposal is sound and straightforward. While a bit conservative, it will definitely get the job done. Harold’s proposal is ‘off the wall.’ He’s offered you a radical solution filled with novel ideas that, if fleshed out, just might work. A decision must be made. What do you decide?
A. Time is short. You go with Sally’s idea because it’s a known quantity. Her idea is a good one and, besides, the last thing you need right now is emotional conflict.
B. Push personalities aside and pursue the ideas and evidence instead, since Harold just might have a better idea. He’ll have to work fast to make it work and you’ll need to work with him.
C. Share Harold’s plan with Sally and ask her to adopt and integrate some of his breakthrough ideas into her plan.

7. In the ideal workplace environment, influencers rarely feel like they’re going it alone or have trouble getting people to take risks and implement decisions. Effective influencers never have to solve problems single-handedly due to not being able to persuade others to help. Which of the following best describes your own “influence environment?”
A. We’re winning the day-to-day battles and the long-term war. My people realize that this involves shouldering responsibility, risk, and extra effort to make things happen.
B. We’re surviving, but things could be better. Our people still have a few things ton learn about teamwork.
C. Red tape snarls up everything, and what gets done is rarely right the first time!

8. Your rise to the top didn’t happen overnight. The things you learned along the way – like influencing others to help achieve objectives – weren’t learned in a day. From your experience, what must a person do, or have, in order to become a master influencer?
A. Practice, observation, and sheer experience, coupled with a strong focus on gaining and maintaining trust by leading without alienating others and by sharing power.
B. It doesn’t take anything special to influence others. All you have to know is how to push the right peoples’ buttons.
C. You’ve got to be born with the ability to influence. Most leaders had what it takes even before they entered the business world.

Now score your test. Most leaders score below 50. If you’re well above 50, you’ve probably developed a healthy performance environment at work. Whatever your score, this test simply measures where you are at this point in time. If your score is above 50, be diligent in maintaining the attitudes and skills you have in influencing others and perhaps begin to help other managers in your company develop or enhance similar leadership attributes. If your score is lower, you’re probably suffering slightly from the tendency toward authoritarian, ‘close-to-the-vest’ leadership, the predominant historical model.

If you have any questions regarding your Leadership IQ, contact Don Light, C12 SW Florida Area Chair.

Christian CEOs & Owners Building GREAT Businesses for a GREATER Purpose ©2011, The C12 Group, all rights reserved