The Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership focuses on research, student programming and outreach in the area of leader character. Our interest in leader character emerged as a result of research into the role of leadership as a contributing factor to the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. We used an engaged scholarship approach involving over 300 senior leaders from Canada, the United States, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom to understand the root causes of the crisis and the role of leadership in business institutions in particular; you can explore the results of our research here.
The notion of questionable leader character was brought up time and time again in our discussions with leaders from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors irrespective of the continent we held our roundtable discussions. Although character was seen as a very important contributing factor to leadership failure, there was no consistent understanding about what the term “leader character” actually meant. We suspect that because of the ambiguity that surrounds the term “character” organizational leaders seldom talk about it, or use it in recruiting, selecting, promoting or developing leaders … although, quite predictably, it does surface more often when it comes to firing individuals! This observation prompted us to take a deeper look at the meaning of leader character, to find ways to assess it and to determine whether and how character can be developed in individuals. Certainly … the leaders that we interacted with were looking at us to provide compelling answers to these important questions.
We attribute the gap between the perceived importance and the actual use of leader character to at least three things. First, as stated earlier, there is a great deal of ambiguity about what is meant by the term character, how character can be assessed, and what can be done to develop character in today’s and tomorrow’s leaders in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Second, leaders have told us that what they need is a practice-focused vocabulary with which to address leader character in the workplace, such as coaching and candid conversations. Unfortunately, there are far too many cases where high-potentials derailed because of deficiencies in leader character; appropriate coaching and crucial conversations may have prevented career-limiting actions. Third, there are few reliable and valid tools available for the assessment of a leader’s character. Practitioners told us they need these tools if they are to move from thinking and talking about leader character and its development to actually doing something about it.
Over the past three years, SIGMA Assessment Systems Inc. and the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership have collaborated to design the LCIA – the Leadership Character Insight Assessment. The instrument is based on interviews and data collected from over 2,000 leaders and managers in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Hence it has face validity. The LCIA is a resource to help individuals understand and discuss the dimensions and elements of leader character. The instrument identifies 11 character dimensions – drive, collaboration, courage, accountability, humility, humanity, judgment, justice, temperance, transcendence and integrity – and is behaviorally-based. Providing behavioral descriptors of leader character dimensions is of utmost importance to ensure that the dimensions and supporting elements are understood, accepted and enacted in practice. Individuals who complete the LCIA receive a report that provides individual feedback on the character dimensions of leader character and their associated elements. The report also provides suggestions on how to strengthen character dimensions. The LCIA comes in two formats: the self-assessment and the 360-degree format. Our results indicated that the dimensions of leader character relate to leader performance including the likelihood of derailment. Thus the instrument has predictive validity.
Good leadership is a function of competencies, character and commitment. Most business organizations have spent a significant amount of time defining the framework of competencies that are required to be successful in a particular role. However, much less attention has been devoted to leader character. The near-exclusive focus on competencies is unfortunate because it was questionable leader character that proved to be a major contributor in the firms that failed during the 2008-2009 financial crisis. Therefore, organizations should be encouraged to supplement the focus on technical competence with leader character.
The financial and subsequent economic crisis provided an opportunity to business schools to re-evaluate their role in teaching leadership and developing leaders; and at Ivey we have done so through the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership. We have made research, student programming and outreach on the development of leader character as our distinct differentiator in the leadership space. It is important for both business schools and organizations to elevate character to the same level of importance as competencies and commitment in the field of leadership development.
Character needs to be embedded in organizational systems and processes such as recruitment and selection, performance management, leadership development, promotion, discipline and so on to ensure that it receives the same profile as competencies in organizations. The challenge for business schools and organizations is to deliver on character awareness, assessment and development. This is a challenging endeavour. At the Institute we relish this opportunity. You can learn more about our activities here.