The Leadership Effectiveness Survey (LES) is a powerful state-of-the-art tool for upward evaluation; it measures the leadership impact that executives, managers and supervisors are having within their organizations

  1. systematically measures the leadership impact of executives and managers

  2. yields a customized report (about 12 pages) for specified executives/managers

  3. highlights specific leadership strengths and developmental needs

  4. pinpoints sub-organizations that excel or most need improvement

  5. concretely indicates the kinds of improvements needed

  6. provides detailed recommendations for implementing constructive change

  7. enables organizations and sub-organizations to track changes over time

  8. helps focus training and development time, energies, and resources

  9. presents hundreds of pieces of information in an attractive, user-friendly format

  10. generates one-page summary reports for senior management

  11. individual feedback sessions and group feedback/development workshops available

Items and Scales

The 30 behavioral items on the LES, developed through comprehensive factor analytic studies, define four distinct but related scales, each of which reflects a specific kind of leadership:

GENERAL LEADERSHIP
 		Inspiring others, taking calculated risks, prioritizing goals, quickly addressing problems, communicating clear expectations, and getting things done
INFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
 		Imparting business knowledge and educating employees about the company and how their work contributes to its success
COMPETITIONAL LEADERSHIP
 		Focusing on the customer, maintaining aggressive performance standards, and keeping abreast of the competition
RELATIONAL LEADERSHIP
 		Encouraging constructive dialogue and creating a positive, open, and rewarding work environment

Kinds of Leadership Scores

In addition to scores on the individual items, the LES graphically depicts two scores on each of the four leadership scales: "Organizational" (ORG) and "Sphere-of-Influence" (SOI). ORG scores indicate how well all of the leaders within an organization or sub-organization are, on average, demonstrating the four kinds of leadership. SOI scores show how well a particular leader seems to be demonstrating them in relation to his or her immediate, and once-removed, subordinates.

Time Requirements and Rating Format

Each employee completes only one rating form, on his/her immediate supervisor, which takes five to eight minutes. The rater is asked to indicate, anonymously on a seven-point scale, how frequently the supervisor demonstrates each of the specific leadership behaviors.