The document discusses leadership development and argues that solely focusing on competencies is inadequate. It states that developing effective leaders requires developing greater complexity of mind to match the complex challenges leaders face. The Leadership Circle assessment measures competencies but also surfaces deep beliefs and assumptions to allow redesigning a leader's operating system. This facilitates natural development of desired effectiveness needed for complex leadership roles.

1. Leadership Competencies -
Searching in All the Wrong Places
Written By: Bob Anderson CEO & Founder of
The Leadership Circle

2. While leadership competencies play a very important part
in developing effective leaders, they are not the key to
development. Certainly leaders need to continue to
improve their competency models, especially in a world of
escalating global complexity. But, in that search, they must
not lose sight of the fact that competency is only part of the
equation for developing effective leadership. Focusing
exclusively on competency will cause leaders to miss how
development actually happens.

3. While the Leadership Circle Profiles contain a
very robust set of leadership competencies,
a competency-only approach misses the
power of The Leadership Circle altogether.

4. In a world of escalating global complexity, many
leaders find themselves “In over their heads.”
This phenomenon results when the
leader’s “Operating System” is not
complex enough to match the
complexity of the challenges facing
the leader. In this case, the leader
needs more than skill development.
The leader needs to develop greater
complexity of mind.

5. The Leadership Circle is founded on the
principle that competency-only approaches
are inadequate to the challenge of developing
leaders for the complexity they are now
facing.

6. Merely identifying an improved set
of competencies, can only
marginally enhance one's ability to
develop effective leaders.
Effectiveness, in more complex
leadership roles, requires a more
advanced leadership operating
system. Therefore, the Leadership
Circle’s assessments contain a
robust competency assessment
that is packed into a much larger
framework for developing leaders.

7. System Dynamics Theory
In System Dynamics Theory, structure determines
performance. In other words, the primary determinate of
the performance of any system is the design of that system.
Underneath the design of the system is the thinking and
assumptions that formed the design. In other words,
thinking creates the design, and design determines the
performance.

8. Deep structure is the system of the thinking that
drives a leader’s pattern of behavior.
Deep structure is the Leader’s Operating System. The Leadership
Circle Profiles are designed to surface deep structure. They create
a platform that allows us to inquire into the beliefs and
assumptions that are the source-code for the pattern of
behavior—as measured in the competency data.
The benefits of this approach are obvious: accessing the
underlying assumptions that drive behavior creates the
opportunity to redesign the operating system. This allows the
desired leadership effectiveness to develop naturally.

9. The Leadership Circle Assessment
tools are powerful because they
include a complete competency
model and because they provide
immediate access to the deep
structure conversation. This
combination serves-up
breakthrough developmental
opportunities.

10. Read more and comment by visiting
www.TheLeadershipCircle.com
And clicking on “Leadership Quarterly”
- OR -
Get there directly at
www.TheLeadershipCircle.com/in-over-your-head