Melanie Grinenk (LION)ProSpective Assessment[1]

Copyright © 2011 Lominger International, a Korn/Ferry company. All Rights Reserved.
Korn/Ferry’s ProSpective Assessment is an online assessment tool created by Korn/Ferry International to assist LinkedIn users with their career
development. Leadership characteristics are based on research by Lominger International, a Korn/Ferry company.
ProSpective Assessment
Melanie Grinenk (LION)'s Assessment Results
These are your Top 5 Leadership Characteristics:
Being Organizationally Savvy
You see the complexity of an organization—its policies, politics, people. You see navigating
the political maze as a necessary means to get results. You know whom to go to for what
purpose, how to usher a project through a myriad of stakeholders, and which messages or
arguments will influence key decision makers. You are up to speed on titles as well as
personalities and relationships. You gracefully navigate a tangled, high-stakes web of egos,
agendas, changing priorities, and sometimes outrageous demands. You leverage your
understanding of the organizational landscape to adjust your approach for the best outcome.
Managing Up
You relate well with higher management. You manage your career well. You know what you
want in your career. You are proactive in positioning yourself—your career aspirations and
interests—to leaders who will influence your career trajectory. You do not hesitate to take
advantage of opportunities that showcase your skills to higher management. This requires
confidence, but gaining support of your boss and senior leaders makes the risk worth it to you.
Managing Diverse Relationships
You seek out people with different points of view and different backgrounds. Even though you
acknowledge that it takes a little more time and more deliberate communication, you see the
value that a diversity of perspectives and experiences contributes. You are open and
collaborative. You share and communicate well. You seek to understand, accommodate, and
leverage differences.
Communicating Effectively
You are clear and credible when you communicate. You are knowledgeable about the topic.
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Communicating Effectively: Top 5 Characteristics (Cont'd)
You have an interest and a passion in the message. And you are in tune with your audience.
You adjust your message and delivery appropriately for the audience. You are an articulate,
engaging speaker and a strong writer. Your use of stories, visuals, descriptions, and tone
captivate the reader or the listener. You effectively inform, persuade, coach, and inspire.
Managing Work Processes
You understand and manage processes well. You know that the best processes are dynamic
and require constant evaluation and tweaking. You see how all the pieces fit together and how
one affects the other. You build in feedback loops and monitor key metrics. Optimizing for
efficiency is something you focus on—you are always looking for continuous improvement.
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Potential Blind Spots
Blind spots are characteristics that you overestimate. You are likely to see yourself as stronger in these skills than
others see you. A self assessment can give you insight on potential areas for self improvement, however, asking
others for their input by doing a network assessment will give you far greater insight on your blind spots. Here are
your potential blind spots and some ideas for next steps:
Demonstrating Personal Flexibility
Clearly, our world is in constant flux. And as the pace of change accelerates on all of us,
organizations have become keenly aware of their need for people who can tuck and roll and
keep their balance in a context of continuous change.
Keep learning – Getting better and better at something you’re already good at does not
grow you as fast as pushing past your comfort zone and entering unfamiliar terrain. Seek
out classes, opportunities to cross-team, or even lateral moves that will allow you to
exercise new muscles and break up your routine.
•
Start again, and again – Resilience used to be a term used mostly in psychology and
sports, but it’s creeping into the business lexicon. It refers to one’s ability to bounce back
from setbacks, losses, or simple failure. Your grace in the face of such challenges and your
ability to get back on the horse will communicate your resilience.
•
Think solutions – Where there’s a problem, there’s always a solution (or at least a brave
attempt at one). Identifying problems is an important part of any job, but looking deep into
the heart of a problem and coming up with a recommended course of action is what
separates the truly nimble from the rest of us.
•
Making Tough People Calls
Being skilled at reading people will get you only so far in the ongoing and challenging task of
identifying, attracting, and retaining the best people for your team. Much more than instinct
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Making Tough People Calls: Blind Spots (Cont'd)
and good intentions are needed to pull off one of the most difficult aspects of effective
management.
Focus on the Big Four – Resist the temptation to load up on data when evaluating
someone. Narrowing your focus around four key aspects—skills, training, attitude, and
work ethic—will help you make objective, fair, and reliable personnel decisions.
•
Diversify – Relying on referrals, instinct, or personality similarities limits your talent pool
and can result in a homogenous, static team. Reaching across generational or cultural
barriers to find the most skilled people will keep teams dynamic and balanced.
•
Systematize – Use job descriptions, skills assessments, and consistent hiring procedures.
Clearly communicate standards for promotion, bonus, and performance expectations.
Keeping poor performers around sends the wrong message and might cause your best
people to disengage. Keep the team lean and strong, and be consistent in your standards.
•
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Potential Hidden Strengths
Hidden strengths are characteristics that you underestimate. You are likely to see yourself as weaker in these
skills than others see you. A self assessment can give you insight on potential areas for self improvement,
however, asking others for their input by doing a network assessment will give you far greater insight on your
hidden strengths. Here are your potential hidden strengths:
Relating Skills
Most people would say that you are a likable person. You relate well to all kinds of people. You
make other people feel at ease. You are genuinely interested in other people. And you
naturally build relationships by inquiring about people’s interests, priorities, and perspectives.
After spending time with you, people feel like they matter. Your positive, affirming nature
makes others feel important and valued. People are quick to offer the same respect and
consideration back to you.
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Problem Areas
Problem areas can be hard to talk about. However, we want to arm you with as much information as possible
about the roots of success as well as known causes of derailment. Through studying the career trajectories of
thousands of individual contributors, managers, and executives, we’ve identified the five most common barriers
to career success. If you suspect one or more of these areas is a problem for you, the section below will provide
initial steps toward improvement.
This assessment did not generate any problem areas for you.
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Korn/Ferry Insights
Here’s how you compare to others:
Being Organizationally Savvy
Being Organizationally Savvy is moderately important across all leadership levels. It is a rare
skill at the individual contributor level, but leaders steadily improve as they rise to the manager
and executive levels. Slow but steady improvement is laudable, given that this is one of the
hardest leadership skills to develop. Your ability to navigate organizational mazes to get things
done can mean the difference between stalled initiatives and moving things forward.
Managing Up
Managing Up is a strong skill for most people across all leadership levels. However, it may not
be surprising that the skill improves as leaders move up to the manager and executive levels.
Your ability to garner support from senior leaders gives you the opportunity to position your
ideas and influence your career trajectory.
Managing Diverse Relationships
Managing Diverse Relationships is significantly related to getting promoted at the manager
and executive levels. The skill level for most people is high, and it is moderately difficult to
develop. Relating well and collaborating with people who have different points of view and
different backgrounds and experiences can enhance and sharpen your contribution at work.
Communicating Effectively
Communicating Effectively is particularly important at the individual contributor level. The
number of people who are good communicators tends to be lower at the individual contributor
level but steadily increases among managers and executives. With a little effort, this skill is not
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Communicating Effectively: Korn/Ferry Insights (Cont'd)
hard to develop. The ability to tailor your delivery and clearly articulate your points builds
credibility for both you and your message.
Managing Work Processes
Managing Work Processes is highly correlated with strong performance at the manager level.
Managers are often responsible for seeing the big picture and understanding how the pieces
interrelate. Most people are low in this skill, and it is moderately difficult to develop. The ability
to see a process as a dynamic system and to understand how tweaks create ripple effects is a
vital contribution to a business and will differentiate you from other leaders.
Relating Skills
Relating Skills are particularly important at the individual contributor level. Most people’s skill in
this area is high, and it is moderately difficult to develop. Leaders who are skilled in this area
are also likely to be skilled in Managing Diverse Relationships and Being Open and Receptive.
While the presence of these interpersonal skills may not be enough to get you promoted, the
absence of these skills can stymie your progression up the leadership ladder.
Demonstrating Personal Flexibility
Demonstrating Personal Flexibility is a very low skill for most people. It is also harder for
people to develop because it involves the willingness to respond to feedback and to change.
Change can be hard for people, and personal change can be even more challenging. People
often overestimate their ability in this area; it is a common blind spot across all levels of
leadership. Enhancing your ability to adjust, adapt, and flex in response to feedback or
changing conditions will make you a resilient and nimble leader.
Making Tough People Calls
Making Tough People Calls is important at the manager and executive levels, but few people
have this skill, regardless of leadership level. This is one of the most common blind spots
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Making Tough People Calls: Korn/Ferry Insights (Cont'd)
across all levels of leadership. Making Tough People Calls requires keen observational skills,
the ability to assess accurately, and the courage to make the decision to hire, fire, or promote.
For these reasons, Making Tough People Calls is moderately difficult to develop.
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Melanie Grinenk (LION)ProSpective Assessment[1]

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