VISA to (W)hole Personal Leadership This questionnaire uses VISA to help you explore your leadership style preference, and will provide you with your personal VISA leadership profile. Structure Action Interdependence Vision
Please complete the survey Please use the following scale to rate the extent to which a statement is true for you. Think about how others may rate you if they had the opportunity. There are ten sets of statements, each containing four options. You may only use each rating of 1 to 4 once within each set of four options. For example, you cannot score any rating more than once for one set of statements. 4: This is the most accurate description of how I operate. 3: I often operate in this manner. 2: I do this, but it does not come naturally. 1: This is the least accurate description of how I operate. 2
PLEASE NOTE: You must give each of the items a rating, BUT you may not give the same score to two items This is correct: No two items have the same score This describes me the best: 4 3 2 1 A: I enjoy working with concepts that are sometimes vague or subjective. X B: I am generally concerned about how something may affect others. X C: I like to have as many facts as possible before I make a decision. X D: I feel very satisfied when I can see the results achieved by my efforts. X This is incorrect: Two items have the same score This describes me the best: 4 3 2 1 A: I enjoy working with concepts that are sometimes vague or subjective. X B: I am generally concerned about how something may affect others. X C: I like to have as many facts as possible before I make a decision. X D: I feel very satisfied when I can see the results achieved by my efforts. X This is very important. There are no right or wrong answers. No answer is better than any other. They are all equally valuable. This evaluation determines how you tend to approach certain challenges in life. Depending on the situation, any of the options could be equally powerful. Give scores of 3 and 4 to the behaviours that describe you the best. Give scores of 1 and 2 to those behaviours that least represent your spontaneous or preferred way of operating. Please answer spontaneously and honestly. The results will only be as meaningful as your own openness and willingness to provide a realistic response to each of the questions. You will at times feel that, depending on the circumstances, more than one of the statements would be true for you. When you feel this way it helps to ask which of the options are more and less true for you over a long period. It also sometimes helps to think about how people who know you well would rate the options. 3
1. This describes me the best: 4 3 2 1 A: I feel very satisfied when I can see the results achieved by my efforts. B: I am generally concerned about how something may affect others. C: I like to have enough facts before I make a decision. D: I enjoy working with concepts that are often complex and have no obviously correct answers. 2. I am most comfortable at making decisions by: 4 3 2 1 A: Developing my understanding the big picture and comprehending how something fits into the larger system. B: Getting the facts and developing thorough plans to ensure that things get done efficiently. C: Involving people who may be affected or interested in decisions to gain their commitment. D: Responding to operational priorities and directing efforts on a day-today basis. 3. People who know me well would describe me as someone who: 4 3 2 1 A: Has the courage to take action even without all the facts. B: Is very organised and meticulous about how things get done. C: Cares for how other people may feel about something. D: Has the capacity to develop a vision of the future. 4. I am generally very good at: 4 3 2 1 A: Anticipating what is needed in the future. B: Working with details and keeping things in order. C: Getting the support and motivation of others. D: Taking the action that is required to solve a problem. 4
5. When I am hearing new information and ideas I tend to: 4 3 2 1 A: First want to know what facts support the ideas and how they have been tested. B: Get excited about the possibilities and relate it to other situations that I have encountered. C: Want to talk to someone else about it and find out what they think about the ideas. D: Immediately want to try it out to see if how it works in practice and determine what changes must be made. 6. I am at my best when I: 4 3 2 1 A: Have to make sense of fuzzy information and make linkages between apparently unassociated issues. B: Analyse an issue and determine the objective facts that are required to resolve a problem. C: Interact with a variety of people and gain their commitment to a common issue. D: Drive a project to ensure that deadlines are met and the desired outputs are achieved. 7. People would generally describe the way I work as: 4 3 2 1 A: Very well organised with everything in its place and disciplined. B: Geared towards getting things done and constantly on the run. C: Respectful towards others and willing to hear what their views are. D: Unstructured and willing to take risks even if I do not have all the facts. 8. If I get into trouble it s most likely because I: 4 3 2 1 A: Charge in and take action without worrying too much about the consequences. B: Make promises I cannot keep, probably because I am so convinced about what I am doing. C: Take too much time analysing things and want to make sure that unnecessary mistakes will be avoided. D: Am too concerned about how others may react and want to first get their views before. 5
9. I am at my very best and make my greatest contributions when I: 4 3 2 1 A: Give people an understanding of the large picture and inspire them to believe in the future. B: Take charge of big challenges and figure out what to do as I learn from experiences. C: Really comprehend how others are feeling and help them to respond in positive ways to challenges. D: Analyse problems and develop structured ways in which people can meet challenges. 10. If I should die tomorrow, people are most likely to remember me because of: A: My ability to inspire others even if I was not sure about where I was going. B: The way in which I would take on challenges and make sure that things get done. C: The way in which I made other people feel really cared for and appreciated. D: My attention to detail and ability to manage things in ways that prevented crisis. 4 3 2 1 6
Return to Question 1 and work through each of the questions capturing the values (1;2;3;4) that you placed next to each statement. Use the example below (in italics) to guide you in mapping your answers to the Scoring Sheet provided below. Please note that the letters do not run sequentially A B C D on the scoring sheet but they do so in the questions you therefore need to pay careful attention to transposing the scores correctly. Example: Using the example from the beginning of the questionnaire (page 2) 1. This describes me the best: 4 3 2 1 A: I enjoy working with concepts that are sometimes vague or open to various interpretations. X B: I am generally concerned about how something may affect others. X C: I like to have as many facts as possible before I make a decision. X D: I feel very satisfied when I can see the results achieved by my efforts. X Now map the above results onto the scoring sheet below (using the example shown below): Question V I S A 1. This describes me the best: D 1 B 3 C 2 A 4 Scoring Sheet: Question V I S A 1. This describes me the best: D B C A 2. The most important requirement to make right decisions is: A C B D 3. People who know me well would describe me as someone who: D C B A 4. I am generally very good at: A C B D 5. When I am listening to or hearing new information I tend to: B C A D 6. I am at my best when I: A C B D 7. People would generally describe the way I work as: D C A B 8. If I get into trouble it most likely because I: B D C A 9. I am at my very best and make my greatest contributions when I: A C D B 10. If I should die tomorrow, people are most likely to remember me because of: Total out of 40: A C D B 7
Divide each total above (in A-D) by 10, and transfer your score onto the axes below: A onto V (Vision); B onto I (Interdependence); C onto S (Structure); D onto A (Action). Now link the dots with straight lines to S produce your Personal Leadership kite. 4 3 2 1 A 4 3 2 1 1 2 3 4 1 I 2 3 4 V 8
VISA to (W)hole Personal Leadership Personal Leadership VISA Profile: Interpretation of Score 1-2 indicates that this is not a primary way of operating. 2-3 indicates that this is a secondary way of operating. 1-2 Scores that fall within this level indicate that this is not a primary strength or natural way of operating for you. It is not necessarily a weakness, but may be less developed than other elements of your personal style. You may also find that you tend to resist this type of approach, or provide an alternative and even opposing point of view that looks at a situation from an opposing angle. 2-3 You fall within the mid range for behaviours that are rated between 2 and 3. This means that you may use or resist this behaviour. It is not a primary way of operating, but you can see the value of either using it as a driver or questioning its validity. You may find that you can readily facilitate points of view that fall in the 1-2 or 3-4 ranges. 3-4 You use these approaches as the primary drivers of your behaviour. It is most natural and comfortable for you to view situations from this perspective. You may find that people who are at the opposite end of this spectrum (i.e. rating lower than 2 for areas where you rate higher than 3) may frustrate you because they do not readily see or understand your perspective. 3-4 indicates that this is a primary way of responding to situations. Personal Notes Personal Notes Personal Notes 9
VISA to (W)hole Personal Leadership Description of the 4 VISA Quadrants Vision The Compelling Dream There are some leaders who are natural visionaries, who seem to have the ability to make sense of and shape the world. Leaders who are great at Vision provide the organisation with a compelling dream that excites and inspires their followers. Their focus is on the land of the future and not on the details of the journey. These leaders believe in informed intuition and are able to challenge assumptions. They actively invite in the dissident voice and know that in order to create the future we need to engage in a process of creative destruction of past comfort zones. They show a tolerance of error and are able to manage ambiguity. Interdependence Galvanising the Collective Genius A compelling dream has the power to get people on board. This moves us from the Vision territory into the Interdependence territory. Leaders who are strong at Interdependence, are able to communicate the compelling dream in such a way that the dream becomes meaningful to all stakeholders, inside and outside the organisation. They galvanize the collective genius of the organisation. They are able to show people how their contributions, at every level in the organisation, are important and meaningful. They fulfill people s need to make a difference. These leaders inspire trust through the way that they value diversity, their deep humility and real compassion. They believe the RIGHT people are what s important in their organisation, in order for diffused leadership to become a reality. Leaders who are high on Interdependence, will have a natural inclination to look at the interests and needs of all stakeholders involved. They stand out through their great empathy for people. Structure Rules of the Game Once stakeholders are on board, we need to define the rules of the game. What are the policies and practices we need to put in place to ensure that we stay on track and can achieve the compelling dream? This takes us into the realm of those leaders who are brilliant at constructing liberating Structure for the organisation. These leaders believe in rigorous discipline and clear constraints. These are the people that ensure that the essential organisational values are upheld by all. And they will not fear exercising consequences of non-compliance. Their style is often disciplined and their ability for precision and eye for detail enables the organisation to manage risk and stay clear in the often treacherous waters of strategy execution. Action Getting Things Done We may have a compelling dream, and we may have communicated the dream in such a way that our stakeholders are on board and we may have defined the rules of the game, but all of this will get us nowhere without doing the deeds. This takes us into the realm of Action. Action-oriented leaders have the ability to unleash individual potential and delivery. These leaders demonstrate a fierce resolve and have the distinct ability to execute. Their delivery is focused and they are deliberate and methodical in their tracking. They consistently produce the goods and deliver and, as a result, they have delighted customers. They believe firmly in managing consequence of non-performance and are able to produce results. 10