How much is too much of a good thing? When is "some" not enough?

According to a study in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (published by the American Psychological Association) organisational leaders with an "optimal" level of assertiveness may be the most effective.

The authors Daniel Ames, PhD and Francis Flynn, PhD maintain that aspiring leaders can get assertiveness wrong in both directions - too much or not enough. They describe a curvilinear relationship with the two extremes of assertiveness expressed as instrumentally impotent at the low end and socially insufferable at the other extreme. Don't you just love the language?

The authors point out that being moderately assertive all the time is not the answer either and that leaders need to be flexible and adapt to suit the situation. The article - What Breaks a Leader: the Curvilinear Relation Between Assertiveness and Leadership - makes interesting reading.

So how can leaders learn how to be more or less assertive? And how can they learn what's appropriate when?

Illuma Consulting recently hosted the visit to Australia by Dr. Robert Klein, the developer of the Klein Group Instrument for Leadership and Participation in Teams (KGI™). Robert and I spent many hours discussing leadership. One thing I particularly like about the KGI is that it focuses on the leadership function within the team as a whole not just the formal leader.

The KGI includes assertiveness as a subscale of leadership along with group facilitation and initiative. It defines assertiveness as "your ability to make your voice heard and express your opinions in the group". It's difficult to be considered a leader if you can't (or don't want to) express your views.

As an active member of Toastmasters (currently VP Education and Immediate Past President of Melbourne Toastmasters) I've seen many talented young people join the club to overcome their reticence to speak up in public. They know their careers will be enhanced if they can coherently and persuasively express their views in public forums and meetings. It always brings me great pleasure to see them develop the willingness to speak up and the confidence to express their views - you can see the leadership potential emerging.

The KGI gives individuals and teams the ability to assess their levels of assertiveness (too much, not enough). However, it is the dynamic relationship between assertiveness and the other sub-scales that really gets me excited when thinking about how to develop in my coaching clients the flexibility that Ames and Flynn suggest is needed for good leadership. I'll explore this in more detail in a later blog.

There's a clear correlation between Extraversion on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Leadership on the KGI particularly Assertiveness. This makes sense given extraverts' liking for action and self expression. Because extraverts are more likely to score high on assertiveness they may overdo it. They may need to learn to ease back if their assertiveness is seen excessive to the point of alienating people (as an extravert myself this has been a life-long lesson). One growth statement included in the KGI is for people with high assertiveness scores to demonstrate leadership by using their natural tendency to assert themselves in the group by drawing others into the discussion.

People with low assertiveness scores on the KGI will need to build up these skills to enhance their leadership abilities and the instrument provides specific development suggestions to help with this.

Dominant, aggressive styles of leadership are increasingly considered unacceptable in today's organisations. Our businesses and communities are demanding more flexible leaders: people who work in a more facilitative style yet who know when it's appropriate to assert themselves. Clearly we don't want the "instrumentally impotent" nor the "Socially Insufferable" as our leaders.

So what about you - will your assertiveness (or lack or it) make or break you as a leader?

Over the next couple of months I intend to post a few blogs looking at the key elements and subscales of the KGI in more depth. Subscribe to the RSS feed if you don't want to miss out.