April 20, 2023
A colleague and I were discussing if it was possible to recover from being seen as possessing a significant flaw in honesty and integrity. We identified various people who had tried to improve their honesty and integrity and seemed to make some progress, but for most people, this seemed to be a pit from which there was no escape.
We decided to look at the data. First, we sought to understand if it was even possible. Was there evidence that it frequently happened? Second, we wanted to know what those who succeeded at changing actually did.
We assembled a dataset of 6,025 leaders who participated in 360-degree assessments with feedback from their managers, peers, direct reports, and other raters. In this case, each leader did an initial assessment (pre-test) and then, after 18 to 24 months, received a second assessment (post-test).
We identified 546 leaders with a potentially fatal flaw in the honesty and integrity competency. This is defined by that person scoring at or below the 10th percentile when assessed by others. We then compared each leader’s pre-test to their post-test results. The results showed
Was the pit too deep to escape? The resounding answer is “NO.” Digging yourself out of a very deep hole is possible, but it is not easy. Nevertheless, 21% of the leaders made meaningful and substantial improvements.
In the graph below, we show the results for each group.
Listen to Episode 55: The Value of Honesty, The 90th Percentile: An Unconventional Leadership Podcast.
Looking at the post-test results, we compared those leaders with moderate and significant improvement to leaders who decreased and only slightly improved on 49 behaviors. While every one of the 49 behaviors showed significant differences, we looked at the behaviors that had the most substantial improvements for insights into the critical behaviors linked to the change.
Be careful about your commitments, write them down, track them, and deliver what you promise. Sometimes people need help completing an assignment, but rather than letting others know, they put it off until the last minute, making their failure to deliver even more problematic. Keep others informed in advance.
This study gives me hope. People can change. People can improve. They are not fixed at six years old, as Sigmund Freud believed. Every person can become more effective. Even the least influential leaders have a choice.
–Joe Folkman Co-founder and President of Zenger Folkman, Author, and Global Expert in Psychometrics and Orgaizational Change
Articles — October 22, 2024
Articles — October 21, 2024
Articles — October 08, 2024
Articles — October 02, 2024