| I am more confident with my knowledge so I am more inclined to embrace leadership responsibilities.- Course Participant | Leadership Behaviors | |||
 |
Leadership skills, though very important, were not identified separately
as one of the Universal Competencies. Rather, the skill was incorporated
into the Fundamental Values competency. The importance of leadership skills,
though, has been recognized time and again within the agency, most notably
in the Leadership Seminars conducted 1995-1997. The Training Manager for
Universal Competencies elected to give "Leadership Behaviors" the status
of a competency for purposes of this survey, and the results are telling.
Prior to participating in Compass, respondents rated themselves a 2.9 on this competency. Afterwards, they rated themselves at 3.7. This modest increase was accompanied by the two lowest scores on the behavioral descriptors inventory. Only 65% of respondents said they would "very often" or "all of the time" accept a leadership role as a result of Compass II. When asked if they take more risks in participating as a member of the staff (e.g. speaking out more in meetings), 58% responded strongly in the affirmative. While one of the sessions in Compass II is entitled "Leadership & Teamwork," most people would agree that merely talking about leadership does not make leaders. All sessions of Compass II are designed to be as interactive as possible and leadership roles are constantly changing. The largest numbers of Compass II participants are at the early stages of their careers. Still, it is certainly a positive step, and perhaps plants the seeds for future development. Like problem-solving skills, leadership development was often mentioned as a candidate for inclusion in the Universal Competencies curriculum at the Developmental Level. |