Transformational Leadership Survey
“You have achieved excellence as a leader when people will follow you anywhere if only out of curiosity.” ~ Colin Powell
This survey is designed to provide you with feedback about your level of preference or comfort with Transformational Leadership.
Be honest about your choices as it is a self-assessment tool to learn new leadership skills.
Using the below scale, circle the number to the right of each question that you believe comes closest to your level of proficiency and comfort.
Transformational Leadership Survey
Scale: 1 = rarely 2 = sometimes 3 = often 4 = almost always
1. I go out of the way to make others feel good to be around me. 1 2 3 4
2. I help others with their self-development. 1 2 3 4
3. I help others to understand my visions through the use of tools, such as images, stories, and models. 1 2 3 4
4. I ensure others get recognition and/or rewards when they achieve difficult or complex goals. 1 2 3 4
5. I let others work in the manner that they want. 1 2 3 4
6. I get things done. 1 2 3 4
7. I have an ever-expanding network of people who trust and rely upon me. 1 2 3 4
8. I provide challenges for my team members to help them grow. 1 2 3 4
9. I use simple words, images, and symbols to convey to others what we should or could be doing. 1 2 3 4
10. I manage others by setting standards that we all agree with. 1 2 3 4
11. I rarely give direction or guidance to others if I sense they can achieve their goal. 1 2 3 4
12. I consistently provide coaching and feedback so that my team members know how they are doing. 1 2 3 4
13. People listen to my ideas and concerns not out of fear, but because of my skills, knowledge, and personality. 1 2 3 4
14. I provide an empathic shoulder when others need help. 1 2 3 4
15. I help others with new ways of looking at new and complex ideas or concepts. 1 2 3 4
16. I ensure poor performance is corrected. 1 2 3 4
17. As long as things are going smoothly, I am satisfied. 1 2 3 4
18. I monitor all projects that I am in charge of to ensure the team meets it goal. 1 2 3 4
Scoring
This survey measures your leadership skills on six factors, Charisma, Social, Vision, Transactional, Delegation, and Execution. Each factor is measured by three questions as shown below. Your score is determined by adding your three scores together for each factor in the chart below. Note that the lowest score you can get for each factor is 3, while the highest score is 12.
Strength and Weakness Chart for Transformational Leadership Factors
Charisma (questions 1, 7, 13) Total______
Social (questions 2, 8, 14) Total______
Vision (questions 3, 9, 15) Total______
Transactional (questions 4, 10, 16) Total______
Delegation (questions 5, 11, 17) Total______
Execution (questions 6, 12, 18) Total______
Total the scores and enter the number here ______. The highest score possible is 72, while the lowest possible score is 18.
As noted earlier, there are no correct answers. However, this survey gives you an idea of what Transactional Leadership factors you use the most and the ones you use the least. Generally, a score of about 54 or higher means that you are well on your way to becoming a transformational leader. However, don't be discouraged if you score lower — you simply have to reflect and then take action for improving your weaknesses.
The highest scoring factors in the chart above are your strong leadership factors, while the lower scoring factors are you weak ones. You should spend some time reflecting and then taking action on the factors you score 9 or less on. To help you, study the chapter on Transformational Leadership and look for opportunities to increase your knowledge and skills with the following factors:
Charisma (questions 1, 7, 13): You are a role model that shows true dedication, trust, and respect to others, who in turn, do the same to you.
Social (questions 2, 8, 14): You help others to learn by coaching and mentoring them. You create challenging environments to help them reach their full potential. When others have difficulties, you are not afraid to empathize with them and help guide them.
Vision (questions 3, 9, 15): You provide challenging visions and help people to understand them so that they are motivated to join in.
Transactional (questions 4, 10, 16): You ensure others understand what you expect from them by using mutual agreement. In addition, you ensure that if poor performance does occur, you take action to ensure it does not affect the moral of the team.
Delegation (questions 5, 11, 17): You delegate both the task and the authority to get things accomplished.
Execution (questions 6, 12, 18): While I do delegate as many tasks as possible with the authority to accomplish them, as a good steward of the organization's resources, I do follow-up to ensure things are going as planned and we are not wasting times fighting fires.
Note: While Transformation Leadership differs from Transactional and Laissez-faire (Delegative), it does not mean they are completely different as they are on a continuum, rather than separate concepts. This is why a few of the factors that pertain to them are included on this survey. For more information, see the chapter on Transformational Leadership.
Reliability and Validity
Since this survey is a learning tool used in training programs, such as leadership development, rather than a research tool, it has not been formally checked for reliability or validity. However, since I have received feedback from various sources and it has been updated numerous times, I believe it to be a fairly accurate tool.
Next Steps
Leadership chapter on Transformational Leadership