Leadership Versatility Index (LVI)
Leadership Versatility Inventory (LVI)
The Leadership Versatility Index® (LVI) is the thinking manager’s feedback survey. It is based on a leadership model that offers a simple, compact framework to account for the complexities of the manager’s job—the tensions and trade-offs, the balances to be struck. It covers both the interpersonal aspects of leading with the forceful-enabling duality as well as the business side with the strategic-operational duality.
While based on research, the LVI came out of years of consulting to senior managers about their leadership. This research and up-close work with leaders formed the basis of the book, The Versatile Leader. The book and the 360 are a matched set—the book explains the conceptual model of leadership and development and the 360 is the vehicle for applying it.
Because of its validity, brevity, and focus, the LVI is effective as a stand-alone assessment as well as part of a larger assessment battery. Some organizations use it to supplement their own in-house 360s.
Leadership Versatility Inventory (LVI) 360°
The Leadership Versatility Index® (LVI) is a 360° online feedback process based on empirical research as well as extensive experience from consulting work. The LVI is used at all hierarchy levels for the development of persons with leadership responsibility. The objective is to raise awareness and sensitivity of a leader for appropriate behaviour in different situations and to make such behaviour available.
The background of the LVI: Versatility of behaviour
Most conventional 360° feedback processes are designed to identify a lack (too little, too rare) of behaviour - especially in positions with leadership responsibility. The response scales used in these methods however neither identify behaviours, which are shown too often or too intensely, nor do they reveal, if a certain approach is overemphasized in collaboration (by enforcing too hard, too much delegation, too much strategy). Often these are specially trained personal strengths, which lead to success in certain situations. If these strengths are used unreflectedly as an all-purpose remedy, they can be counterproductive (too much emphasis on details). To this extent, both the shortage as well as the exaggeration of behaviours shows possible "weaknesses" of a leader. The concept of LVI enables to capture both perspectives. For this a patented response scale is used, which ranges from "too little" to "just right" to "too much".
The content of LVI: Leadership requirements
The LVI captures two pairs of facing dimensions, which represent the relevant requirements to executives. Forceful (1) describes behaviours, with which a person is actively involved in the design and implementation of projects and shows the ability to shape things. On the other side is (2) the enabling of the self-reliance of employees. This includes behaviours, where an executive creates space, in which employees can contribute and influence. In the second pair of facing dimensions strategic acting (3) is the focus on long-term aspects of competitiveness and the future success of the company. Operational efficiency (4), however, describes the optimization of business processes to implement actual results. Each of the four dimensions is captured with 12 independent questions. In addition, three indicators for quantity and quality of productivity and collaboration are queried. The completion of the questionnaire takes between 10-15 minutes and additional 10-20 minutes, if the optional open-ended questions are used.
The results of the LVI: If requirements are not met
The results are summarized by groups of raters and are reported graphically and numerically for each question as well as on further levels of aggregation. Based on the results, the discrepancies and development needs to train versatility can be shown. LVI results should be compared to Hogan results. The LVI records behaviour and shows how this behaviour is perceived by the environment in a specific company in a specific role. The online Hogan Assessment Systems captures relatively stable personality characteristics. Joint research projects between LVI and Hogan show, how the dimensions are related (e.g. "sociability" in the HPI & "declares" in the LVI). With the integration of the results from behavioural (LVI) and personality perspectives (HAS), a much more differentiated feedback can be given and a development plan for a person can be created. A short version of the LVI (Pulse-Check) that allows individual adjustments can also be used to measure the success of behavioural changes over time.
Quality and language of the LVI
The LVI is constantly being quality-checked. Research projects with the LVI are published regularly in high profile publications (see further literature). The manual also addresses the test quality criteria, such as those mentioned in DIN33430. Application, evaluation and reporting of LVI are administered via the Internet. The LVI questionnaire and the corresponding result report are available in English (U.S. and UK), German, French, Italian, Spanish and Czech (Status March 2011). The norm consists of 1.425 executives and will be complemented up to more than 3.000 people until 2012.
The LVI surveys and LVI certifications are offered exclusively by Metaberatung GmbH for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. A short trial test is possible.
Distinct Advantages
- An innovative, more realistic rating scale
- Reflects the tensions and tradeoffs in leadership
- Covers both, the interpersonal and the business side of leadership
- Short and to the point
- Based on science
- The key to leadership effectiveness