The abbreviation LEA 360 stands for Leadership Effectiveness Analysis 360°, which speaks for itself. LEA 360 is a carefully and detailed leadership project that allows considering leadership qualities, potential, psychological aspects (relative to each company) from different angles. Based on psychological elements, LEA 360 highlights the strengths and weaknesses of individual leaders (a department leader or a director of a large company), which, in turn, affect the work and lives of their subordinates (Larjovuori, Bordi, and Heikkilä-Tammi, 2018, p. 213). The LEA 360 project is focused not only on leadership and directors but also on the whole picture in the company.
The company in need of the LEA 360 product has 30 employees and is specialized in a car wash. This small business has been in existence for over 15 years, and the owner is concerned that the company has hardly ever innovated. He started this business at the end of his career as an auto mechanic. Employees may be worried that their boss is rigid and overly conservative. He loves cars very much and understands their mechanics very well; he also knows how to take care of their appearance: however, he understands nothing about ergonomics and leadership. Given the qualifications of its employees, this business has a staff turnover that needs to be dealt. Students who want to earn a little money come to work in the company, sometimes schoolchildren in the summer.
LEA 360 does not publish data on specific companies, as it is a corporate secret, but does publish the scope of their questionnaires, price tags, and various descriptions of their product. LEA 360 assesses leadership skills according to 22 characteristics, which are divided into six categories. These six categories include creating a vision, developing followers, implementing the idea, following through, achieving results, and team playing.
LEA 360 for all types of companies includes two questionnaires. The self-assessment questionnaire contains 84 questions. Usually, this questionnaire is completed in 30 minutes. The question consists of three statements about leadership qualities and groups. The response format is ambiguous; the employee needs to rank the claims and make a rating. Here you can see that the questionnaire contains the aspect of the required choice since the person filling out the questionnaire cannot ignore any of the proposed statements. The observer’s questionnaire comprises 92 questions, but it is also completed in 30 minutes. This questionnaire consists of direct questions (there are 66), which are called triads, and a scale with 26 points. Sixty-six triads directly address the topic of leadership. These scales measure not only aspects related to leadership directly but also other psychological aspects that employees and bosses use in fulfilling their mission.
The ability to communicate with leaders makes the project diverse and fair to all employees, taking into account their opinion. The feedback is filled with rich insights that focus on the developmental aspect of the leader “because it plays crucial role in success of organizations” (Hussain and Hassan, 2016, p. 423). LEA 360 also provides a coaching program for a leader, taking into account his psychological characteristics; it offers the opportunity to formulate or rediscover goals for work, business development, and personal development. Initially, managers created LEA 360 in American English, but later the creators adapted the project to 15 languages.
A complete feedback report averages $ 1,424 or € 1,245, but the price varies depending on the number of employees. There are three sizes: from 25 to 200 employees in a company, from 200 to 1000, from 1000 employees. The first view gives a complete feedback report in detail and, most importantly, quickly. The second type is ideal for developing a large-scale strategy, where coaches help with the entire project. The third type focuses on comprehensive strategy development and company assistance. Developers and providers should consider flexible fees to distribute the program (Dunne et al., 2016), and LEA 360 provides it. An important aspect is that the product does not have any logistical difficulties, but there are difficulties in organising the workflow and harmoniously interweaving the project and analysis into workdays (Salovaara and Bathurst, 2018, p. 217). The absence of logistical problems will allow you to receive feedback reports very quickly.
Qualified HR professionals or psychologists can formally apply for LEA 360 feedback. Before that, they need to go through a particular program for strategic leadership development. The results of the LEA 360 questionnaire are calculated automatically; a group of coaches or psychologists does not consider them. The product can generate assessment reports on the day participants complete the questionnaires; reports can be sent electronically or in printed form.
As a product in the market for services for business development and leadership qualities, this project can bring psychological satisfaction. In the context of the car washing company mentioned above, filling out such questionnaires can be psychologically satisfying, but some employees will find the questions boring. Employees interested in change and want to advise their conservative boss will communicate this through questionnaires. The youngest employees or those with meager qualifications will also find themselves helpful in filling out the questionnaire, but the scales and questions can be tedious and confusing for them.
Leaders will inspire the credibility of other companies who want to collaborate. In addition, leaders with a high level of trust build comfortable relationships with their subordinates, with no room for antagonistic rivalry. These leaders are inherently ethical (Neves, Almeida, and Velez, 2018) and charismatic, and the people who work with them have a lot of fun out of their day-to-day workflow. In such an environment, it is easier to make tough and serious decisions.
Reference List
Dunne, T.C., Aaron, J.R., McDowell, W.C., Urban, D.J. and Geho, P.R. (2016). ‘The impact of leadership on small business innovativeness’. Journal of Business Research, 69(11), pp. 4876-4881.
Hussain, M. and Hassan, D. (2016). ‘The leadership styles dilemma in the business world’. International Journal of Organizational Leadership, 5, pp. 411-425.
Larjovuori, R.L., Bordi, L. and Heikkilä-Tammi, K. (2018). ‘Leadership in the digital business transformation’. Proceedings of the 22nd International Academic Mindtrek Conference, pp. 212-221.
Neves, P., Almeida, P. and Velez, M.J. (2018). ‘Reducing intentions to resist future change: combined effects of commitment‐based HR practices and ethical leadership’. Human Resource Management, 57(1), pp. 249-261.
Salovaara, P. and Bathurst, R. (2018). ‘Power-with leadership practices: An unfinished business’. Leadership, 14(2), pp. 212-221.