Here are the Quiz Answers

Question 1:    What percentage of people report that they like their job?

If I had to guess I'd say that your answer is too high. Only 20% of the respondents to a general population survey said they like their job. What a sad state of affairs. Some will say, "What do you expect, it is called work!" Leaders need to look out for these attitudes. People who are unhappy with their jobs are seldom doing there best work. When was the last time you did your own survey of worker happiness?

Question 2:    What percentage of the attributes that distinguish an outstanding leader from an average leader are factors other than technical expertise?

From this perspective, leaders are a lot like teams. Research continues to underscore that teams don't fail because they lack technical expertise, they fail because they don't know how to get along with each other and work effectively together. This survey said that 85% of the attributes of an outstanding leader are things other than technical expertise. Leaders - usually promoted to leadership positions because of their technical skills -- don't realize that it will be their people skills that make the difference between success and failure.

Question 3:    What percentage of middle managers rated their CEO's sense of humor lower than 5 on a 1 to 10 scale?

83% and no, that's not a joke. Tough times require a serious sense of humor and leaders need to know how to develop and show a positive sense of humor in their workplace.

FYI: The phrase positive sense of humor doesn't refer to sarcasm, put downs or let-us-laugh-at-them-cause-they're-dumber-than-us comments. Much of what gets labeled as funny is really rather toxic. Looking for a place to learn more? Read Managing to Have Fun by Matt Weinstein.

Question 4:    What percentage of employees say they don't get relevant feedback on the job?

Over 50% of the employees in this survey said they don't get relevant feedback on the job. Before you think this would be different in your organization because you have annual performance reviews, think again.

Relevant feedback has to be timely, encouraging, actionable, credible, honest, and specific. Performance reviews are almost never timely and rarely perceived as any of the other necessary elements. For some additional thoughts on feedback, check this article by Chris on the subject.

If you run across an interesting or, even better, astounding statistic on leadership, send them to Chris at Chris@LeadersAsk.com  and she'll give you credit, add a few comments ad post it.

Updated 4-1-03