Page 304 - The extraordinary leader

Research Methodology • 281

Sixteen Competencies That Best Differentiate
High- and Low-Performing Leaders (Chapter 4)

To accomplish this analysis, thirty-two 360-degree feedback data sets were ana-
lyzed, containing results from more than 100 different companies. Table A-1
provides a listing of the different data sets used in the analysis.
The analysis was completed using results from 237,123 survey responses
on 26,314 leaders. Each of the different data sets represented different cus-
tomized 360-degree surveys. A total of 1,956 360-degree items were used. Very
few of the items were repeated in the different surveys. This provided an
extraordinarily rich data set of competencies and items from a variety of dif-
ferent organizations.
Extensive analysis was done on each data set. First, data sets were compiled
into aggregated format by computing an overall average of all responses (e.g.,
boss, peers, direct reports, others), with the self-response excluded. This was
done for each leader in the data set. Next, an overall score was computed by
averaging all 360-degree items into an overall index. We next determined from
the overall score the top 10 percent of highest-scoring leaders and the bottom
10 percent of lowest-scoring leaders. Using these two groups, an independent
t-test was performed on each item. The t-values from the t-test were then
sorted for all survey items. The 10 to 15 items with the largest differences were
then selected from each data analysis and put into a combined set of key dif-
ferentiating items. Once all of the analysis was completed, the combined list
was again sorted, selecting only those with the highest t-values. Each item was
then put on a 3-inch by 5-inch card. The cards were sorted into groups sepa-
rately by both authors, and after several iterations the items were grouped into
16 different clusters. Because the survey items crossed over 32 different data
sets, we were not able to perform a factor analysis on the overall results, but
we did perform a factor analysis on individual data sets, which helped in
creating the appropriate clusters.

Impact of Profound Strengths on Overall
Leadership Effectiveness (Chapter 6)

In Chapter 6, a study was presented assessing the impact of profound strengths
on overall leadership effectiveness. Figure A-2 presents an updated study. The
data from the study came from the aggregated results of 7,195 leaders from a
variety of different organizations. The 360-degree assessment was based on the