Versatile Leadership, LVI and Their Application in Škoda Auto a.s.

Abstract

The paper starts with a presentation of the versatile leadership model developed by Kaplan and Kaiser and of their 360o feedback tool Leadership Versatility ® Index (LVI). Versatility can be generally defined as a mastery of opposites, as the ability to play multiple roles, even contradictory ones, without emphasizing some at the expense of others. The LVI has been designed to help managers understand their repertoire and how they can become more versatile leaders. It employs an innovative rating scale on which ideal score “0” is in the middle of it (the right amount), flanked by underdoing to the left (too little) and overdoing to the right (too much). The idea is to avoid the “more is better” design trap by providing a way for raters to indicate when managers go to counterproductive extremes. The LVI works with two-sided view of leadership based on two major pairs of opposites: directive vs. supportive leadership and execution vs. strategy. Interventions based on the LVI results help to overcome traditional behaviorism as they combine the outer work (behavioral change) with the inner work (personal change) of development. Application of the LVI on a sample of the managers from Skoda Auto a.s. and verification of its practical value represented the core of the SAVS IGA project MM/O7/02. The last part of the paper is devoted to a presentation of the findings from this project. The LVI has been found to be both original and a very useful 360o feedback tool which can be addressed to two general groups of clients: (1) experienced senior managers; and (2) young perspective managers in the beginning of their career.