Bartram’s Great Eight Leadership Competencies.
Dave Bartram is a leadership researcher who popularized the idea of leadership competencies. His research was based on the behaviors of leaders in the real world and his model and data is the basis for many of the current big consulting companies’ proprietary competency models.
Bartram’s model and data have become known as the Great Eight Leadership competencies, because guess what? There are eight leadership competencies that he found in real world leadership situations. These eight competencies are derived from over one hundred leadership behaviors.
The Great Eight is a useful tool because it is based on the assumption that there are some universal leadership competencies that will work across most situations. In teams and as leaders we attempt to maximize each team member’s special talents, thereby minimizing gaps in knowledge and skills. Many leading organizations use competencies to build their leadership teams.
I’m preferential to Bartram’s Great Eight because it is portable and not tied to a specific organization. In other words, it goes with the individual leader, not the organization.
Competency versus behavior
Behavior = single action
Competency = set of behaviors
As we are examining Bartram’s Great Eight, the first thing we need to do is examine what a competency is. In particular we need to distinguish it from another idea known as a behavior.
Let’s start with a behavior. You can all see the very quick definition above, but what does that look like in real life?
A behavior is any action that we take and is observable. It is different from our feelings or thoughts which are internal to us, and other people are most likely not able to see. Thoughts and emotions can be precursors or reasons that behaviors result, but they are not the behavior itself.
Then what is a competency? Again, you can see the quick definition above, but let’s examine that in a bit more detail. A competency is a set of related behaviors that can be seen as a whole thing. Sort of like personality trait. But unlike a personality trait, it is not internal to us, the set of behaviors are observable to others.
Let’s use an example several behaviors of talking, looking, and listening, we could group them into a competency of “communicating”. Communicating in this case is a competency that is combined from several individual behaviors.
Bartram’s Great Eight Validity
So as mentioned above, I like Bartram’s Great Eight because they are applicable to the real world and are transportable with the leader. The reasons for that are multiple:
- Built from decades of research
- Highly reliable and valid
- Studied in many different contexts
- Found to be generalizable to any situation
- Typically done by measuring actual behaviors
- Competencies were built using a process known as factor analysis
The Great Eight are built on decades of work by Dave Bartram and his colleagues. They started their work in the 1980s and refined it until the 2000s where it evolved into what most large consulting companies are using today. The model has been studied in all kinds of contexts and organizations. This was real world research with leaders, not work in a lab at a university. As such, the reliability and validity are very high as it has been tested and compared to similar ideas over time and refined into what we have today.
Bartram intentionally set out to find a universal set of observable behaviors so that leadership research could move beyond the personality focus that had existed before. This was basically value added to the centuries of personality and leadership research that already existed. He did predate emotional intelligence which is the other big value add to understanding leadership. That is why good leadership assessment incorporates all three; so that you have the value add of EI, personality, and leadership competencies.
The Eight Competencies
Each of Bartram’s Great Eight leadership competencies is comprised of eight to twelve individual behaviors. Listing them all here would be too much in the weeds in terms of detail, so we are going to stay at the general competency level. Below are the eight leadership competencies.
- Leading & Deciding
- Supporting & Cooperating
- Interacting & Presenting
- Analyzing & Interpreting
- Creating & Conceptualizing
- Organizing & Executing
- Adapting & Coping
- Enterprising & Performing
We’re going to examine each one here shortly, but you are probably wondering why each of the eight has two action verbs in it. And the short answer is that I don’t know exactly. Bartram never truly explained why that is based on what I’ve read. That said, I’m going to speculate that it was simply easier to describe a conglomeration of behaviors like a competency using two verbs than it was one. Below are the explanations of each competency taken from Bartram (2005).
- Leading and Deciding
“Takes control and exercises leadership. Initiates action, gives direction, and takes responsibility.” In general, this one is about driving the team forward.
- Supporting and Cooperating
“Supports others and shows respect and positive regard for them in social situations. Puts people first, working effectively with individuals and teams, clients, and staff. Behaves consistently with clear personal values that complement those of the organization.” In general, this is making sure that you have functional social relationships on the team to make sure that the work can get done without people roadblocking each other.
- Interacting and Presenting
“Communicates and networks effectively. Successfully persuades and influences others. Relates to others in a confident, relaxed manner.” This one really is about communicating clearly both in writing and speaking so that people can understand your actions moving the team forward.
- Analyzing and Interpreting
“Shows evidence of clear analytical thinking. Gets to the heart of complex problems and issues. Applies own expertise effectively. Quickly takes on new technology. Communicates well in writing.” This one is the ability to collect and use data, information, and evidence to help you make quality decisions.
- Creating and Conceptualizing
“Works well in situations requiring openness to new ideas and experiences. Seeks out learning opportunities. Handles situations and problems with innovation and creativity. Thinks broadly and strategically. Supports and drives organizational change.” In general, this one is about being able to absorb new information and learn. It is different from analyzing and interpreting, as it involves seeking out new information beyond what you already have. But you are probably also starting to see how these eight competencies work in conjunction with each other but capture different sets of behaviors.
- Organizing and Executing
“Plans ahead and works in a systematic and organized way. Follows directions and procedures. Focuses on customer satisfaction and delivers a quality service or product to the agreed standards.” This one is fairly straight forward; it is about being able to be organized and being able to make sure that the plan comes to fruition.
- Adapting and Coping
“Adapts and responds well to change. Manages pressure effectively and copes well with setbacks.” When those best laid plans need adjustment, adapting and coping come in. An effective adapter/coper can roll with the punches and devise something on the fly to deal with any setback.
- Enterprising and Performing
“Focuses on results and achieving personal work objectives. Works best when work is related closely to results and the impact of personal efforts is obvious. Shows an understanding of business, commerce, and finance. Seeks opportunities for self-development and career advancement.” This competency is about being able to innovate, particularly in relation to competitors.
Developing your Leadership Competencies
What should you focus on when you are developing your leadership, competencies or behaviors?
In short, both.
You should use the competency as yourbig picture guide. It is the most important in the long run for your overall leadership. However, you can’t actually change a competency directly as it is a conglomerate of behaviors. So, to change a competency, you need to target specific behaviors, that then add up to that competency. These are the things that you can actually change, and that people can actually see change in your leadership overall as a result.
For example, if as a leader my organizing and executing competency was lower than I would like and/or it is something that is going to be particularly helpful for the upcoming year for my position. Again, I can’t do everything in the whole competency (again there typically are 8 to 12 behaviors that compromise the competency). But I can focus on a behavior or two and set goals and implement some behavior change, which in turn will improve the overall competency.
Continuing the example, I know that my monitoring and maintaining quality behavior is a weak behavior for me within that competency. I would then create a goal for my development plan to make sure that I am following up with those that I manage after I assign them tasks. This might mean setting a bi-monthly review of their work and giving them feedback. I will measure this by checking off that I met with them 2 to 3 times per quarter as well as that I provided them feedback on how to improve and see if they improved in those areas.
If this is something that you would like to follow up on, please feel free to use our free leadership development plan.
Reference
Bartram, D. (2005). he Great Eight Competencies: A Criterion-Centric Approach to Validation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(6):1185-203. DOI:10.1037/0021-9010.90.6.1185