Competencies

Essentials

1 PRIORITY SETTING

Description
Spends his/her time and the time of others on what’s important; quickly zeros in on the critical few and puts the trivial many aside; can quickly sense what will help or hinder accomplishing a goal; eliminates roadblocks; creates focus.

1 PRIORITY SETTING

OVERUSED SKILL
May let the trivial many accumulate into a critical problem; may too quickly reject the priorities of others; may have a chilling effect on necessary complexity by requiring everything to be reduced to the simple; may confuse simple with simplistic; may be too dominant a force on priorities for the team.

UNSKILLED
Has little sense of what's mission-critical and what's just nice to do; doesn't identify the critical few well for self or others; may believe that everything's equally important. may overwhelm others with unfocused activities; may be addicted to action, do a little bit of everything quickly; may be a poor time manager; may not say no; wants to do everything; not good at figuring out how to eliminate a roadblock.

2 PROBLEM SOLVING

Description
Uses rigorous logic and methods to solve difficult problems with effective solutions; probes all fruitful sources for answers; can see hidden problems; is excellent at honest analysis; looks beyond the obvious and doesn't stop at the first answers

2 PROBLEM SOLVING

OVERUSED SKILL
May tend toward analysis paralysis; may wait too long to come to a conclusion; may not set analysis priorities; may get hung up in the process and miss the big picture; may make things overly complex; may do too much of the analysis personally.

UNSKILLED
Not a disciplined problem solver; may be stuck in the past, wed to what worked before; many times has to come back and rework the problem a second time; may be a fire-ready-aim type; may get impatient and jump to conclusions too soon; may not stop to define and analyze the problem; doesn't look under rocks; may have a set bag of tricks and pull unfit solutions from it; may miss the complexity of the issue and force-fit it to what he/she is most comfortable with; unlikely to come up with the second and better solution, ask penetrating questions, or see hidden patterns.

3 UNDERSTANDING OTHERS

Description
Understands why groups do what they do; picks up the sense of the group in terms of positions, intentions, and needs; what they value and how to motivate them; can predict what groups will do across different situations.

3 UNDERSTANDING OTHERS

OVERUSED SKILL
May spend too much time trying to analyze what a group might or might not do; may generalize from his/her group appraisal to individuals, letting personal impressions of a group cover individuals as well; may discount variety of opinion; may have trouble dealing with individuals when he/she is in conflict with the group the individual belongs to; may spend too much energy understanding and analyzing group actions.

UNSKILLED
Doesn't read groups well; doesn't understand how groups operate or what purposes groups serve; can't predict what groups will do; stereotypes or pre-judges groups; may only understand groups similar to him or her in purpose and characteristics; sees people as individuals only; doesn't understand how group membership affects people's views and behavior; prefers working one-on-one; can't reach or motivate groups; may be a loner and not really a member of any voluntary groups.

4 DRIVE FOR RESULTS

Has a strong bottom-line orientation; Persists in accomplishing objectives despite obstacles and setbacks; Has a track record of exceeding goals successfully; Pushes self and helps others achieve results.

4 DRIVE FOR RESULTS

OVERUSED SKILL
May go for results at all costs without appropriate concern for people, teams, due process, or possibly norms and ethics; may have high turnover under him/her due to the pressure for results; may not build team spirit; may not celebrate and share successes; may be very self-centered.

UNSKILLED
Doesn't deliver results consistently; doesn't get things done on time; wastes time and resources pursuing non-essentials; something always gets in the way -personal disorganization, failure to set priorities, underestimating time frames, overcoming resistance; not bold or committed enough to push it through; procrastinates around whatever gets in his/her way; doesn't go all out to complete tasks; does the least to get by.

5 DEALING WITH AMBIGUITY

Description

Dealing with ambiguity involves:
Effectively coping with change and shifting gears comfortably.
Deciding and acting without having the total picture.
Handling risk and uncertainty comfortably.
Managing ambiguity means being able to make decisions based on limited information. It also means being able to adapt your approach when situations change or problems come up.
In a business context, dealing with ambiguity is essential as it allows leaders and employees to navigate complex situations without having all the answers, make informed decisions with limited data, and adapt to changing circumstances. It is a trait that enables resilience and innovation, especially in fast-paced or rapidly evolving industries, such as logistics and retail.