INDIVIDUAL

COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

NIGEL A.L. BROOKS

This edition is the online version.

For a downloadable version, visit:

www.individualcompetencies.com

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 About Nigel A.L Brooks...
INDIVIDUAL Nigel A.L Brooks is a management consultant to entrepreneurs, business
COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT enterprise owners, executives, and managers, and the enterprises they serve. He
specializes in developing the entrepreneurial, leadership, and managerial
competencies that build sustainable advantage from vision to value. He is an
author and a frequent speaker.

He obtained his professional experience as a partner at Andersen Consulting (now

Accenture, Ltd.), as a vice president at Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. (now Booz and
Company), as a senior vice president at the American Express Company, as
president of Javazona Cafes, Inc., and as president of The Business Leadership
Development Corporation. He has been a contributing editor for the Bank
Administration Institute magazine, and has served on boards of entrepreneurial
networks. He was educated at the University of Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom.

His clients are in the financial services, food services, high-tech, manufacturing
and distribution, pharmaceuticals, oil and gas, professional services, retail and
wholesale, transportation, and government industries.

He has experience in North and Latin America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

www.nigelalbrooks.com

About The Business Leadership Development Corporation...

The Business Leadership Development Corporation (BLD) is a professional services

firm that works with entrepreneurs, lifestyle business enterprise owners,
executives, and managers, and the enterprises they serve.

BLD develops entrepreneurial, leadership, and managerial competencies that

achieve performance excellence by building sustainable advantage from vision to
NIGEL A.L. BROOKS value through:

 Strategic Management Consulting

 Executive Coaching and Mentoring
 Professional Training via The Center For Business Leadership Development
 Motivational Speaking

www.bldsolutions.com

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 INDIVIDUAL
COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

NIGEL A. L. BROOKS
President: The Business Leadership Development Corporation

Published by:

THE BUSINESS LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

13835 North Tatum Boulevard
Suite 9-102
Phoenix, Arizona 85032 USA
v: (602) 291-4595
I: www.bldsolutions.com
E: bld@bldsolutions.com
© Copyright 2008: The Business Leadership Development Corporation. All rights reserved.

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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Hyperlinks:

 Purpose vi
 Introduction 1
 Assessment 3
 Glossary 10

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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

PURPOSE

Individual Competencies Assessment  How to use this ebook

 What is this book?  First take the assessment – there are three sections:

 A reference tool that enables individuals to assess their ♦ Personal competencies

competencies: personal, professional/technical, and enterpriship
(entrepreneurship, leadership, and management) ♦ Professional/technical competencies

 Who is the audience? ♦ Enterpriship (entrepreneurial, leadership, and mangement)

competencies
 Entrepreneurs who start businesses – agents of change in the
marketplace  Then reflect your answers:

 Lifestyle business enterprise owners who are responsible for ♦ Review the language of the questions
everything in their businesses
♦ Examine your responses
 Executives in the top management of any business who are
responsible for positioning in the marketplace You will find new ways to express yourself:

 Managers in any business who are responsible for ensuring that  On resumes
quality products and/or services are delivered to external and/or  In interviews
internal customers – i.e., the front-line management  On advertisements
 In plans
 Associates (supervisors and staff) in any business who are  In negotiations
responsible for delivering quality products and/or services to
external and/or internal customers – i.e., the front-line  The questions are designed systematically using
Enterpriship BLDer
 Intrapreneurs – agents of change in a business

 Systems professionals who need to understand business concepts

 Students and new graduates

 Anybody aspiring to be in any of the above roles, or just curious

 Why was this book written?

 To provide a tool for helping individuals advance in their careers

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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT
INTRODUCTION
The likelihood of success in both personal and professional situations
depends upon knowing your own strengths and weaknesses, knowing
what is expected of you, and then being able to adapt accordingly.
Understanding your individual competencies, and those of others, is a
necessary step to building successful relationships.
Job performance is a function of aptitude, ability, and proficiency.
Aptitude determines the suitability of an individual for a role; ability
determines their expected quality of performance for an activity; and
proficiency defines their level of competence.
Competence is characterized by both knowledge and skills. Every
individual has three competency areas to varying degrees:
 Personal
 Professional/technical
 Enterpriship (entrepreneurship, leadership, management)
Personal competencies...
Personal competencies are about who we are, and have both intra-
personal and inter-personal components. Intra-personal competencies
are about the self. They include the basics of anticipation, aptitude,
comprehension, deliberation, preferences, and stress tolerance. Inter-
personal competencies include both oral and written communications,
and the ability to build relationships with others.
Professional/technical competencies...
The terms “professional” and “technical” can be used broadly or narrowly.
When used broadly, the terms apply to domain knowledge in subject areas,
and the accompanying technical skills. Subject areas include both arts and
sciences disciplines – business is both an art and a science. Subject areas
in business include: legal, finance, human resources, information
technology, program management, engineering, operations, and business
development. The accompanying technical skills have mental and
physiological requirements, depending upon subject area.
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When used narrowly, the terms apply to occupations. Professional
occupations include accounting, architecture, consulting, law, marketing,
medicine, and sales. Technical occupations include construction,
engineering, and information technology. These terms are used by
government agencies to classify jobs.
Beware of the subject matter expert – an individual who appears
knowledgeable, but lacks the technical skills to achieve results. Subject
matter experts may do well in interviews, but do not necessarily perform
well on the job. Hence, it is important to assess the aptitude, ability, and
proficiency of a candidate before hiring, or risk being fooled.
Enterpriship competencies...
Enterpriship competencies relate to the disciplines of entrepreneurship,
leadership, and management. These competencies are distinct from
professional competencies because they apply in both personal and
professional life, and in both community-at-large and workplace settings.
Enterpriship competencies enable value to be earned and results to be
achieved. They include transforming innovative ideas into value, setting
direction that others will follow, and applying resources to activities to
achieve results.
For example, executive directors of charities are faced with the need to
find innovative ways to raise funds, to motivate others to contribute, and
to manage resources on tight budgets.
For example, designers of electronic equipment have to find innovative
ways to cram components into devices, be able to persuade others to use
their products, and conserve resources such as batteries.
Playing to strengths and accommodating weaknesses...
When taking on any new responsibility, an individual should compare
their competencies to the expected requirements of the assignment,
identify the gaps, and take steps to close them accordingly. Competencies
can be acquired through experience and training, if an individual is so
motivated.
INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

INTRODUCTION

When building a new relationship, an individual should compare their

competencies to those of the other person, identify gaps, and explore the
synergistic opportunities from working together. This approach is
especially beneficial in teamwork, where weaknesses in one team member
can be offset by strengths in another.

Inter-personal competencies, and especially effective communications,

are perhaps the most important of all. The ability to entertain, inform,
convince, persuade, and negotiate with others to get things done is
essential - nothing happens in business without people.

Understanding your individual competencies and those of others, so as to

play your strengths and accommodate your weaknesses, is essential to
success in both personal and professional relationships.

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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT

This instrument is a self assessment of individual competences. A Personal 1 2 3 4 5

There are three sets of questions. 1 Appearance

Ambition:
 Set A addresses personal competencies and conditions
2 ...Discovery/invention
 Questions 1- 25 address intra-personal (self) conditions 3 ...Education
 Questions 26-36 address inter-personal skills
(communications and relationships with others) 4 ...Fame
 Questions 37 – 44 – address occupational role 5 ...Family

 Set B addresses professional/technical competencies 6 ...Philanthropy

7 ...Power
 Questions 1 – 21 address industry knowledge
8 ...Wealth
 Questions 22 – 40 address functional knowledge
 Questions 41 - 42 address technical skills Disposition:
9 ...Dwell in the past
 Set C addresses enterpriship competencies
10 ...Live in the present
 Questions 1 – 9 address management competencies
11 ...Yearn for the future
 Questions 10 – 22 address entrepreneurship competencies
 Questions 23 – 57 address leadership competencies Preferences:
 Questions 58– 100 address management competencies 12 ...Energy and excitement
 Questions 101– 151 address leadership competencies
13 ...Peace and harmony
There are no wrong answers. 14 ...Safety and security
Rate yourself on a scale of 1 (low) to 5 (high). 15 ...Visionary and analytical
Aptitude:
If a question is inapplicable – leave it blank.
16 ...Art-related subjects
Once you have completed the assessment, learn more about how to 17 ...Science-related subjects
understand the personal styles of others:
18 Comprehension of written material
Webinar: 19 Anticipatory

www.understandingpersonalstyles.com/webinar 20 Deliberate

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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT

A Personal 1 2 3 4 5 A Personal 1 2 3 4 5
21 Stay within comfort zone Occupational role:
Health: 37 Entrepreneur
22 ...Physical 38 Lifestyle business enterprise owner
23 ...Mental 39 Executive
24 ....Emotional 40 Manager
25 ...Stress tolerance 41 Professional/technical
Oral communications: 42 Labor - skilled
26 ...Entertaining 43 Labor - unskilled
27 ...Informative 44 Student
28 ...Convincing
29 ...Persuasive
30 ...Succinct
31 Negotiable
Relationships with others:
32 ...Form easily
33 ...Strengthen overtime
34 ...Last
35 ...I seek others
36 ...Others seek me

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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT

B Professional 1 2 3 4 5 B Professional 1 2 3 4 5
Industry subject areas: Functional subject area:
...Product sector: 22 ...Legal
1 ......Agriculture ...Finance:
2 ......Mining, oil and gas 23 ......General accounting
3 ......Utilities 24 ......Managerial accounting
4 ......Construction 25 ......Regulatory accounting
5 ......Manufacturing 26 ......Capital management
6 ......Wholesale merchandising 27 ...Human resources
7 ......Retail merchandising ...Information technology:
8 ......Transportation 28 ......Hardware and systems software
9 ......Warehousing 29 .......Communications and networks
...Service sector: 30 ......Database management
10 ......Information 31 ......Application software
11 ......Finance and insurance 32 ......User interface
12 ......Real estate, rental and leasing 33 ...Program management
13 ......Professional, scientific and technical 34 ...Engineering
14 ......Business management ...Operations:
15 ......Administrative support and remediation 35 ......Procurement
16 ......Waste management 36 ......Manufacturing or equivalent
17 ......Educational services 37 ......Distribution
18 ......Health and social services ...Business Development:
19 ......Arts, entertainment and recreation 38 ......Marketing
20 ......Accommodation and food services 39 ......Sales
21 ......Public administration 40 ......Service

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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT
B Professional
Technical skills:
41 ...Mental ability
42 ...Physiological ability
ASSESSMENT
1 2 3 4 5 C Enterpriship 1 2 3 4 5
1 I am an advocate of change
2 I am an agent of change
3 I am a holistic thinker
4 I am a global thinker
5 I am a role model
6 I establish an environment for effective
planning
7 I establish an environment for effective policy
development
8 I establish an environment of effective
deployment and execution of plans and
policies...
9 ...and on a timely basis
10 I generate innovative ideas
11 I develop meaningful value propositions for
my ideas
I am able to transform my innovative ideas
into:
12 ...Effective processes
13 ...Beneficial products and/or services
14 ...Meaningful changes in the behavior of
people
15 I am willing to adapt my innovations based
upon responses from others
16 I am willing to enhance my innovations as
changes occur in the environment
17 I am willing to maintain my innovations over
time
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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT

C Enterpriship 1 2 3 4 5 C Enterpriship 1 2 3 4 5
18 I am willing to discontinue my innovations 37 I engage followers who have a higher potential
when there is no longer a demand or interest than me
in the environment
38 I maintain a positive relationship with
19 My ideas are sustainable over time followers
20 I am consistent over time 39 I maintain a positive relationship with
followers
21 I am willing to standardize processes and
products and/or services over time 40 I retain followers
22 I am willing to integrate my ideas with those 41 I maintain focus
of others
42 I create an environment for team motivation
23 I am self motivated
43 I am willing to make trade-offs
24 I have ambition
44 I am clear in my assignment of tasks with
25 I display self confidence followers
26 I display a positive attitude I ensure that my followers understand their
tasks in terms of:
27 I am willing to take risk
45 ...Budget
28 I am committed to the enterprise
46 ...Schedule
29 I contribute to the values of the enterprise
47 ...Scope, objectives, and goals
30 I communicate the values of the enterprise
enthusiastically 48 ...Quality
31 I live the values of the enterprise 49 I provide my followers with adequate
resources to perform their tasks
32 I use the enterprise's guiding principles as a
framework for decision making 50 I adapt my behavior according to the
commitment and competence of my followers
33 I express a clear vision of the enterprise's
future 51 I migrate from “command and control” to
empowered situations as soon as my followers
34 I express a clear mission of the enterprise's
are willing and able
purpose
52 When making introductions I am entertaining
35 I attract followers
53 When discussing situations I am informative
36 I engage followers who are more competent
than me

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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT

C Enterpriship
54 When presenting my ideas I am convincing
55 When presenting causes for actions I am
persuasive
56 I negotiate agreements for “win-win”
situations
57 I close negotiations with tangible results
58 I am organized
59 I procure the resources for others efficiently
and effectively: materials and supplies,
services, facilities and equipment
60 I set objectives (meaningful statements of
direction)
61 I set goals (quantifiable targets for the
achievement of objectives)
62 I set stretch goals
63 I determine strategic initiatives to achieve
objectives and goals
64 I develop tactical plans for each strategic
initiative with budgets and schedules
65 I balance short-term time-to-market with
long-term continuous improvement
66 I balance short-term time-to-market with
short-term continuous improvement
67 I strive to reduce cycle time
68 I am a problem solver
69 I establish tolerance intervals
70 I respond to exceptions that are outside of
tolerance norms
1 2 3 4 5 C Enterpriship 1 2 3 4 5
71 I test results inside tolerance norms for quality
72 I can tolerate discomfort
73 I can tolerate uncertainty
74 I encourage the development of alternative
solutions
75 I build consensus
76 I am decisive when I cannot build consensus
77 I make rational decisions with knowledge of
the facts
78 I do not make decisions based upon emotion
79 I make my decisions on a timely basis
80 I use my intuition when complete facts are not
available
81 I communicate decisions to related parties on
a timely basis
82 I balance time and cost with scope and quality
83 I identify strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities, and threats and respond to
them
84 I determine barriers to success and overcome
them
85 I review performance against budget on a
periodic basis and make adjustments
accordingly
86 I review performance against schedule on a
periodic basis and make adjustments
accordingly

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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT
C Enterpriship
87 I review performance against scope and make
adjustments accordingly
88 I review performance against quality on a
periodic basis and make adjustments
accordingly
89 I know how much value has been earned at
any point in time
90 I clearly communicate the impact of
performance variances against budget and
schedule
91 I obtain agreements as a consequence of
changes in plans
92 I am results-oriented
93 I enjoy taking assessments
94 I have the functional knowledge to lead my
organizational unit
95 I have the technical skills to lead my
organizational unit
96 I have the enabling technologies to lead my
organizational unit
97 I am continually evaluating the relationship
between supply and demand in my product
and business lines
98 I am continually evaluating the opportunity to
reengineer processes and functions
99 I am continually evaluating the opportunity to
restructure processes and functions
ASSESSMENT
1 2 3 4 5 C Enterpriship 1 2 3 4 5
100 I am continually evaluating the opportunity
to eliminate processes and functions
101 I respect the values of others
102 I strive for shared values
103 I respect the culture of others
104 I strive for multicultural and diverse
environments
105 I balance my personal and professional life
106 I encourage my followers to balance their
personal and professional lives
107 I make decisions collectively with my
followers
108 I make decisions collectively with my peers
109 I present my leaders with solutions, not
problems
110 My organization unit is aligned with those of
my peers
111 The units within my organizational unit are
aligned with each other
112 My organizational unit collaborates with
others
113 I encourage organizational learning
114 I encourage personal learning
115 Work follows smoothly and horizontally
through my organizational unit
116 Information flows are not fragmented in my
organizational unit, either horizontally or
vertically
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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT

C Enterpriship 1 2 3 4 5 C Enterpriship 1 2 3 4 5
117 I promote an open environment 139 I resolve conflict by avoiding it in the first
place
118 I build teams with shared values
140 I resolve conflict by compromise
119 I build teams with shared learning
141 I balance risk and reward
120 I build teams that are mutually accountable
142 I protect the enterprise's assets
121 I build teams that employ complementary
skills 143 I recognize the performance of my followers
with their teammates
122 I encourage cross-functional teams
144 I administer fair and justifiable incentive-
123 I encourage rotation of people between
based reward programs
functions
I am dedicated to serving my constituencies:
124 I encourage leaders to emerge within my
organizational unit 145 ...Employees
125 I assess the consequence of change over time 146 ...Customers
126 My organizational unit enacts the stated 147 ...Suppliers
values of the enterprise
148 ...Investors
127 I solicit feedback regularly from my leaders
149 I respect regulators
128 I solicit feedback regularly from my peers
150 I have a career succession plan in place
129 I solicit feedback regularly from my followers
151 Other individuals seek me out for advice and
130 I offer feedback regularly to my leaders counsel
131 I offer feedback regularly to my peers
132 I offer feedback regularly to my followers
133 I am perceived as being of high integrity
134 I am perceived as being trustworthy
135 My organizational unit's word is our bond
136 I am easy to find
137 I am easy to approach
138 I treat others with respect

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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

GLOSSARY

The terminology presented here is sourced from BLD's The Knowledge

Language Of Value  and applies to the broader fields of
enterpriship and building sustainable advantage : Information that has been learned and retained

Aptitude Physiology

Suitability for activities How living organisms function, especially with respect to human
function
Attitudes
Preferences
States of mind or dispositions that cause an individual to act or react
in a certain way towards an event, activity, or information  Values
 Attitudes
Behaviors  Beliefs
 Behaviors
Any forms of action or reaction – usually defined by society or culture
Professional
Belief
Individual in an occupation that requires specialized knowledge and
Something that is accepted as true, or placing trust or confidence in skills, who has usually received formal training in such areas as (but
another thing not limited to):

Capabilities  Law
 Finance and accounting
The capacity and ability of people, processes and functions, products  Human resources
and/or services to realize potential quality and value  Information technology
 Architecture
Competence  Engineering
 Marketing
 Knowledge (functional)  Health care
 Skills  etc.

 Personal Professional services firm

♦ Intra Enterprise that provides professional services such as legal,

♦ Inter accounting, architecture, engineering, consulting, etc.

 Professional/technical

 Enterpriship

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INDIVIDUAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

GLOSSARY

Proficiency

Advanced state or level of knowledge (breadth and depth) and skills

(experience) in a discipline as evidenced by capabilities

Skill

Method obtained by experience and/or training

Values

System of beliefs that:

 Sets expectations for behavior

 Establishes positions and priorities

 Provides a framework for decision making

The Language of Value is updated from time to time. Updates may

be obtained from:

Link to updates to The Language of Value

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 NEXT STEPS – OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST From Vision to Value: Building Sustainable Advantage

Understanding Personal Styles

www.enterpriship.com/marketplace/fvtvbsaeart

Seminar: Technology Wizardry – Vision and Reality

www.understandingpersonalstyles.com

Ebook:
www.enterpriship.com/marketplace/upsebook

Audiobook:
www.enterpriship.com/marketplace/upsaudiobook

Profile survey access:

www.enterpriship.com/marketplace/upsesurvey

Omnibus edition:
www.enterpriship.com/marketplace/upsomb www.enterpriship.com/marketplace/twvrebook

Webinar:
www.understandingpersonalstyles.com/webinar

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 INDIVIDUAL
COMPETENCIES ASSESSMENT

NIGEL A.L. BROOKS

THE BUSINESS LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

13835 North Tatum Boulevard, Suite 9-102
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
V: (602) 291-4595
I: www.bldsolutions.com
E: bld@bldsolutions.com
© Copyright 2008
The Business Leadership Development Corporation
All rights reserved

8278.10.100831.s