Download - What is leadership? - BritainThinks
Summary of findings • Integrity, decisiveness, strong communications and listening are
key leadership qualities • Churchill remains the archetypal leader • Different leadership qualities are demanded by different roles
• Strong communication skills is the top quality for political leadership, decisiveness for business and energy for sport
• Cameron is ahead of the current political leaders on the more salient qualities except for listening • There is no significant change to these scores since first asked a year ago
• ‘Everyday’ leadership attributes are similar – though listening matters more • Older people regard leadership as more rare than younger people do
• 4 out of 10 think their friends/colleagues would describe them as a leader
Methodology What did we do? • Three online polls with members of the public assessing leadership
qualities and evaluating current leaders • Two focus groups with the public • Two focus groups with opinion leaders • Initial depth interviews with opinion leaders We conducted three polls using the Populus Data Solution’s online omnibus on:
• 19th – 21st August 2011 • 21st-23rd October 2011 • 29th June-1st July 2012 Data were demographically weighted to be representative of the UK adult population.
5%
5%
10%
13%
13%
13%
24%
30%
30%
41%
45%
55%
Being pragmatic
Being energetic
Being authentic
Having empathy
Being tough
Being charismatic
Having conviction
Having a vision
Being a good listener
Having integrity
Being decisive
Being a great communicator
Q: Of the qualities below, please select the three which you think are most important for leadership? Base: General population [n= 2050] October 2011
Great communications, decisiveness and integrity are deemed to be most the important qualities for leadership
% selec'ng each quality as one of three most important for
leadership
Being a great communicator (% selecting “being a great communicator” as one of the three characteristics that most apply)
26% 23% 19%
16% 16%
Q. For each of the individuals below, please select up to three characteristics which you think apply most to each? Please select up to three Base: General population [n= 2050] August 2011
Being decisive (% selecting “being decisive” as one of the three characteristics that most apply)
38%
28% 20%
36% 37%
Q. For each of the individuals below, please select up to three characteristics which you think apply most to each? Please select up to three Base: General population [n= 2050] August 2011
Having integrity (% selecting “integrity” as one of the three characteristics that most apply)
25%
14% 14%
19% 16%
Q. For each of the individuals below, please select up to three characteristics which you think apply most to each? Please select up to three Base: General population [n= 2050] August 2011
Being a good listener (% selecting “being a good listener” as one of the three characteristics that most apply)
42% 19% 11%
10% 9%
Q. For each of the individuals below, please select up to three characteristics which you think apply most to each? Please select up to three Base: General population [n= 2050] August 2011
Winston Churchill: Archetypal leader?
• Churchill consistently ranks among the top five on the most important qualities – having integrity, being decisive and being a great communicator
• Focus group participants also praised his leadership
“Great motivator, kept morale up during the war.”
Churchill Index: How leaders rank when measured against Churchill on their combined score of integrity, decisiveness and communication skills
24 25 26 27 28
33 34
38 38 40 41
46 50
58 61 64 65
69 72
100
Ed Miliband
Nick Clegg
Alex Salmond
Rupert Murdoch (Founder, News International)
Michael O'Leary (Founder, Ryanair)
Boris Johnson
Princess Diana
Anita Roddick (Founder, The Body Shop/ campaigner)
Lord Sebastian Coe
Prince Charles
Sir Bob Geldof
Tony Blair
Sir Alex Ferguson
David Cameron
Nelson Mandela
Richard Branson (Founder, Virgin)
Barack Obama
Alan Sugar (Founder, Amstrad/The Apprentice)
Margaret Thatcher
Winston Churchill
Q. For each of the individuals below, please select up to three characteristics which you think apply most to each? Please select up to three Base: General population [n= 2050] August 2011
Churchill Index: Once scores for listening are incorporated, Princess Diana and Obama move up, whilst Thatcher and Sugar fall
27 28 29
34 36 38 41 42
48 49 51
62 65
70 71 72 72 73
85 100
Rupert Murdoch (Founder, News International)
Michael O'Leary (Founder, Ryanair)
Alex Salmond
Ed Miliband
Nick Clegg
Boris Johnson
Anita Roddick (Founder, The Body Shop/ campaigner)
Lord Sebastian Coe
Sir Bob Geldof
Sir Alex Ferguson
Tony Blair
Prince Charles
David Cameron
Richard Branson (Founder, Virgin)
Alan Sugar (Founder, Amstrad/The Apprentice)
Margaret Thatcher
Nelson Mandela
Barack Obama
Princess Diana
Winston Churchill
Q. For each of the individuals below, please select up to three characteris7cs which you think apply most to each? Please select up to three Base: General population [n= 2050] Aug 2011
Net leadership scores: the politicians
Q: For each of the individuals below, please say how effective each is/was as a leader? Base: General population [n= 2050] Aug 2011
-60%
-40%
-20%
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Badly (0-3) Well (7-10)
Net -35%
Net -29%
Net -5%
Net 3%
Net 7%
Net 6%
Net 22%
Net 41%
Net 50%
Net 74%
Net 82%
Nick Clegg
Ed Miliband
Ken Livingstone
Boris Johnson
David Cameron
Tony Blair
Adolf Hitler
Barack Obama
Margaret Thatcher
Nelson Mandela
Winston Churchill
Cameron leads on communications, decisiveness and vision, whilst Miliband leads on listening
14%
7% 6%
10% 11%
19%
15% 15%
11%
5%
11%
4%
6%
9% 10%
Has a vision Is decisive Is a great communicator
Has integrity Is a good listener
Ed Miliband David Cameron Nick Clegg
Q. For each of the individuals below, please select up to three characteristics which you think apply most to each? Base: All respondents Jun 2012
Cameron leads on tough decisions and economic management, while Miliband puts the interests of working people first
15%
31%
32%
33%
38%
47%
34%
20%
21%
16%
18%
13%
9%
4%
5%
4%
5%
7%
Puts the interests of working people first
Is able to guide the country through the financial crisis
Has a plan for growth in the economy
Is able to take a leadership role in resolving Europe's economic problems
Has the courage and determination to see through his decisions
Does what he believes to be right, even when those decisions are unpopular
Nick Clegg Ed Miliband David Cameron
Q. For each of the statements below, please say which of the main party leaders you think it most applies to? Base: All respondents Jun 2012
There is strong support for Cameron from Conservative voters
15%
31%
32%
33%
38%
47%
44%
79%
72%
75%
77%
79%
Puts the interests of working people first
Is able to guide the country through the financial crisis
Has a plan for growth in the economy
Is able to take a leadership role in resolving Europe's economic problems
Has the courage and determination to see through his decisions
Does what he believes to be right, even when those decisions are unpopular
Conservative voters Total population
Q. For each of the statements below, please say which of the main party leaders you think it most applies to? Base: All respondents Jun 2012
Whereas Miliband has weaker support from Labour voters
13%
16%
18%
20%
21%
34%
30%
39%
44%
47%
50%
67%
Does what he believes to be right, even when those decisions are unpopular
Is able to take a leadership role in resolving Europe's economic problems
Has the courage and determination to see through his decisions
Is able to guide the country through the financial crisis
Has a plan for growth in the economy
Puts the interests of working people first
Labour voters Total population
Q. For each of the statements below, please say which of the main party leaders you think it most applies to? Base: All respondents Jun 2012
And Clegg has very weak support amongst Lib Dems
4%
4%
5%
5%
7%
9%
16%
18%
14%
19%
27%
30%
Is able to guide the country through the financial crisis
Is able to take a leadership role in resolving Europe's economic problems
Has a plan for growth in the economy
Has the courage and determination to see through his decisions
Does what he believes to be right, even when those decisions are unpopular
Puts the interests of working people first
Lib Dem voters Total Population
Q. For each of the statements below, please say which of the main party leaders you think it most applies to? Base: All respondents Jun 2012
The scores for the three leaders’ characteristics have not changed significantly year-on-year
27%
21% 19%
16% 16% 13% 13% 13%
11% 10% 8% 8%
5%
29%
19% 18% 15% 15% 15%
12% 11% 12% 9%
7% 5% 4%
Aug-11 Jun-12
Q. For each of the individuals below, please select up to three characteristics which you think apply most to each? Base: All respondents Jun 2012
Cameron scores lowest on empathy and listening
Miliband scores lowest on being tough and charismatic
36%
24%
12% 12% 9% 9% 8% 7% 6% 5% 5%
3% 3%
35%
20%
14% 12% 11% 10% 11%
7% 6% 7% 6% 4% 4%
Aug-11 Jun-12
Q. For each of the individuals below, please select up to three characteristics which you think apply most to each? Base: All respondents Jun 2012
Clegg scores lowest on being decisive and tough.
38%
20%
12% 10% 10% 9% 9%
7% 7% 6% 6% 4%
2%
38%
17%
11% 10% 9% 12%
9% 7% 7% 7% 6%
4% 2%
Aug-11 Jun-12
Q. For each of the individuals below, please select up to three characteristics which you think apply most to each? Base: All respondents Jun 2012
Q: Of the qualities below, please select the three which you think are most important for each specific type of leadership? Base: General population [n= 2050] October 2011
Leadership demands different qualities in different sectors – though political is closest to top of mind associations with leadership
General Leadership Political Business Sporting
Being a great communicator 1 1 2 3
Being decisive 2 3 1 4
Having integrity 3 2 4 8
Being a good listener 4 5 6 10
Having a vision 5 4 3 5
Having conviction 6 6 7 7
Being charismatic 7 7 10 6
Being tough 8 8 5 2
Having empathy 9 9 12 12
Being authentic 10 10 10 9
Being energetic 11 12 8 1
Being pragmatic 12 11 9 11
Leadership is seen as a very rare quality, though 4 out of 10 think they are seen as a leader…
40%
46%
47%
54%
56%
66%
My friends or colleagues would describe me as a leader
Leadership doesn't really have much impact on my life
Leadership is not something that I have much experience of in my day to day life
When I think of a leader, I usually think about a person outside of my daily life for
I have experienced strong, effective leadership at work
I think of leadership as a very rare quality
Q. How far do you agree with each of the following statements? Base: All respondents June 2012
% agreeing with statement
There are significant gender, age and class differences in experiences of leadership
• In the workplace: • Women are less likely to have experienced “strong, effective
leadership at work” than men (50%/62%) • And there is an even bigger gap between DEs and ABs (46%/67%)
• Older people value leadership as a more ‘rare’ quality than younger ones do (70%/59%)
• Women are less likely to believe they are seen as a leader (36%/44%) • Younger people are more likely to think they are seen as a leader
than older ones (46%/36%) • ABs are more likely than DEs (47%/29%)
• Public sector workers are more likely to think of themselves as leaders than those in the private sector (51%/44%)
Q. How far do you agree with each of the following statements? Base: All respondents June 2012
Colleagues, parents and teachers are the best leadership role models 1 in 10 have never experienced effective leadership
11%
6%
2%
4%
5%
6%
10%
11%
12%
17%
23%
25%
27%
35%
36%
40%
I have never experienced effective leadership in my everyday life
Don't know
Other
A local councillor
A youth worker
A neighbour
A representative of a religion or faith
A sibling
Someone who volunteers in your local community
A healthcare professional
A spouse or partner
A co-worker
A friend
A teacher
A parent
A manager or senior colleague
Q. Thinking about your own life (either at the moment or in your past) have you ever had personal experience of effective leadership from any of the following? Base: All respondents June 2012
Proportion choosing each figure
And colleagues and parents also best embody the qualities of leadership
11%
1%
1%
1%
1%
2%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
9%
9%
17%
19%
I have never experienced effec've leadership in my everyday life
Other
A youth worker
A local councillor
A neighbour
A sibling
Someone who volunteers in your local community
A representa've of a religion or faith
A healthcare professional
A co-‐worker
A friend
A spouse or partner
A teacher
A parent
A manager or senior colleague
Q Thinking about the person in your own life (either at the moment or in your past) who most embodies the qualities of leadership, were they...? Base: All respondents June 2012
5%
5%
10%
13%
13%
13%
24%
30%
30%
41%
45%
55%
8%
10%
12%
21%
19%
12%
19%
19%
36%
36%
42%
48%
Being pragmatic
Being energetic
Being authentic
Having empathy
Being tough
Being charismatic
Having conviction
Having a vision
Being a good listener
Having integrity
Being decisive
Being a great communicator
Everyday leadership
Leadership in general
Q for leadership in general: Of the characteristics below, please select the three which you think are most important for a good leader… (October 2011): Q for every day leadership: Still thinking about the person in your own life (either at the moment or in your past) who most embodies the qualities of leadership, which three of the following qualities most applied to them? Base: All respondents who have experienced effective leadership in their everyday lives
The same qualities are respected in general and everyday leadership but listening is valued more in personal experiences, whereas communication skills and having a vision are more important to leadership in general
Summary of findings • Integrity, decisiveness, strong communications and listening are
key leadership qualities • Churchill remains the archetypal leader • Different leadership qualities are demanded by different roles
• Strong communication skills is the top quality for political leadership, decisiveness for business and energy for sport
• Cameron is ahead of the current political leaders on the most salient qualities except for listening • There is no significant change to these scores since first asked a year ago
• ‘Everyday’ leadership attributes are similar – though listening matters more • Older people regard leadership as more rare than younger people do
• 4 out of 10 think their friends/colleagues would describe them as a leader
Contact details
For more information about this study, or the work we do more generally, please get in touch: BritainThinks Somerset House Strand London WC2R 1LA [email protected] 020 7845 5880