The Six Leadership Passages

Prior to this course—and this entire graduate program for that matter—I had no formal education on the dimensions, facets, and other subsequent research in “leadership.” I had always thought of leaders as a certain breed—born to lead! Though I still feel that some people possess stronger attributes (those seen in the BigFive ProFile, for example) than others which help in their leadership success, I have recently learned that those attributes may in fact not help and may even hinder one’s climb up the professional, leadership ladder if the steps are not taken sequentially.

The article, "Six Leadership Passages" by Charan, Drotter & Noel, establishes the appropriate mode in which we should climb this imaginary ladder. First, we must prove ourselves after a year or so in a job that we are ‘promotable’ due to the sharpening and broadening of our individual skill set. These attributes however will only lead to our leadership success if we are able and willing to make a value-based transition. This consists of valuing managerial work and not just enduring it, as well as truly valuing the leading of others to their own productivity. This shift is critical in order for a manager to move onto the second passage—managing managers. Skipping the first passage and not fully accepting the values of it can lead to, as the authors call it, ‘clogging the leadership pipeline’ (16-8).

Like the first, the second passage has values that are critical to success, including the valuation of managing areas outside of their individual expertise. As the authors point out, communication is critical for the third passage managers as they must develop the “skill of skip-level communication” so to not diminish the authority of managers in the lesser two passages. The fourth passage has values placed in importance of the support staff. Without this, staff will not perform to their full capacity, ultimately leaving the business manager with a clog in the pipes. Group managers, seen in the fifth passage, must have values related directly to the success of other people’s business (i.e., holistic, strategic thinking). The final passage is solely focused on values versus skills. The managerial challenge at this passage is to assemble together a high-achieving, ambitious team but this can only be done successfully after years and years of diverse experiences allowing, for example, a CEO to truly value the needs of the sixth passage (20-6).

In my professional life, I am in the beginning stages of the first passage…with a bit of a twist. After two years in my educational coordinator position I was able to display knowledge of the job, self-initiation, and the ability to take on multiple roles in different areas of my department with success. Upon the retirement of our previous business manager, I was asked to step in and fill that position as interim while they searched for a replacement. Obviously, I skipped quite a few passages and was thrown into the fourth without any preparation. Being thrust into this role forced me to adopt the somewhat trite mantra of ‘sink or swim.’ I chose to swim—not only for my own sake (and sanity!), but for the sake of the department. Lucky for me, some of my stronger dimensions had a chance to shine, such as my low C+ (high consolidation) and my low N= (moderate need for stability). Prior to the BigFive, I did not have formal names for these dimensions of my personality but I knew these were the areas that helped me not just wade in the water until a new manager started, but instead allowed me to swim toward my own leadership shore. I have recently been promoted as the educational administrator/day-to-day operations manager in the my department. As the authors suggest, I must learn to value deligation as well as the success of others as I move through the first passage. I believe that my intense focus towards goals and my moderate threshold for handling stress at work are bound to help me as I climb my own personal leadership ladder.

The WorkPlace BigFive ProFile

Since I started the Master's in Leadership Development program last fall, I have learned a lot about myself. Some of it I was aware of, while others of it I was not. We started our journey by taking a Jungian Typology assessment, liken to Meyers Brigg, and the results were me to a 'T'--I am officially an ESTJ. Throughout the lessons associated with that exercise, I have become more self-aware of my personality strengths and weaknesses and how to relate those into my professional life.

However, this quarter we were required to take the WorkPlace BigFive ProFile assessment. Personally, I think this was undoubtedly more accurate and 'right on' than the Jungian assessment. Had this assessment been given to others to complete about me, I am sure the results would be parallel to my own results. As the authors of The Owner’s Manual for Personality at Work point out, the bottom line for studying personality at work is specifically related to the performance of not only the individual but the company as well (28). It is crucial that I am self-aware of my own personality and how it affects and is affected by the variety of tasks and persons I work amongst daily.

A quick breakdown of the BigFive ProFile looks at five components: N need for stability; E extraversion; O originality; A accommodation; and C consolidation. If you can imagine, think of each on a spectrum—the far right (++) being the exact definition of each component, with the far left (--) being its precise opposite. Just as seen on a political, ideological spectrum, the center is moderate (=), a combination of both extremes. Another critical element to understand is that moderate BigFive scores are averages, not modes. The author of this text, Pierce J. Howard, Ph.D., also points out that blends of the different components/facets actually make for the ideal form of leadership (108).

With this very brief overview, my BigFive results are:

N=, E=, O=, A=, C+

This concise BigFive result is broken down within the assessment analysis by the different traits related to each of the five core components. Through careful review of the details (of which I will not bore you with at this time), I am confident in proclaiming that the concise, brief result seen above is exactly me!

I am excited to begin this journey over the next nine weeks as we decipher and better understand our individual and global results and how those implicate our professional, leadership careers. Some of the components I am keen to focus on are:

A= I am borderline between A= and A-. The explanation of this component focuses on the potential for my personality to come across as hostile, rude, hard-headed, and not a team player. As a leader, this is most definitely an area I need to focus special attention on as I am self-aware of this personality shortcoming.

C+ Though I do not think this is necessarily bad (since no one trait is better or worse), I do need to focus on this so that I am not negatively precived as overbearing, a workaholic, or inflexible. Again, this is an area that is critical to effective leadership and my self-awareness is my first step in adjusting my personality as needed. Of course, it is also crucial to be focused as a leader so adjustment is key to this component.


I highly suggest for anyone in a leadership role to look into the BigFive profile as it is already an important instrument in my own personal leadership toolbox.


-Colleen