Leadership is a concept that generates many ideas, opinions, and theories, which may be helpful or limiting. Helpful because leadership offers a wide range of theories to choose from, and limiting because it may be difficult to decide which ones to use. Deciding which leadership theories to apply when making decisions about supervisor selections, or which assessments to use, would likely depend on the type of leader an organization needs or wants. For example, if an organization wants a supervisor that can interact with team members in a way that generates respect, establishes trust, fosters reciprocity, and empowers team members, then the leader-member exchange (LMX) theory may be particularly useful in choosing selection methods and assessments …show more content…
intelligence, self-confidence, integrity, sociability, etc.). Once a leadership theory (or in some cases theories) is decided upon, this will usually determine which assessment method(s) will work best to help select a successful leader (Scott & Reynolds, 2010).
The type of assessment strategy would depend on many factors. As mentioned above, the type of leader an organization wants would be a factor, along with the timeframe, cost, adverse impact, validity, and others. For example, if a single test is desired due to cost, or perhaps limited time, one which covers the most dimensions would most likely be best, such as a structured interview. A structured interview covers knowledge, skills, work style, preferred work context, and past performance, leaving out only abilities (Scott & Reynolds, 2010). If cost was not an issue, multiple tests and assessments may provide a complete range of work dimensions, as well as providing some overlap for particularly important dimensions. For example, an assessment center and a situational judgement test would deliver an overlap of the knowledge, skills, abilities, and work styles of potential supervisor candidates (Scotty & Reynolds, 2010). Including biodata would