Unlocking Leadership Potential: Introducing the LEIPA Approach
Is your team of great leaders a great leadership team? In the latest episode of Better Never Stops, join VMI’s Associate Executive Director Brenda McLeod and three guests for a fascinating conversation about the Leadership Emotional Intelligence Performance Accelerator (LEIPA®), a proven pathway to strengthening your leadership team. Read on to learn more, or listen to the full episode here.
LEIPA is not your typical team or leadership analysis. It’s a development tool for leaders that’s rooted in emotional intelligence and leadership styles, and it’s a pathway for transforming that team of excellent leaders into an excellent leadership team.
“ What makes it unique is that it doesn’t compare people to a norm or a band of averages,” says Greg Young, CEO and Co-founder of LeaderShape Global. Young is a co-developer of the LEIPA model.
“What it compares is observed behavior, and that gives a really comprehensive picture that the facilitator can use as a coaching tool, as a development tool, to help feedback or to generate from the candidate the insights that inform their own development program,” says Young.
LEIPA is rooted in the Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Style Framework created by Richard Boyatzis, Daniel Goleman, and Annie McKee. They brought the concept of emotional intelligence into the business world, and their research showed that leaders who possess high emotional intelligence are better at managing teams, handling stress, and creating a positive workplace culture.
The LEIPA questionnaire uses the framework’s six leadership styles (visionary, coaching, democratic, affiliative, pace setting, and commanding), five domains of emotional intelligence (self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills), and three additional emotional intelligence competencies: trustworthiness, conscientiousness, and communication. The model asks the candidate and a group of ‘raters’ – their supervisor, colleagues, direct reports, peers from outside the organization – to rank the order of importance of the leadership style that they believe should be correct in their context, and to reflect on what they expect from the candidate as well as what they see demonstrated in working with them.
Young says that the LEIPA looks to help leaders detach from their egos – the goal is to develop “transpersonal leaders.”
“A transpersonal leader is somebody who’s reached a level of leadership maturity, where they recognize the benefits of setting aside their ego in their leadership practice. So they have a strong sense of personal purpose in service of a greater good, rather than that power, prestige, recognition, reward.” Young says this is an integration of rational intelligence, emotional intelligence, and spiritual intelligence – that is, qualities pertaining to the human spirit such as compassion and tolerance. “So these people no longer have the fear of being judged for making the right decisions. And because of this, they can be radical while also being ethical and authentic as leaders.”
The Team LEIPA Experience
Adam Sewell Jones is Chief Executive East and North Hertfordshire, NHS Trust. Through partnership with Virginia Mason Institute, Sewell-Jones and his leadership team recently participated in a Team LEIPA process, supported by Greg Young.
“At first it was a hard sell,” says Sewell-Jones – not because he doubted the model, but because time is such a precious resource. “We were concerned about the busyness that we all have.” The process does take time. Each participant must recruit several raters and complete their own questionnaire, and then participate in multiple workshops to review the results and create an action plan. But, Sewell-Jones says, his team managed to find the time. “I think the team were able to move forward in part because the cultural shift we’re seeing in the organization from our bigger partnership of implementing a management system and the learning culture that sits alongside it. So although it would be more work, I think the team were really quite excited about doing it.”
After the questionnaires are completed, each team member has an individual workshop to learn about the results and receive coaching about how to take action. Then it’s time to come together as a team. Adam’s team is one of the first to experience LEIPA through the Virginia Mason Institute. Greg Young led the group workshop.
“Probably the most exciting bit was when we did this as a team and Greg came in and we were lucky to have him with us to facilitate and he took us through the science behind the method.”
Sewell-Jones says the workshop helped the team look at the real scores rather than focusing on the gaps between expectations and reality.
“It’s great to do a bit of navel gazing and think about what it’s telling us,” he says. “But the change only happens when we actually work on an action plan.” The workshop concludes with building that action plan, and it’s yet another thing that sets this model apart.
“As you can imagine,” says Wendy Korthuis-Smith, Executive Director at Virginia Mason Institute, “we have a long history with leadership development tools, models, assessments, as well as what we call leader standard work.”
But she says LEIPA is by far her favorite leadership development approach and experience, because “it’s so aligned to our principles, our concepts and beliefs. And it provides the depth needed from a competency, capability, and behavioral perspective. It really brings that rigor, clarity, and actionable development opportunities for individuals and teams.”
Korthius-Smith and the Virginia Mason Institute leadership team recently underwent a Team LEIPA as well: as VMI considered adopting the practice, she knew it was crucial to experience it directly. “The journey has been really rich so far. We’ve identified our own target areas for greatest impact, both individually and collectively.”
For Associate Director Brenda McLeod, there’s an important benefit to connecting emotional intelligence and leadership styles. Perhaps even more powerful is knowing what to do next. “LEIPA enables individuals and teams to create an accountable action plan to address the gaps between observed and desired behaviors.”
Ready to Transform Your Leadership Journey?
Effective leadership is the cornerstone of any successful organization. LEIPA offers a comprehensive, evidence-based approach to developing leaders who can drive continuous improvement and foster a positive organizational culture. By enhancing emotional intelligence and aligning leadership styles with organizational needs, LEIPA helps leaders unlock their full potential and achieve remarkable results.
The Virginia Mason Institute is dedicated to supporting leaders like you. Reach out to us to discover how LEIPA can accelerate your leadership performance and drive meaningful change within your organization.
Listen to the full podcast episode hosted by Brenda McLeod:
