research by britainthinks, july 2012britainthinks.com/pdfs/what-is-leadership-2.pdfwhat is...

What is leadership?

Research by BritainThinks, July 2012

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%


Having integrity (% selecting “integrity” as one of the three characteristics that most apply)

25%

14% 14%

19% 16%


Being a good listener (% selecting “being a good listener” as one of the three characteristics that most apply)

42% 19% 11%

10% 9%


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


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%







Conservative voters Total population


Whereas Miliband has weaker support from Labour voters

13%

16%

18%

20%

21%

34%

30%

39%

44%

47%

50%

67%







Labour voters Total population


And Clegg has very weak support amongst Lib Dems

4%

4%

5%

5%

7%

9%

16%

18%

14%

19%

27%

30%







Lib Dem voters Total Population


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


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


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: 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

Everyday Leadership

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

What is leadership?

Research by BritainThinks, July 2012

research by britainthinks, july 2012britainthinks.com/pdfs/what-is-leadership-2.pdfwhat is...

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