Quick Quiz: Helping Others with Leadership Skill Development

Author: Richard L. Williams, Ph.D.

Oftentimes a quiz can be an effective learning device. For that reason consider the following questions and see what you learn. Hopefully a few questions will inspire you in the direction of improved management and lead ership skill development . The answers are at the bottom of the column, but please resist the temptation to peak until you have given some serious thought about your answers.

1. How many hours of TV do fathers between the ages of 25-34 watch each week?

a. 10 hours

b. 15 hours

c. 20 hours

d. Almost 26 hours

2. How many hours of TV does the average non-working spouse watch each week?

a. 20 hours

b. 25 hours

c. 30 hours

d. Almost 48 hours

3. How many acts of violence will the average child have witnessed on TV by age 18?

a. 25,000

b. 50,000

c. 75,000

d. 180,000

4. How much time does the average father spend giving meaningful feedback to his children?

a. 1 minute per day

b. 10 minutes per week

c. 20 minutes per week

d. 30 minutes per week

5. How much time each day does the average married couple spend giving meaningful feedback to each other?

a. Less than 4 minutes

b. About 15 minutes

c. Approximately 20 minutes

d. Slightly more than 30 minutes

6. A psychological validation is a specific type of supportive feedback that sustains a person in some way. An invalidation is a critical or sarcastic comment that is hurtful or demeaning. On average, how many invalidations does the average teenager receive each day from: parents, friends, teachers and siblings?

a. 11

b. 21

c. 57

d. 113

7. How many invalidations would the average teenager therefore receive during his or her teenage years (13-19) from the four sources mentioned in question 5? (Do the math)

8. How many validations are you giving your young employees each day to offset the invalidations they are receiving?

9. Some psychologists believe that one effectively delivered validation can offset up to ten invalidations. How many validations are you giving your family members and your employees? How many invalidations do you give or permit others to give in your presence?

10. On average, how much feedback (supportive and corrective) do you give each of your employees each day?

a. 1 minute per day

b. 10 minutes per week

c. 20 minutes per week

d. 30 minutes per week

ANSWERS: 1. d. Almost 26 hours (This is amazing!)

2. d. Almost 48 hours (This is even more amazing!)

3. d. 200,000 (according to the American Academy of Pediatrics)

4. a. 1 minute per day (This is sad, but it explains what is happening to many of our youth.)

5. a. Less than 4 minutes (This explains the 50% divorce rate.)

6. d. 113 (Unbelievable!)

7. 288,715 (Unimaginable!)

8. An effective manager will take every opportunity to deliver validations to all employees, especially those who need them most such as the younger population.

9. An effective manager will not only eliminate invalidations from his or her leadership style, but also will work to ensure that the organizational culture doesn't permit that type of behavior. This is as true at home as it is at work.

10. The needs of feedback are situational and individualistic. Each person's needs are different; it depends on the specific person and the type of situation. Clearly, workers need ample feedback each day from their manager merely to break even. And providing this leadership skill development will help if you want them to resolve problems and/or make progress.

If employees and family members are the most important people in our lives, why are we spending almost 26 hours per week in front of the television? We should be providing more than one minute of our day giving meaningful feedback to our youth. What if those numbers were reversed? What would happen to the problems in our society? Perhaps we ought to introduce ourselves to our employees and families and assist in their lead ership skill development .

About the author: Dr. Richard L. Williams , the author of Tell Me How I'm Doing , is a business consultant specializing in feedback, performance coaching, lead ership skill development , and quality improvement. Contact us at (888)262-2499 or visit our website .