Politics: Leadership matters

The five dimensions comprise the fundamental aspects of leadership in all areas of endeavour, and are not specific to politics or business. These include general ability, integrity, vision, communication and engagement. Together, they provide an objective measure of followers’ perceptions of a leader.

To give the assessment some context, we also asked them to rate three international political leaders (Barack Obama, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy) and three leading (but very different) business figures (Richard Branson, Karren Brady and Rupert Murdoch).

As well as assessing each leader on the five dimensions, we averaged their respective scores to create a Leadership Quotient (LQ) on a scale of 0 to 10 to provide a simple and robust indicator of leadership ability.

Having asked our respondents about these five dimensions of leadership, we explored how their assessment of the individual leaders’ capabilities impacted on their voting intentions, and whether this assessment was shaped in any way by their own personal characteristics – their age, ethnicity, gender, location and job.

In presenting these findings, the report shows just how significant an individual leader’s overall capability is to their party’s chances of success. We also highlight what the three UK party leaders can learn from other leaders from international business and politics, to improve their own leadership ratings.

Political leaders: does leadership really matter?

Just how important is leadership in shaping a party’s performance? Our research shows that leadership will play a pivotal role in the forthcoming election. Although policy is recognised as the key factor consciously influencing voters, the research shows a clear correlation between the respondents’ assessment of a party leader’s ability and their  voting intentions.

Respondents who already knew which way they would be voting in the general election, invariably gave that party’s leader the highest Leadership Quotient (LQ) – or overall leadership capability.

Brown was given an LQ score of 6.74 by those intending to vote Labour, over 2.2 points above his mean score of 4.50. This difference was less pronounced, but still clearly visible for both Cameron and Clegg. This correlation between voting intentions and the party leaders’ Leadership Quotient indicates that leadership is inseparable from voting behaviour.

For Gordon Brown, the most unsettling news must be the views of the people who voted Labour at the 2005 election, but who are intending to vote Conservative or Liberal Democrat this year.

Gordon Brown’s average LQ score is 4.50. However, among voters intending to desert Labour for the Tories or Liberal Democrats, this drops to 4.37. Having been Labour supporters in the past they are now more sceptical about Gordon Brown’s leadership ability than those who weren’t Labour supporters five years ago. In particular, they see Gordon Brown as a poor communicator, and someone unable to engage people and build commitment.

While Gordon Brown’s communication skills may let him down, his integrity is his strong point. By contrast, David Cameron’s strong communication skills are offset by the widely held view that he has a perceived lack of integrity. However, integrity is the area where Nick Clegg performs strongly.

Engagement and commitment will be key factors for all the leaders, not only during the election campaign, but also post-election, when communication, dialogue and consensus building will be critical, particularly if there is a hung parliament.

While one in four of our respondents is still undecided about which party to vote for, there remains a high level of uncertainty – and an opportunity for each leader to make up lost ground.

How the leaders compare on the Leadership Quotient (LQ)

We measured the leadership ability of our nine chosen leaders on:
1  General ability
2  Personal integrity
3  Vision of the future
4  Ability to communicate that vision
5  Ability to engage people and build commitment

Respondents rated each leader on each of these five dimensions, on a scale from 0 to 10. These five ratings were averaged together to create a single Leadership Quotient (LQ).

The three UK political party leaders' ratings

General ability – overall competence and capability in role, together with skills and knowledge to perform to a high standard
Integrity – the importance of being honest, principled and fair. If management is about doing things right, leadership is about doing the right thing, setting an example and telling people the truth
Vision – fundamental to leadership, this is about seeing the big picture, identifying opportunities and driving followers to achieve. Successful leaders consult before making decisions and explain what they are doing and why
Communication – how well they present and absorb information. Communication is a two way street – good leaders ask for opinions and listen. When they have decided what to do, they explain clearly in language people understand
Engagement and commitment – how well leaders translate their vision into a clear sense of purpose in their individual followers, generating personal commitment to make it happen

Download the report -  Politics: leadership matters (PDF, 1MB)