2.2.6 Leadership Skills Inventory (LSI)

Purpose 

The Leadership Skills Inventory (LSI) is designed to assess an individual’s leadership skills and potential. This 125-item Likert scale instrument covers nine leadership categories: fundamentals of leadership, written communication, speech communication skills, “values” clarification, decision-making skills, group dynamic skills, problem-solving skills, personal development skills, and planning skills (Edmunds, 1998). Organizations and leadership development professionals can leverage the LSI results to create targeted interventions such as training programs, mentorship initiatives, and coaching sessions.

Description 

The LSI is a self-assessment tool developed by Alan Edmunds in 1989. A supporting study of the instrument provides empirical support of concurrent, content, and construct validity (Edmunds, 1998). Concurrent validity was supported by correlation (r=.34, p<.01) between LSI score and observed leadership behavior. Content validity was gained through expert jury agreement on content applicability of each question. Finally, a single factor was evenly and heavily loaded by each component (.636 to .876), supporting the construct validity, but not supporting the nine categories as separate components. The categories had much in common, with correlations between them ranging from r=.295 to .761, p<.01. The authors recommended that this instrument be used to guide students in combination with other measures to comprehensively identify leadership ability. Its 125-item length could generate survey fatigue and potential errors.

Access

The LSI is available for purchase from the Edmunds Group.

References

Edwards, A. L. (1953). The Edwards Personal Preference Schedule. The Psychological Corporation.

Edmunds, A. L. (1989). Leadership Skills Inventory. The Edmunds Group.

Edmunds, A. L., & Feldhusen, J. F. (1990). Leadership Skills Inventory: Predictive validity for student achievement in gifted education programs. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 50(3), 685–691.

Edmunds, A. L. (1998). Content, concurrent and construct validity of the leadership skills inventory. Roeper Review, 20(4), 281–284.

Northouse, P. G. (2021). Leadership: Theory and practice (9th ed.). Sage Publications.

Shaunessy, E., & Karnes, F. A. (2004). Instruments for Measuring Leadership in Children and Youth. Gifted Child Today, 27(1), 42–47. https://doi.org/10.1177/107621750402700112