RESEARCH RESULTS
THE IMPACT OF
DDI’S
STRATEGIC
LEADERSHIP
EXPERIENCE
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
• The vast majority (92 percent) of the
leaders who responded agree that SLE led
to improvements in the nine roles.
• Three-fourths of the leaders agree that
SLE gave them an advantage over peers.
• Most leaders agree that they use the data
to guide development efforts and to
realize their potential for career growth.
• Leaders making the most developmental
progress after SLE were significantly more
likely to be promoted, experience
increased accountability, and have
improved performance ratings.
DDI’s Strategic Leadership ExperienceSM (SLE)
RESEARCH RESULTS — THE IMPACT OF DDI’S
allows participants to safely experience the
types of challenges and situations a senior
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
strategic leader typically faces. SLE expands
their understanding of critical business
challenges and strategies and introduces them
to executive derailers—personal characteristics
that, when demonstrated to an extreme, can
undermine a leader’s success as he or she
advances to higher levels in the organization.
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© Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMIV. All rights reserved.
Participation in SLE:
• Provides learners with insights about how
successfully they apply the nine key
leadership roles. This, in turn, helps them
target their development efforts
appropriately.
• Gives learners an opportunity to consult with
peers about real-time business challenges and
to apply their roles in arriving at solutions.
An SLE can include customized, in-house
sessions held exclusively for an organization’s
leaders or public sessions in which learners can
network with peers from other organizations.
SLE participants transfer what they’ve learned
to the job and rely on that experience when
creating long-term development plans that will
help them capitalize on their strengths and
remedy their weaknesses. It’s clear that simply
providing someone with feedback will do little
to produce change. The real benefits of
assessment are realized when the recipient takes
the information and uses it in the development
process.
Nearly 1,000 leaders have participated in DDI’s
SLE. Typically, organizations use the program
to initiate or facilitate their leaders’ transition
from operational to strategic leadership
positions. DDI completed a survey of 71 SLE
participants, representing six organizations, to
assess the long-term impact of the program.
Almost all respondents (92 percent) had
participated in SLE at least five months earlier.
 SLE IMPROVES STRATEGIC
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
The vast majority (92 percent) of the
leaders who responded agreed that SLE led
to improvements in the nine roles.
SLE builds both awareness of the roles and
leaders’ ability to apply them. When asked
about changes in their ability to demonstrate
the roles following SLE, almost all (92 percent)
participants indicated improvement in at least
one role (see Figure 1). Most saw improvement
in more than three roles. Overall, the Strategist
role yielded the highest level of improvement;
almost three-fourths (73 percent) of SLE
participants saw an improvement in their ability
to operate strategically in their jobs. Nearly two-
thirds (60 percent) noted improvement in their
ability to apply the Mobilizer role. Many of the
leaders also provided examples of how they had
applied the roles after participating in SLE (see
the comments on the next page).

Figure 1: Number of Roles Showing Improvement

None
6 to 9 8%
23% 1 to 2
11%

3 to 5
58%
RESEARCH RESULTS — THE IMPACT OF DDI’S
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

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© Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMIV. All rights reserved.
 Participants’ Comments About How They Have Applied the Roles on the Job
• “Since SLE I’ve been highly involved in corporate diversity initiatives and philosophy
development, and I’ve changed careers! I’m seeing a much bigger picture of our whole system . . .
outside our corporate walls. Both these items have resulted in the need for me to step up to the
Global Thinker role.”
• “Mobilizer: Able to create interest and participation from diverse functions to quickly
address/define a new process that was time critical. Talent Advocate: Increased formal and
informal mentoring and feedback to HR.”
• “I have focused my organization’s long-term objectives on a specific strategy designed to position
us for new opportunities and for employee growth. This has required a change in employee
involvement to be more closely focused on strategic objectives, which should have an incidental
benefit of keeping employee engagement at a high level.”
• “I have applied these roles in the development of new growth initiatives within the company.
I have applied them within teams working together to achieve new business growth, and I have
applied them in leading my own team.”
• “I have been able to lead my direct reports to see the end goals, keeping them safe from some
pitfalls with upper management. I have also served as a mentor for one of my coworkers, helping
him seek advancement rather than leaving or being dissatisfied.”
• “Being proactive to identify long-range goals and a vision help map the tactical plans to meet the
objectives. This prevents the wavering or uncertainty of actions since they are disregarded if they
don’t map to the vision.”
• “Captivator: On a major project I prepared a more balanced approach that addressed the
technical and people needs. I also needed to tone down my emotional commitment to the
project so that I wasn’t overbearing.”
• “Implemented an aggressive cross-training program for my subordinates. Stood firm with my
direct reports on the need to attract college grad, entry-level talent to bring fresh ideas. Made
difficult decisions regarding the right thing to do for the mission.”
RESEARCH RESULTS — THE IMPACT OF DDI’S
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

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© Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMIV. All rights reserved.
 SLE GIVES LEADERS AN ADVANTAGE
OVER PEERS
Three-fourths of the leaders agree that
SLE gave them an advantage over peers.
A solid majority (77 percent) of leaders agree
that SLE gave them an advantage over their
peers who had not attended the training.
Many leaders do not fully understand how
strategic leadership differs for more
operational roles. Participating in SLE
enhances that understanding, provides a
realistic preview, and gives leaders a chance to
try out the nine strategic leadership roles.
Without this type of exposure, some leaders
might experience significant difficulties when
facing strategic leadership responsibilities for
the first time.
Figure 2: Application of SLE
Incorporated SLE
learning into development
plan
Use SLE learning to guide
choice of development
activities
RESEARCH RESULTS — THE IMPACT OF DDI’S
SLE helped realize
potential for career
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
growth
0 10
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© Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMIV. All rights reserved.
SLE DRIVES DEVELOPMENT AND
CAREER GROWTH
Most leaders agree that they use the data
to guide development efforts and to
realize their potential for career growth.
Effective development starts with a clear
awareness of strengths and areas needing
improvement. Without understanding one’s
baseline abilities and skills, development can
be unfocused and have insignificant impact.
SLE provides leaders with feedback on their
skills and abilities relative to their current role
and potential strategic leadership roles. After
participating in SLE, most leaders indicate
that they use the data to guide their
development and to realize their potential for
career growth (see Figure 2). By debriefing
their feedback with their manager or a coach,
leaders can focus their development efforts
and ensure that they are ready for strategic
roles.
72
78
76
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Percent Agreement
 SLE INCREASES LEADER SUCCESS
Leaders making the most developmental
progress after SLE were significantly
more likely to be promoted, experience
increased accountability, and have
improved performance ratings.
In most cases the goal of leader assessment
and development is to improve leaders’
individual performance and ability to meet
business needs. Leaders in the study felt
that participating in SLE guided their
development and career progress, enabling
them to realize many personal benefits.
The percentage of leaders who received a
promotion was much higher when they
achieved major advances in development
progress following their participation in SLE
(see Figure 3). Additionally, leaders achieving
greater development progress after SLE
were more likely to be given increased
responsibility and have higher performance
ratings. More than half of the leaders who
experienced positive outcomes claimed that
SLE played a clear role in their success.

Figure 3: Development Progress and Outcomes

100%

90% 85%

80%
Percent of Leaders

70%
64%
60%
Promoted
50% 45% Increased Responsibility
42%
40% Improved Performance Rating
31% 29%
30%

20%

10%

0%

Low High
Amount of Development Progress
RESEARCH RESULTS — THE IMPACT OF DDI’S
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

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© Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMIV. All rights reserved.
 CONCLUSIONS SLE increases the chance of leaders’
SLE provides valued feedback for the achieving positive outcomes. When
transition from operational to strategic leaders develop, their improvement is often
leadership. The leaders who participated in recognized though promotion, increased
this study greatly valued the insight and responsibility, and higher performance review
feedback they received and found ways to ratings. The leaders in this study who made
leverage their results for personal the most development progress also realized
development. When leaders receive objective the greatest personal benefits. It’s true that
feedback from SLE, it’s often the first time development is only part of what leads to
that they have seen the “big picture” in terms these outcomes, but it’s important for leaders
of their overall performance in a strategic to know that they can make a difference in
role. Assessment also communicates to their personal success.
leaders the skills, knowledge, and abilities that
are most important for success. This gives
leaders a common understanding of what is
expected from them.
SLE improves leader skills in the roles
required for strategic leadership. Almost
every SLE participant observed
improvements in at least one of the roles
targeted by the program. In most cases they
experienced improvements in several roles.
SLE promotes role growth by increasing
leaders’ comfort level, offering a full
explanation of the roles, and giving leaders a
chance to try out the roles in a realistic,
challenging setting.
RESEARCH RESULTS — THE IMPACT OF DDI’S
STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

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