Leadership Among North American Executives

Vancouver, BC - A new Ipsos Reid poll conducted on behalf of the Refinery Leadership Partners Inc. finds that most senior executives in Canada and the United States take a very favourable view of their performance, with three-quarters (74%) rating their "overall performance as a leader" as better than that of other executives in their industry. Favourable perceptions extend to more specific areas of performance as well, including 89% saying they are doing better than others when it comes to "willingness to collaborate with others on their team", 86% saying they are doing better than others when it comes to "ability to collaborate with others on their team", 79% saying they are doing better than others when it comes to demonstrating "awareness of the issues and challenges facing their employees", and 64% considering their "commitment to their own leadership development" to be better than other executives in their industry. The high numbers suggest senior executives may have an overly high estimation of their leadership abilities as not everyone can be performing better than everyone else.

The survey shows that leadership development - whether it be for themselves, their executive team, or their managers - is a priority for senior executives. Overall, respondents place the greatest emphasis on developing the leadership skills of managers (82% priority), followed by their executive team (71% priority). While most (61%) executives also say their own leadership development is a priority, the survey suggests this falls behind developing the leadership skills of those working beneath them.

Despite the fact that executives place a lower emphasis on developing their own leadership skills than that of their employees, most (89%) indicate they have participated in leadership development activities in the past twelve months. Among these respondents, the most commonly mentioned leadership development activity is "attended seminars/conferences/meetings" (57%). Other commonly pursued leadership development activities include "took educational programs/course" (28%), "read about leadership" (19%), and "received mentoring/coaching" (14%). Fewer mention things such as "participated in workshops" (9%) and "performed a 360є assessment" (5%).

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid telephone poll conducted on behalf of the Refinery Leadership Partners Inc. and fielded between the dates of January 3 and February 22, 2008. The poll is based on a randomly selected sample of 151 senior-level business executives in Canada and the United States. All respondents are from companies with at least 1,000 employees worldwide. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 177 8.0 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population.

For more information on this news release, please contact: Catherine Knaus Associate Vice-President Ipsos Reid Public Affairs (778) 373-5131 [email protected]

About Ipsos Reid Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 600 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

About Ipsos Ipsos is a leading global survey-based market research company, owned and managed by research professionals. Ipsos helps interpret, simulate, and anticipate the needs and responses of consumers, customers, and citizens around the world.

Member companies assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media. They measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos member companies offer expertise in advertising, customer loyalty, marketing, media, and public affairs research, as well as forecasting, modeling, and consulting. Ipsos has a full line of custom, syndicated, omnibus, panel, and online research products and services, guided by industry experts and bolstered by advanced analytics and methodologies. The company was founded in 1975 and has been publicly traded since 1999.

In 2007, Ipsos generated global revenues of e927.2 million ($1.27 billion U.S.).

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