Australian Management Character Survey (AMCS)

The type of character required to be a manager may be changing, according to Professor James Sarros, Director, Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) Operations at Monash University. He says, "Slowly but surely, the paradigm of 'them and us' is being replaced by 'us'." Leaders and workers are increasingly becoming work colleagues working both for corporate success and individual work gratification and sense of achievement."

Sarros nominates the following qualities as necessary for the new style of leadership: a sense of integrity, fair play, hard work, recognition of individual achievements, communication skills, compassion, forward thinking skills, and willingness to involve employees in the decision making processes of the business.

The Australian Management Character Survey will examine Australian management workplace behaviours as an indication of character. The study follows on from the AIM book The 7 Heavenly Virtues of Leadership. The intention is to test whether those virtues actually exist in Australia.

"We hear a lot from leaders about how good they are, but are they as good as they say?" asks Professor Sarros. "This survey will look to identify the extent to which Australian managers exhibit one or more attributes of character, defined as 'doing the right thing' despite outside pressure to the contrary."

Survey results

Results from the Australian Management Character Survey are currently being tabulated. Please check back here for results shortly.