A model of command, leadership and management competency in the British Royal Navy

Purpose – To develop a model clarifying the personal factors and behavioural characteristics (competencies) relevant to effective command, leadership and management in the Royal Navy. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire study was conducted on a sample of 261 Officers and ratings. Their performance was rated through the organisation's own rigorous appraisal process whilst personality and competency data were gathered through the use of the well‐established occupational personality questionnaire (OPQ) and the relatively new leadership dimensions questionnaire (LDQ). Findings – The results provide support for the RN's current integrated approach to command, leadership and management by identifying four “supra‐competency” clusters – conceptualising, aligning, interacting and creating success – and the related personality and leadership dimensions, which are correlated with high performance. Support for the validity of the LDQ and OPQ questionnaires is also produced by the results found from performance appraisal data. Research limitations/implications – The research was conducted within one establishment of one of the services (the RN). Further replication studies in other services and private sector companies are planned or underway. Practical implications – The model produced from this study is now being used by the British Royal Navy as the basis of command, leadership and management training and development and its use by the Admiralty Interview Board for Officer selection is currently under consideration. Some findings are generalisable to other organisations. Originality/value – This is a rare example of a study of leadership validated against formal performance appraisal data. The fact that conclusions are drawn from an appraisal system which conforms to best practice and from a highly representative sample, with a 97 per cent response rate, supports the value of these findings for both academic researchers and practitioners.