Leaders Think They’re Scoring 77. Their Teams Say 69

Data always tells a story. The challenge for leaders is whether we’re listening.

One of our recent SKOR assessments revealed two interesting dynamics worth unpacking:

• Individual Contributors (ICs) scored 69, while People Leaders scored 77

• In-person employees scored 72, while remote employees scored 77

On the surface, these are “good” numbers. But dig deeper, and they highlight both blind spots and hidden opportunities.

The Leadership Gap: 8 points

The difference between how managers see themselves (77) and how their team members experience them (69) is telling. Leaders generally think they’re creating more clarity, cohesion, and courage than their teams actually feel.

This gap suggests:

• Blind spots in leadership behavior. Managers may believe they’re clear on team priorities, but ICs don’t experience the same level of clarity.

• Breakdowns in communication. What feels transparent to a leader may feel like limited visibility to the team.

• Leaders not delegating. Perhaps the managers are taking on too much themselves and not delegating enough to their team members.

In sports terms, it’s like a coach thinking the play was communicated well, but half the players ran the wrong route. Intent doesn’t equal impact.

The Workplace Divide: 5 points

The second finding — remote employees SKORing higher (77) than in-person (72) — flips the traditional narrative. For years, we’ve heard that remote work erodes culture. But this data suggests the opposite: in-person employees may feel more overlooked, less flexible, or more constrained by old systems.

It raises big questions:

• Are in-person teams bogged down by outdated processes?

• Do remote employees benefit from clearer communication, since everything must be written or explicit?

• Are managers unintentionally favoring flexibility for remote staff while assuming proximity equals connection in the office?

The lesson here is simple: proximity doesn’t guarantee alignment. Remote structures may actually force better practices — written clarity, deliberate check-ins, explicit expectations.

What SKOR Measures

For those new to SKOR: it’s a 35 and 50-question assessment designed to measure team performance through leadership.

• People Leaders are asked how they lead — around cohesion, clarity and courage.

• Individual Contributors are asked how they experience that leadership.

This dual lens provides a 360° view of culture at the team level.

The scores themselves reflect how well teams are performing against three cultural ingredients — Cohesion, Clarity, and Courage — and seven supporting indicators, including accountability, transparency, and recognition.

By comparing leaders’ intent to team experience, SKOR highlights the gaps where hidden profit is lost and where small tweaks can unlock better execution.

From Insight to Action

Together, these findings underline the importance of measuring leadership at the team experience level. Leaders’ intent often differs from their teams’ reality, and workplace assumptions (remote vs. in-person) don’t always hold true.

Key takeaway: Performance is a game of inches. Small tweaks in clarity, accountability, and communication can unlock big outcomes. But you can’t fix what you don’t see — and most companies aren’t measuring the gap between leadership intent and team experience.

🔵 Curious where your leadership gaps are? Start with the SKOR Preview and see what story your data is telling.