122 / TAKING UP YOUR LEADERSHIP ROLE
Learning from feedback
Seeking the truth
Once you have learned to both give
and receive feedback skillfully and
constructively, you will be ready to lead
your team to greater self-awareness and
higher levels of performance.
You can ask for feedback (formally
or informally) from any of the people
you come into contact with on a daily
basis—members of your team, your
superiors, clients, or suppliers.
The following series of questions
is a good starting point for discussion
with your appraiser, especially when
you ask them to back up their answers
with real examples:
•
What do you see as my strengths?
•
What do you think I am blind to?
•
What development areas do you think
I should be focusing on?
•
What should I do less of/more of?
•
What potential do you see in me?
•
Or, if you are using competencies to
set and monitor your targets, try the
following phrasing:
•
Which competencies do I consistently
demonstrate? (Enclose a copy of
your competencies)
•
Which competencies do you think I
could go on developing further?
•
What changes do you foresee
in the next 12 months and on which
competencies do you think I should
be focusing my development?
When you seek out and receive feedback, you develop your character
as a leader. The two-way process of disclosing things about yourself
and receiving comments on your performance builds trust. This in turn
reduces the gap between your public and private faces and increases
the authenticity of your leadership.
RUNNING 360° FEEDBACK
Ideally the 360° process should be managed by
an objective external coach to ensure high-quality
feedback, a balanced viewpoint, and anonymity
for those individuals brave enough to give feedback
on their boss. However, if your organizational culture
is open, and all agree to a no-blame approach, the
review could be carried out internally.
In focus
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LEARNING FROM FEEDBACK / 123
A questionnaire, set out like a customer
satisfaction survey, will help provide
a consistent format for the replies.
When you receive feedback
from others, compare it with your
evaluation of yourself. Which leadership
competencies are your strengths? Which
are your development areas? Which
key competencies did you find the most
challenging last year and which will
be even more demanding next year?
Note the key development areas
and think how you can broaden
or deepen your knowledge,
skills, or practice—for
example reading up on a
topic or attending a course.
In addition to providing
valuable insight into others’
perceptions of your leadership,
360° feedback is an invaluable
tool for helping you prepare for
your appraisal discussion with
your manager or mentor.
Becoming a rounded leader
A more formal means of gaining
information about yourself—or any
individual in your team—from a number
of sources is 360° feedback. Ask a
selection of 4–8 people at different levels
in your organization to comment on the
leadership behaviors they have observed
you demonstrating over the last year. If
appropriate, ask them to consider this
against your stated competencies.
360° feedback is
an invaluable tool for
helping you prepare
for your appraisal
discussion
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