As leaders rise in the hierarchy of their organization they typically will get less direct feedback on how their performance is perceived.  Feedback is important to help validate self-perceptions and tests ones own understanding of their strengths and weaknesses.  Asking for feedback from colleagues verbally or through a formal multi-rater assessment tool provides a step forward that most leaders need in their continued advancement, motivation, and effectiveness. 

So how do you respond to feedback about your performance as a leader?  First, it all starts with attitude.  Are you appreciative?  Do you view feedback as a gift?  Remember, feedback isn’t always easy to give others especially leaders that have an important position in the organization.  With that said take an attitude of gratitude when receiving feedback and try to glean the real messages about what is important about your performance.  Additionally, feedback doesn’t have to be feared or a blow to the ego.  Accepting and incorporating feedback can be a rewarding experience if handled correctly.  On a cautionary note, if you miss this first step of appreciation when receiving feedback your analysis and subsequent actions are likely to be skewed. More...

Many people take leadership assessments to learn what others think of their performance.  They then either bask in the high scores they recieve or get angry because they scored lower than they anticipated.  In either case, typically, the person being assessed takes no action to improve.

The best reason to take a leadership or management assessment is to learn about the areas in which you need to develop - either by "strengthening your strengths" or mitigating your weaknesses.  An assessment is often enlightening because our perceptions are sometimes different than those of others.  When this happens it is a clear indicator of an area to work on.

The second reason for taking an assessment is to get developmental recommendations.  Scores are nice.  Scores make us feel good (or bad).  But, scores don't give us much help in where to go to improve performance.  A good assessment report goes beyond the numbers and provides specific developmental recommendations. 

Developmental recommendations can consist of suggested steps to improve behavior, readings, web sites to visit, or courses or seminars to consider.  Be sure, if you are considering an assessment, that the report you receive will provide detailed developmental recommendations.

In conclusion, take a leadership or management assessment for the right reasons.  It is much more important to understand how others view your behaviors and to receive specific developmental recommendations than to simply understand your scores.

For coaching to be successful there must be a strong level of trust between the coach and the coachee.  Coaches must be as confidential as doctors or lawyers.  It is expected by coachees and this trust is not to be broken. 

Assessment results and conversations between the coach and coachee are considered very confidential.  The coach should make this very clear up front and demonstrate confidentiality throughout the engagement.

However, coaches need to keep in mind that their confidentiality may be tested.  Often, a person is being coached on the recommendation of a supervior or someone in leadership.  They may expect that you report progress to them about the coaching engagement.  Although this may be expected, the coach must be very careful and describe the progress (or lack thereof) in general terms.  The sponsor may ask probing questions, but the coach must be prepared to state that specific information cannot be provided.  Again, the parameters of confidentiality must be made clear with the sponsor up front.

We often don't think about the coachee keeping the engagement particulars confidential.  But, we have had situations where a coachee will tell a colleague specifics or state something like, "My coach told me to..."  Make it clear to the coachee that confidentiality is a two-way street.  The coachee's comments can damage the relationship as well, particularly if the person misunderstood something the coach has said or misapplied a principle that was being discussed.

The foundation of any coaching relationship is confidentiality.  It should be the overriding principle for every coach.

Once you have decided to use a 360 assessment for development there are a few things to look for in choosing the best tool for your organization.

1.   The process should be communicated.  This communication should come from the appropriate level of the organization to show support, explain why it is important, how the data will be used, and that the responses are confidential.  From the participant a courtesy email should go out to respondents prior to the launch to request participation and explain the time needed to complete.

2.   The tool needs to be customizable.  This is important because each job position has unique requirements.  For example one position may require expert presentation skills while another position has customer service requirements.  A customized assessment based on job description ensures that the results are valid for the position, thus accurately measuring the skills, behaviors, and attitudes appropriate to the position.

3.   The assessment needs to be confidential.  Respondents are more likely to answer questions when they know their responses will be grouped or aggregated with other respondents.  This allows them to honestly answer all questions without fear of possible retribution.

4.    The assessment needs to be easy and clear to users.  If questions are vague the results can be skewed and reduce overall validity. 

5.    The assessment needs to have a self assessment component.  It is highly beneficial to identify if there is a difference in self and respondent perceptions. 

6.    The assessment needs to be built with the time factor considered.  Ideally on average it shouldnt take more than 15-45 minutes for respondents to complete an assessment.  It is important to have the right type and numbers of questions for the job position; however, it does not need to be an exhaustive list of every skill, behavior, or attitude for the job position; just the most important.  Additionally, the shorter the assessment the more likely respondents will complete it in a timely manner.

7.    The assessment should be accessible online 24/7 on a secure server to accommodate security needs and respondent schedules.

8.    The report needs to be easy to interpret.  There is nothing worse than a complicated report to read after the process is over and trying to figure out what everything means and then what to do with the data.

9.    The report should serve as a guide to an action or development plan that can be implemented with ease and without spending a great deal of time figuring out how to improve in low scored areas.  Ideally, the report should give recommendations specific to each area needing improvement.

10.  The report should be used for development purposes.  As explained earlier, participants are more likely to respond to development improvement if it is conducted in a positive manner.

360 assessments have been used for many years for performance and professional development.  Typically organizations use assessments in two primary ways, simply put:

1.   Performance evaluation  a tool to measure job performance levels which provide input into formal performance evaluations and pay decisions

2.   Performance development  a tool to identify performance strengths and weaknesses which provide input into individual professional development needs

While measurement and development are vital to successful organizations, using the 360 assessment tool to measure performance for the purpose of evaluation and pay decisions can be difficult for several reasons.  First, the tool needs to go through rigorous validity and reliability tests to make sure it accurately measures skills, behaviors, and attitudes that are reflective of the specific job position.  Second, measurement of this kind can be skewed because those responding to the questions in the assessment may not always be objective in their responses if they know promotion and pay may be tied to their response.  Third, evaluative assessments in the work place are often viewed negatively if it is tied to promotion and pay decisions; therefore, a higher risk that results do not always promote the organizations goals.

While performance clearly should be measured, there are often more positive and reliable ways to measure individual performance such as meeting clear job performance goals in alignment to the job position, continued professional development, and the overall success of the individual in their unique position; all tied to the overall organizations goals. 

When organizations use a 360 assessment tool for the purpose of improving individual performance for the overall growth and development of the individual and the organization as a whole, the outcomes are extremely positive.  The assessment development concept is typically more widely received by 360 participants and respondents because the potential for losing promotion or pay are not part of the outcome, only further growth and development; thus, it is a positive proposition for all.  360 assessments used as a development tool still needs to be valid and reliable because they are indeed tied to a specific job position and set of position competencies.  This reliability and validity check further provides confidence to participants and respondents alike in knowing the outcome will accurately provide quantitative and qualitative data to assist individual development. 

We believe that fundamentally all people want to be the best they can be in their professional life and that having a 360 assessment tool to identify strengths and opportunities for improvement gives people an even greater chance at increasing their professional success and the collective success of the organization. 

A leadership or management assessment is only valuable if you take steps to improve your performance based on the results of the assessment.

We urge those being assessed to develop an action plan that they will follow to address specific steps to be taken to improve.  But, an action plan must be SMART.

S = Specific.  The steps you identify in an action plan must be specific to a behavioral change.  For example, rather than state that you will improve your communication skills, describe the specific steps you will take to improve the skills (such as practicing eye contact with someone you are listening to).

M = Measurable.  Try to identify how you will measure your success in a specific behavioral change or action you will take.  Define the success factors.  How will you know when you have improved? 

A = Attainable.  Let's look at this attribute on two levels.  First, your desired actions must be actions that you can achieve.  They must be within your abilities.  Second, in developing the action plan, be sure that you only include enough actions that you can handle at one time.  Being successful with five actions is much better than giving up because you cannot achieve fifty actions.  After achieving one success, replace it with another action you need to take to improve.

R = Relevant.  Focus on actions that are most relevant to improving your performance.  Your assessment report should prioritize which behaviors should be changed first and which can be ignored (at least in the beginning). 

T = Timely.  Set a schedule for achieving each action in your plan.  For example, "I will develop my listening skills by improving my eye contact within the next 30 days."  Setting timely actions puts a little pressure on you to focus on the actions in your day-to-day life.

The action plan is the most critical part of the assessment process.  Take it seriously, develop it wisely, and use it as your tool for success.

Coaching is usually thought of as a process whereby a coach helps someone develop their skills in a particular professional domain; for example, presentation skills or conflict management.  This approach is very helpful for many executives, especially when coupled with a leadership assessment to determine areas of strength or weakness.

However, many executives score very high on leadership assessments and even their lowest scored competencies are quite high.  Therefore, conventional coaching that focuses on developmental needs is not appropriate.

Many executives, though, can use a coach's help when working through specific problems or issues.  Often, the executive has no one in the organization that can be privvy to confidential information regarding a decision or issue being considered.  Or, an executive is sometimes too close to the situation to identify or analyze the alternatives to be considered.

I have found that this type of coaching, which I call issues-based coaching, is very beneficial to executives.  It gives the executive a safe forum to brainstorm solutions with a coach.  It enables the coach to act as an objective commentator to help the executive explore all the options to be considered.

I will present more in issues-based coaching in upcoming blog entries, including how it works and potential pitfalls for the coach and the executive.