Clear Views Blog

One of the highlights of last week was the WAVE annual event at which we delivered the keynote and moderated a panel discussion with trailblazing women in corporate America. WAVE stands for Women Adding Value & Excellence. This three-year-old volunteer organization is the brainchild of Susan Baxley of Teradata and Christine Tombelesi of GE. The title for the event: The Conversation - From Thorns to Roses: How People Deal with Critical Conversations and, quite specifically, how women and men deal with these challenging situations.

What does a leader do to enhance his/her chances for growing and developing inside an organization? For many, this notion of leadership development means waiting for the annual or mid-year review process to see how the boss is feeling about their performance.

We all say we want feedback, but when it really comes down to it, sometimes we feel offended thus leaving us with regret over the very idea of wanting feedback. After giving this topic much thought, I found myself reflecting on two main questions:

One of the greatest challenges we encounter with successful leaders is helping them see the difference between “because of” and “in spite of” behaviors. Most people become leaders and get promoted into new, bigger roles because of past success. According to Marshall Goldsmith in “What Got you Here Won’t Get There”, the same beliefs that got us here, may be holding us back. In other words, what got you here won’t get you there.

It is no secret that well over 90% of all Fortune 500 companies use a 360° survey or multi-rater assessment to develop their leaders and to improve a leader’s effectiveness. For some, this means a time of year when all executives at a certain wage grade or title all receive their new assessment. The key objective usually focuses on the hope that the executive has improved his/her rankings. But, not all companies today recognize how easy it is to take the 360 degree feedback process and turn it into a highly effective streamlined leadership developmental program. So, what are the most compelling reasons your company should have a 360 feedback program?