If you are a leader/manager at any organization level and haven’t had a 360 Review, I highly recommend one. Fair warning, the process is uncomfortable at best, especially the first time. It requires you to be willing to look at yourself through the eyes of your peers, direct reports, and others with whom you work closely.
If that thought scares you, I understand.
I remember when I had my first 360 Review. I was excited and terrified. OK, if I’m being honest, I was mostly terrified. I wondered if my image of myself as a leader matched what others saw in me. I worried that I would discover that my perception was way off the mark and that I was a horrible leader.
What I got out of it was a lot of validation for the positive aspects of my leadership, and I found out that people saw me as defensive and not open to criticism. What happened when I saw this, you may have already guessed . . . I became defensive and started trying to justify my defensiveness. Once I was able to get past that, I was able to grow my leadership.
Because here’s the truth, you must get out of the echo chamber of your own mind to see where you should apply your attention to improve your leadership.
Leadership Development is an Ongoing Journey
True leadership is not achieved by promotion to a position of authority; it’s achieved through the continuous development of skills. If you are not devoting time to your improvement as a leader, your way of leading will become ineffective, and you might not even realize it.
The most important reason to embrace the discomfort of a 360 Review is it gives you an outside perspective to help you figure out the next steps on your development journey.
It doesn’t matter how high you ascend on the leadership ladder; there is always more you can do to develop your skills and abilities. The world is constantly changing, and to continue to be successful, leaders must continually adapt and grow their skills and knowledge to meet the new challenges these changes present.
Self-Awareness is the Key to Effective Leadership
If you aren’t listening to an outside perspective, you are not self-aware.
Everyone needs an honest double check of their self-perceptions. Without it, you end up in the same place I was, an echo chamber. Unless something comes up to challenge you, you will continue to believe the same things about yourself and your leadership. A 360 Review, with some coaching, can provide a safe way to increase your self-awareness.
The benefits of self-awareness in leadership are well documented.
- Self-aware leaders create a more genuine connection with employees, which helps increase job satisfaction.
- When you are self-aware, you become a better communicator.
- Leaders who understand their strengths know how to use them to shore up their weaknesses.
- Self-awareness helps you take care of your well-being and the well-being of your employees.
- Self-aware Leaders do not take negative feedback personally; they see it as an opportunity to improve.
- Self-aware leaders are more likely to create a psychologically safe working environment.
Understanding How You Impact the Company
The traditional review process focuses on goal achievement, the ‘what you accomplished’ as a leader/manager/employee. It contains one person’s view of your performance. Your boss doesn’t have all the information you need to ensure you become an exceptional leader. Receiving feedback from multiple raters eliminates the one perspective bias and gives you information beyond the results you have achieved.
Leaders influence the culture and performance of a company with their behavior, whether they mean to or not. A 360 Review gives you insight into how you interact with others while achieving your results. You may learn that something you are doing isn’t as successful as you think, even though you produce results. With this information, you can adjust how you operate as a leader to achieve even greater success.
Learning the Skill of Radical Acceptance
I was introduced to the concept of radical acceptance several years ago. It completely changed my perspective and improved my leadership. Because there can be some very hard to hear feedback in 360 Reviews, it can be difficult to accept it as truth. For me, this was evidenced in my defensiveness.
In this context, practicing radical acceptance means you stop fighting against how others see you as wrong and accept that how they see you is their truth about you. You may not see yourself the same way, but fighting against it only causes suffering, yours and theirs. Accepting this truth does not mean that you must change to please others (don’t do that, it doesn’t work); it’s just a guidepost to point you toward possible areas of improvement in your leadership.
Acknowledging that you have a negative impact is hard to accept (hence the radical). It challenges your self-view and can bring up difficult feelings like shame and embarrassment. This is why working on your feedback with a coach is critical to staying out of a downward spiral toward depression and anxiety.
A 360 Review is just one possible starting point on a journey to increase your self-awareness. It’s an uncomfortable process, even for the best leaders, but one that is worth every ounce of discomfort. We only grow and develop when we get out of our comfort zone. No matter what level you are in your career, working with a coach gives you a confidential, non-judgmental, safe space to push against the edges of your comfort and grow your self-awareness.
