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This is your IdeaShape newsletter, March 2003,
with ideas on leadership and life for executives, managers,
consultants, and executive coaches.
By Pam Fox Rollin, IdeaShape Coaching & Consulting
http://www.ideashape.com

Contents
A. Big Idea
B. Action Challenge
C. Resources
D. Note from Pam

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A. Big Idea: 360 feedback is a potent, and rare, opportunity. Use it well.

"There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself - an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly."
-- Antisthenes

... or a peer, direct report, or customer who is invested in your success. And, usually, you'll get the straight scoop only when you ask for it and make it easy for people to give.

When you ask for feedback from a mix of your peers, directs, customers, etc. that's called 360-degree feedback Typically, the feedback is aggregated confidentially by rater group so you don't know who said what (except your boss, whose feedback is typically identified).

Common formats for 360s are
-- formal company-wide programs that may or may not be linked to performance reviews
-- programs designed for a particular team or role often using customized tools and followed by a team development program, or
-- a custom program designed for an individual executive and coordinated by his/her coach.

As I've coached execs through each of these types of programs, I've found that the same issues emerge. I've seen striking differences between execs who've gained little by headnodding through the process and those who've used their 360 process to catapult their careers forward.

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B. Action Challenge: How will you make the most of 360 feedback?

If you have the opportunity to arrange a 360 feedback process through your company or coach, here are seven basics for getting value from it:

1. Ask the right people
Usually, you'll choose 8-15 raters from among your peers, direct reports, cross-functional partners, and customers. Remember what Antisthenes said about friends and enemies? Choose some of both. While feedback from critics can be powerful, often the most useful feedback comes from "friends" (whether peers, reports, or customers) who care enough to make the effort to offer useful observations.

2. Ask them for the full story.
Don't assume that HR or the online administrator will set the context with your raters and encourage them to give you useful feedback. Take that responsibility yourself... send them an email saying why you'd like feedback, asking for specific comments about both areas of strength and struggle, requesting they use the full range of the rating scale, and asking them to look for the materials and reply promptly.

3. Make sure the feedback instrument covers the right things. Which behaviors are most crucial to your success? Does your company's 360 instrument cover these? If not, see if you can adjust the questions for your team or role. Or arrange for your coach to do a custom 360, either via an emailed survey or confidential 1:1 interviews. (Make sure you're working with someone who deeply understands 360s and is able to design a valid survey instrument or interview guide.)

4. Acknowledge the value of perceptions... and then make your own assessment. Sometimes participants seem frustrated with their raters, "But that's just their perception!" Even if your raters barely understand the demands and constraints you face, they still perceive your behavior as more or less skillful. And they act on those perceptions. Ask yourself, "What am I doing that causes people to see me differently than I see myself?"

Also, resist the temptation to guess who said what. I've seen execs unwittingly destroy trust by joking with their team members about feedback they imagine came from that person. Instead, if you want more feedback from someone, ask for it directly.

View feedback as a gift that you can choose to use or put on the shelf.You accept it graciously... and then make your own decision about whether and how to use it.

5. Focus on just a few upgrades, and make a plan.
Ask yourself two questions for each specific behavior you're considering for improvement:
1. What's the relative value of upgrading this area? That value is of course the value of the goal that skill enables you to pursue and the likely impact of the behavior change on achieving that goal. 
2. How easy or difficult will it be to develop this area? Take a look at your motivation to invest in that area, whether it corresponds to your preferences and talents, and how easily you can put together a plan and some support to make progress on it.

Remember to take the time to acknowledge what others perceive as your strengths. Making the most of your strengths is often an even better investment of energy than developing your areas of weakness. Ask yourself where you may be underusing -- or overusing -- your core talents.

Finally, make a plan. At a minimum, jot down the specific behavior you're doing now and the specific behavior you want to do instead (or if you don't know the behavior yet, write what result you want to create with new behaviors). Map how you'll get from what you're doing now to what you want to do, and any support to get there (e.g., training, coaching, reading, mentoring). Consider what's likely to throw you off track and what you'll do to get back on track.

6. Commit to your raters and engage them in your continued success. Before finalizing your development commitments, meet with your raters (especially direct reports) to acknowledge what you've heard, clarify any areas of mixed feedback, get their suggestions for your actions and related adjustments to team processes, and express your commitment to doing your best for them. You may want to involve your coach in preparing to be clear, confident, and blame-free in these meetings.

7. Use the 360 process to prime the pump for real-time feedback. There's something powerful about getting a lot of feedback all at once. The messages become very clear. Yet what you're getting with a 360 is just the tip of the iceberg. A formal feedback program is inevitably dependent on raters ability to recall incidents of behavior and put them in some coherent perspective.

How much more useful to get feedback right in the moment! One of the primary benefits my clients have experienced from our 360 programs is that participants tend to give more useful behavior-based feedback more often after the program than they did before.

If you want to get more feedback from your customers, peers, and directs, make sure you do #6 above... the more they see you appreciate and consider their feedback, the more likely they are to offer specific in the moment feedback.


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C. Resources

The Art & Science of 360 Feedback, by Lepsinger & Lucia, 1997
-- An easy-read introduction to the complexities of 360 programs. Ideal for those leading a program for their team or organization.

Coaching for Leadership, by Goldsmith et al, 2000
-- See chapter 27 on Coaching Others to Accept Feedback

First, Break All the Rules, by Buckingham & Coffman, 1999
-- A great reminder that not every "improvement area" is worth "fixing." We each make the most of our potential by becoming "more of who we are"... making the most of our own talents, rather than striving to be the mythical "well-rounded" manager.

If you're interested in further resources for designing 360s or leading
a 360 process in your organization, just email me, pam@ideashape.com

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D. Note from Pam

If your knees are quaking at the thought of asking 10 people for feedback, you're in great company. Nearly every exec I work with -- even those who come off as super-confident -- confesses to sweaty palms at the beginning of our feedback session. So, let not some reasonable fear stand in your way of getting feedback.

However, I encourage my clients to consider holding off on a
360 opportunity under some circumstances:
- when morale is so low that it will be difficult for raters to muster the energy and goodwill necessary for great feedback
- when the organization is in such chaos that raters wouldn't feel invested in the exec's performance or have observed repeated behavior
- when the exec lacks fundamental respect for the people who will be giving feedback
- when the exec is feeling unusually vulnerable, perhaps related to personal matters
- when the exec has yet to get clear on what she wants to achieve, so she can focus on the feedback most relevant to her goals.

Is now the right time for you to do a 360 and learn more about your impact on your team, colleagues, and customers?

You receive this email every month or so with ideas and resources you can use to shape your success. Some of these ideas may strike you as obvious... I invite you to step back and look at how this is actually working in your life. Others may seem far out... I invite you to consider how much choice you actually have. If you'd like to get in touch about any of this, please email me. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Warm regards,
Pam

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