The Metiss Group's Blog

Successful people are outstanding performers.  Outstanding performers stay on top of their game.  They are lifelong learners, committed to learning everything they can about their profession, their business, their company, their company’s competitors, and life in general.  As the Chinese proverb says, “if you quit learning, you are not standing still, you are losing ground.”

Supporting direct reports as they learn and grow is the leader’s job; learning and growing is the direct reports’ job.  When encouraging direct reports to learn, set goals.  Instead of “learning PowerPoint,” how about “learn PowerPoint and prepare a staff presentation on September 1st?”  Or, “increase industry knowledge by reading the Wall Street Journal health section each day and report back at the end of the quarter those things learned.”

Personal development is important and leaders who empower direct reports to set goals make the success real.

As 360-degree leadership effectiveness tools become better indicators of perceived leadership behaviors, more and more companies are embarking on formal 360-degree evaluations of their leadership teams.  These insightful reports help leaders focus on developing the leadership skills observed by others as being most needed.

However, prior to conducting 360-degree evaluations and delivering results, the leadership group must identify the leadership practices that are important to the organization.  Everyone should understand the organization’s leadership focus before getting their results.  Once leaders receive their reports, their natural tendency is to dismiss the feedback in areas in which they scored poorly.  Having committed to focusing on specific leadership styles before receiving feedback forces them to be more objective and embrace development opportunities.

Empowered leaders choose the important leadership practices before receiving 360-degree feedback and have more successful development plans.