A 360 Degree Feedback may be the most powerful leadership development tool you will ever use — if you use it correctly.

Feedback holds the key to successful leadership development. Despite our well-intentioned endeavours, our actions may not always align with our intentions in the eyes of others. The most successful leaders understand how they are perceived by others and adjust their actions and manage perception accordingly.

Receiving candid feedback is not always pleasant, but it invariably provides you with an opportunity to improve and develop as a leader.

A 360 Degree Feedback is a multi-rater assessment that weaves together insights from diverse vantage points. These vantage points, ranging from superiors and peers to subordinates and self-assessment, converge to provide a well-rounded picture of how others see you in comparison to how you see yourself.

This powerful tool, however, often falls short of its potential due to oversight in key aspects. A successful 360 journey commences with meticulous pre-process preparation, continues with accurate result interpretation, and ultimately requires taking the right actions to help you grow as a leader and create the desired impact.

Before Embarking on the 360 Degree Feedback Journey:

• Define Your Purpose: Articulate why you are pursuing the 360 Degree Feedback and be clear on the context.
• Curate Your Raters: Enlist a diverse and representative array of raters, not just your best friends.
• Personal Invitations: Extend personalised invitations to your raters, and encourage them to provide ample text answers rather than mere ratings.

Receiving Your 360 Degree Feedback Results:

• Guided Interpretation: Ensure you have a debriefing session with an executive coach certified in the 360 Degree Feedback tool you are using. A professional coach can help you navigate through a complex report and put things into perspective, enabling you to interpret the results correctly and gain the most from your 360  for effective leadership development.
• Attitude is Key: Embrace an open mindset and resist the instinct to be defensive when confronting critiques. Approach feedback as a snapshot of external perception at a particular point in time.
• Explore Alignment an Discrepancies: Explore hidden strengths recognised by others and blind spots wehre your self-assessment overshoots. Look for consistencies and inconsistencies in the ratings and comments. Scrutinise congruences and divergences within and between rater groups.

Take Effective Actions for Your Personal Growth:

• Seek More Feedback: Paradoxically, often the 360 Degree Feedback is only the start for receiving more feedback: engage with selected raters, sharing insights from your report. Seek further clarification and request specific suggestions for improvement.
• Holistic Growth: Development involves more than overcoming weaknesses. Capitalising on your strengths while bridging gaps is the pathway toward exceptional leadership.
• A Coach's Guiding Hand: Collaborating with an executive coach can truly propel your personal growth. For most people, changing behavioural patters and unproductive habits is more difficult and time-consuming than they think. Busy executives tend to focus on their projects and day-to-day work, often neglecting their own development. “A coach really, really helps”, as Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO, famously noted.

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