What do people really think of you? Do you even care? Do you care too much?
 
Many of the managers and executives I coach and train start off by being surprised and maybe even slightly insulted to think that they need to improve their leadership skills. After all, they wouldn’t have been promoted if they weren’t competent… or would they?
 
It kind of reminds me of the 1992 movie A Few Good Men when Jack Nicholson, playing the role of Colonel Jessep, defiantly states, “You can’t handle the truth!”
 
The term 360 degree feedback has become much maligned because most of the people who are subjected to this feedback are not open to receiving it in the first place. 360 feedback refers to getting feedback from your boss, your peers and your direct reports, a full circle of feedback.

Self-Deception
 
Let’s examine two patterns of thinking that get in the way of an executive or manager accepting and acting upon feedback from peers and direct reports:

1. The individual giving me feedback isn’t credible or qualified to evaluate me. (What do they know!) 
2. I’ve achieved success by being the way I am so why would I want to change?

Let’s tackle each of these.
 
First, any person who interacts with you is qualified and capable of giving you feedback about your people skills. The feedback might be related to how clearly you communicate, how responsive you are, whether you are approachable or not and if they feel encouraged and supported by you. If they work with you more closely they can also speak to your technical skills related to completing assignments both accurately and in a timely fashion.
 
And that brings us to the second point. High achievers can hit a plateau where the same skills and approaches they used to achieve their current level of success often work against them in getting to a higher level of responsibility.
 
The most common term for this is “The Peter Principle” where individuals are destined to be promoted to their level of incompetence. Once you reach that level, you are no longer promotable and in fact, your days may be numbered.
 
While the incompetence could be technical, most likely it has to do with your people skills. At higher levels in an organization your success has less to do with your own output and more to do with mobilizing a team to achieve the required results.

Unaware of Strengths
 
In addition to being unaware of our weaknesses, we can also be unaware of our strengths. Without an appreciation of what we do well, we might inadvertantly stop and lose the benefit of that strength. Feedback can reinforce what we are doing well.
 
Confronting Reality
 
When you get to a place where you recognize that no matter how successful you have been, there is always room for improvement, you can begin to make adjustments. In every single coaching situation I have encountered there are only 3 or 4 leadership behaviors that the individual needs to change in order to unlock greater success. The challenge is to discover what those behaviours are and get help to correct them.
 
Reflection Questions
 
Do you actively solicit feedback from the people around you as to how effectice a leader you are? If not can you become vulnerable enough to ask for that feedback and use it to grow as an individual?

Action Items

• Ask for specific feedback from the people you work with and those who work for you if you are in a leadership position.
• While you can use more sophisticated instruments to measure leadership style and management capability, you can start with these four simple questions:
• What do you think I do really well and would like me to continue doing?
• What do I not do as much as I should and you would like to see me do more of?
• What do I do that you think it best that I stop doing?
• What do I not do now that you think I should start doing?
• When you get the feedback, even if you find it difficult to swallow, be thankful because you are on your way to greater success.

High achievers are prone to enter a time in their career where they plateau or stall. Perhaps promotions are not coming as fast and furious as they once did or in some cases, they have achieved every goal they have set and have run out of challenges. Achievers will ask themselves, “Is this all there is?” After striving for success, when success levels out, the feeling of advancement is replaced by a feeling of stagnation. This condition could be called Achievers Depression or Career Stall.

The symptoms of this condition can include:

• Bitterness or negativity that replaces a generally positive view of work.
• Overly critical of peers, employees and even the boss – disappointment in self can lead to disappointment in others.
• Moodiness – Either disengagement and withdrawal or aggression or a combination of both.
• Feeling of being trapped – promotions often take longer and external opportunities may be harder to come by.

This perceived lack of control can cause a corresponding reaction of defensiveness, either aggressive or passive.

Prescription for Performance

1. Re-establish Goals – An achiever needs goals to achieve and so I recommend setting new goals that will motivate the drive to succeed.
2. Focus on building up others – After achieving personal success, I recommend that the individual help others succeed. Growing others is different kind of achievement and is personally rewarding.
3. Decide What You Truly Want -If your true desires cannot be satisfied from your current situation then determine what would make you happy and make the change.
4. Appreciate the Opportunity – A career stall presents an opportunity to reflect and regroup. Instead of seeking a quick and easy answer, spend time contemplating the next step. Making a rash decision can lead to further diappointment.

If you are feeling stalled, consider a coaching session or two in order to set a new course for yourself.

In a previous post we examined a manager who was too easy on his team. In many cases an assignment will come in to work with a manager who has the opposite challenge – he or she is too tough on employees.

Often these hard-nosed managers tend to work long hours, do the work his team was supposed to do, be overly critical of others and not keep everyone informed.

As part of the coaching process, here are the typical elements of the prescription for performance for a tough manager:

1. Clarify in his/her own mind what the long term vision is for the team/organization. A tough manager believes that either she has already made it clear what the goals are or that people should know the goals because they are obvious. Unfortunately employees do not know the priorities because in their mind, the priorities are constantly shifting at the apparent whim of the manager.
2. Use a daily and/or weekly team meeting so that all members of the team can be aware of the priorities without the manager having to act as a clearing house for information. Many tough managers are like the hub in the center of a bicycle wheel. Everyone has to come to him or her with problems or to get a decision. Of course the manager doesn’t understand why employees don’t just do the right thing on their own and the vicious cycle continues.
3. Stop providing answers to every question and solving every problem. If we assume that most of the team members are qualified and experienced the manager should let the individuals on the team retain ownership of the issues and not take over the situation.
4. Stop doing the work of the team. In order to build greater accountability, the tough manager needs to let her team enjoy the consequences, good or bad, related to their area of responsibility.

The team will also have to adjust to the change in leadership style. While the change will be positive, there may be some frustration during the transition from manager-centred to team-centred leadership. Click here to review our coaching process.

How can you increase your probability of promotion so that when the next opportunity arises, you are seen as the ideal candidate to earn the promotion?

Visibility and Intention: An individual working for one of my clients was passed up for a challenging new assignment. Her boss didn’t know she was interested in the new job. Instead of toiling away in obscurity, ask for greater challenges and let your manager know that you are interested in taking on more responsibility.

Accountability: Put yourself in a position where you have no choice but to be accountable for the success or failure of a project. Sticking your neck out might appear risky and yet you will get noticed by taking the lead. Even if something goes sideways on the project, avoid blaming others and instead present an action plan to get back on track.

Growth: Stretch yourself beyond your comfort zone. Take a new course, ask for an assignment outside your regular job duties. Avoid making others responsible for your stagnation. Take ownership over your career.

Results: Show results for your activities. Demonstrate the impact on the bottom line, sales growth, profit, waste reduction, cash flow improvement. Quantify the results you generate for your organization and you become more valuable.

Network: Your next promotion might not be within your department, location, company or even industry. Make connections both on-line and in person with a variety of people in areas that might interest you. Listen for opportunities and be willing to speak up if something looks good to you.

Build Up Others: In order to justify and ultimately succeed in a leadership role, you must give credit to others and make them look good. By offering deserved praise you are demonstrating leadership. As you rise in an organization, it is less about YOU and more about getting things done through others.