"Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence."
~ Abigail Adams (1744 - 1818)
Shipmates,
We can't get better without first looking at ourselves. An honest assessment of our individual strengths and weaknesses is absolutely vital before learning and personal growth can begin. The competency for Self Awareness and Learning tells us, "Successful leaders use various evaluation tools and indicators to assist in this process of understanding themselves." Indeed, without tools to evaluate ourselves, we would have no idea where we even stand, much less what we must do to get better.
We know what good organizational leadership and management looks like; organizational leadership and management is spelled out in the Commandant's Performance Excellence Criteria which is based on the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology at the Commerce Department. From an organizational perspective, Baldrige categories ARE organizational competencies. Good organizations conduct armchair assessments against the Criteria (such as the Commandant's Performance Challenge process) or invite external teams to take a snapshot of where the organization is (such as with the examination process behind the Alexander Hamilton Award for organizational excellence). Excellent organizations take that feedback, whether it is from a self-examination or an external examination, and do something with it.
The same is true on the individual leadership level. We must use various tools to evaluate our own leadership. Formal performance evaluations (e.g. OERs, EERs, and EARS) are a critical component of this evaluation. While not all performance evaluations, such as the Coast Guard's Officer Evaluation Report system, are built to provide a counseling component between a senior and a subordinate, they all do provide excellent material for self evaluation.
While on the subject of counseling -- it's one of the toughest jobs a leader can perform -- but one of the most important. It gets easier when performed with regularity, and a leader will learn much about him/herself through the process of sitting down face-to-face with a subordinate.
The person who is excited about developing as a leader doesn't wait for the formal evaluation process to hear how they're doing, but uses other formal feedback systems in addition. One of those other formal feedback systems is 360 evaluations. 3 60 evaluations are "full circle" evaluations and allow the individual to receive feedback from seniors, subordinates, and peers.
Full circle evaluations vary from organization to organization, but here's how Ilana DeBare describes the process:
* An employee chooses several people for her evaluation. The number ranges between six and 12, and includes people in the company who know her work well.
* Those people fill out anonymous questionnaires and rate the employee on criteria such as the ability to build consensus or make timely decisions.
* The results are tabulated by computer, and the employee is given a report that summarizes her performance.
* She goes over the results with her manager, and puts together a long-term plan to improve her work.
There are a number of commercial products available, but they are generally fairly pricy. For those truly desiring feedback, here's a great process that you and a trusted shipmate (best if from a former unit) can do to collect feedback. Charlie Coiro, from the Leadership Development Center, instructs in the Senior Leadership Principles and Skills course. He teaches a process that was first introduced to the Coast Guard by a good Shipmate of mine Commander and Doctor Gregory Stump, who learned the process from Rod Napier. They call it "Genie in a Bottle":
1. Find a Shipmate you trust.
2. Pick 7-11 people you work with (subordinates, peers, superiors, mentors, etc)
3. Send your people an e-mail saying that they will get a call from your colleague. Explain that you'd appreciate their honest feedback and anonymity will be maintained.
4. Your colleague calls your people to find their perception about your strengths and your areas for improvement (with potential corrective actions).
5. Your colleague tallies and synthesizes and sanitizes the information they gained through their interviews.
6. You and your colleague meet to share what you learned about each other.
7. You send a follow-up e-mail thanking those who participated and sharing a little bit about what you learned.
360 feedback, giving you input from a variety of sources, can truly be enlightening. I encourage you to give it a try.
Tomorrow, we'll look at some informal processes you can use to increase your self awareness as a leader. In the mean time, take care of your shipmates.
~ VADM Bob Papp
