We see it time and time again, feedback programs come and go. It can be a revolving door of what is a hot topic today only to be switched for another feedback program tomorrow. Leadership development at the core is about feedback—not a classroom exercise.

Without feedback, leaders aren't provided with the necessay information to drive the bus. Imagine you are asked to drive a submarine with no windows, no sonar, no map, no computer or satelitte to help guide you when maneuvering the submarine. You are asked to drive the submarine through a course of obstacles and required to literally do it blindly. Would you accept this task? Of course not (I hope you wouldn't anyway).

Why take on a leadership role without navigation: the ability to see how you are doing, how you are perceived, or how others see your performance. All of this is to provide you with pertinent information to manuever your team through the obstacles of the workplace. 

Take 360s for example. They're designed to provide developmental information and as a mechanism for feedback and change. Without a proper 360 feedback mechanism, we are left alone in the submarine with no tools to see where we are headed. Ultimately repeating behavior that may be blindly detrimental.

However, with a carefully crafted 360 report, we are able begin to understand the impact of our behaviors; we are able to open our eyes to how others perceive our performance and how we can work together toward positive change. Feedback at the workplace is critical and can be a critical failure when it doesn't exist. 360 reports need to be tied to leadership expectations, have a multi-view from different members at the job, and allow for candid feedback. This is done with anonymity. 

Here are a few important aspects of a proper 360 report:

• The 360 report measures the right competencies and relies on the right people to rate our behaviors.
• The data on a 360 report needs to be organized in a way that you can easily understand what to improve first and why it is critical to make an improvement. 
• Your 360 report would focus on understanding your strengths as well as uncovering the challenges — you need a balanced view of who you are and what you need to further develop. Development doesn't equate with working on weaknesses. Sometimes you also need time to hone your strengths and focus on what you are good at.
• Your 360 report needs to provide information in a way that empowers you to make adjustments in personal style. The constructive information is to be used as a data point to create a professional plan of development.

At ThinkWise, we make it our pain to have reports provide simple, clear, and direct information, so you can make improvements immediately. If nothing else, we allow you to categorize what to STOP, START, and CONTINUE while valuing the feedback people have provided. It isn't a cliche: people do make up the workplace and if you aren't open to their feedback, you'll miss a wonderful opportunity to engage them in making things better.

What type of 360˚ reports are you using to improve your leaders and what do you like or dislike about them?