Great leadership is not measured or observed in the intentions of the leader but in its impact. It is all about how the leader is experienced.
Great leadership is a continuous exercise in self-discovery and developing high-quality relationships with those around you. So, if you have been following along the previous few blogs about being deliberate about designing your impact, and you started playing around with those ideas, how will you know if it is working?
Feedback of course. Collect feedback, both positive and negative to inform your continuous development.
- A 360-degree feedback tool or a similar type of review can shed light on your progress. It takes courage to find out how others perceive your leadership. Research by Kouzes and Posner has shown that by collecting feedback from a variety of perspectives, especially peers and direct reports, individuals can understand how they’re viewed and experienced from all points of view. The insights are used to inform targeted leadership development and growth initiatives to continue the road to great relationships.
- While a 360 may be a once-a-year big exercise, leaders could ask for feedback informally in meetings as well. Consider throwing in a couple of open-ended questions in your next 1 to 1 meeting:
- What do you need from me as a leader?
- In what ways can we work better together?
- How can/do I empower you?
- How can I improve my communication with you?
Making feedback to you as the leader a normal occurrence demonstrates to the team that you are interested in building a stronger relationship and becoming a better leader every day. It will also give you fact-based information about how your leadership is experienced, and what are the strengths and areas that need some more polishing.
Sage & Summit has a large selection of tools that can help you get feedback and get to know your leadership style better. Contact us today to invest in your tomorrow.
