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No matter how approachable you may be as a manager, chances are good that your employees are withholding valuable intelligence from you. Research shows that many people are more likely to keep mum than to raise important questions or suggest new ideas. Companies use a variety of tactics to get people to open up, like “climate” surveys and all-staff feedback sessions. But they usually fall short for two key reasons: a fear of consequences and a sense of futility. In this article, two professors look at how leaders’ misguided attempts to promote candid expression fail to address—and sometimes stir up—those feelings. For example, if you ask for anonymous input, you may be signaling that it’s not safe to speak openly in your organization. And if you don’t act on feedback, employees will quickly come to believe that providing it is pointless. But there are several ways to create a much more vocal culture, say the authors. To make idea sharing less intimidating, tone down the power cues with employees, and gather feedback in regular, casual exchanges. Be transparent about the processes for gathering and following up on ideas. And if you really want to know what people think, go ask them. Research shows that when employees do speak up, organizations see increased performance. So getting all this right pays off—both for workers eager to make contributions and for their firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peter Drucker and other leadership thinkers have long argued that leaders should focus on strengthening their strengths. How should they do that? Improving on a weakness is pretty easy and straight forward: You can make measurable progress by honing and practicing basic techniques. But developing a strength is a different matter, because simply doing more of what you're good at will yield only incremental improvements. If you are strong technically, becoming even more of a technical expert won't make you a dramatically better leader. If, however, you use what the authors call "nonlinear development"- similar to an athlete's cross-training-you can achieve exponential results. Your technical expertise will become more powerful if, for instance, you build on your communication skills, enabling you to explain technical problems both more broadly and more effectively. The authors, all from the leadership development consultancy Zenger Folkman, present a step-by-step process by which developing leaders can identify their strengths (through either a formal or an informal 360-degree evaluation),select appropriate complementary skills (the article identifies up to a dozen for each core strength), and develop those skills to dramatically improve their strengths-making themselves uniquely valuable to their companies. INSET: An Informal 360. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are women rated lower than men in evaluations of their leadership capabilities because of lingering gender bias? No, according to an analysis of thousands of 360-degree assessments collected by Insead's executive education program. That analysis showed that women tend to outshine men in all areas but one: vision. Unfortunately, that exception is a big one. At the top tiers of management, the ability to see opportunities, craft strategy based on a broad view of the business, and inspire others is a must-have. To explore the nature of the deficit, and whether it is a perception or reality, Insead professor Ibarra and doctoral candidate Obodaru interviewed female executives and studied the evaluation data. They developed three possible explanations. First, women may do just as much as men to shape the future but go about it in a different way; a leader who is less directive, includes more people, and shares credit might not fit people's mental model of a visionary. Second, women may believe they have less license to go out on a limb. Those who have built careers on detail-focused, shoulder-to-the-wheel execution may hesitate to stray from facts into unprovable assertions about the future. Third, women may choose not to cultivate reputations as big visionaries. Having seen bluster passed off as vision, they may dismiss the importance of selling visions. The top two candidates for the Democratic nomination for U.S. president in 2008 offer an instructive parallel. The runner-up, Hillary Clinton, was viewed as a get-it-done type with an impressive, if uninspiring, grasp of policy detail. The winner, Barack Obama, was seen as a charismatic visionary offering a hopeful, if undetailed, future. The good news is that every dimension of leadership is learned, not inborn. As more women become skilled at, and known for, envisioning the future, nothing will hold them back. INSET: Critical Components of Leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with University of Cambridge professor Yeun Joon Kim is presented. Kim discusses the research that he and Ohio State University professor Junha Kim did regarding the results of performance feedback by supervisors as well as subordinates, the impact of negative criticism on creativity, and the question of retaliation by supervisors who receive negative feedback from subordinates.

Much of the business literature on leadership starts with the assumption that leaders are rational beings. But irrationality is integral to human nature, and inner conflict often contributes to the drive to succeed. Although a number of business scholars have explored the psychology of executives, Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries has made the analysis of CEOs his life's work. In this article, Kets de Vries, a psychoanalyst, author, and Insead professor, draws on three decades of study to describe the psychological profile of successful CEOs. He explores senior executives' vulnerabilities, which are often intensified by followers' attempts to manipulate their leaders. Leaders, he says, have an uncanny ability to awaken transferential processes--in which people transfer the dynamics of past relationships onto present interactions--among their employees and even in themselves. These processes can present themselves in a number of ways, sometimes negatively. What's more, many top executives, being middle-aged, suffer from depression. Mid- life prompts a reappraisal of career identity, and by the time a leader is a CEO, an existential crisis is often imminent. This can happen with anyone, but the probability is higher with CEOs and senior executives because so many have devoted themselves exclusively to work. Not all CEOs are psychologically unhealthy, of course. Healthy leaders are talented in self-observation and self-analysis, Kets de Vries says. The best are highly motivated to spend time on self-reflection. Their lives are in balance, they can play, they are creative and inventive, and they have the capacity to be nonconformist. "Those who accept the madness in themselves may be the healthiest leaders of all," he concludes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Leaders are vulnerable, too. That is, they can be led astray just as their followers can--actually, by their followers. This happens in a variety of ways. Sometimes, good leaders end up making poor decisions because well-meaning followers are united and persuasive about a course of action. This is a particular problem for leaders who attract and empower strong followers. These executives need to become more skeptical of the majority view and push followers to examine their opinions more closely. At other times, leaders get into trouble because they are surrounded by followers who fool them with flattery and isolate them from uncomfortable realities. Charismatic leaders, who are most susceptible to this problem, need to make an extra effort to unearth disagreement and to find followers who are not afraid to pose hard questions. Organizational mechanisms like 360-degree feedback and executive coaching can help these leaders get at the truth within their companies. Finally, unscrupulous and ambitious followers may end up encroaching on the authority of the leader to such an extent that the leader becomes little more than a figurehead who has responsibility but no power. There's not much leaders can do to completely guard against a determined corporate Iago, but those who communicate and live by a positive set of values will find themselves better protected. And since followers tend to model themselves after their leaders, the straightforward leader is less likely to have manipulative followers. In this article, George Washington University professor Lynn Offermann explores each of these dynamics in depth, arguing that leaders need to stir debate, look for friends who can deliver bad news, and communicate and act on a solid set of values. INSET: Joining the Opposition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In 1994, the consumer products company Alberto-Culver North America faced flattened sales and the most difficult competitive environment of its history. President Carol Bernick knew that overcoming these challenges would require a certain kind of corporate culture--but it wasn't the culture the company had. She changed that by focusing on four areas. First, Bernick made culture visible and elevated it to priority status, often by highlighting desired values and behaviors that already existed in pockets of the company. Her annual "state of the company" address stresses that people must be attuned to business realities and the drivers of success. Employees now develop statements of individual economic value describing their contributions to the company's profitability. The company's ten cultural imperatives are required knowledge for all. Second, Bernick and her executive team created the role of growth development leader (GDL). Each mentors about a dozen people. Her frequent meetings with GDLs make them effective agents of change upward and downward. The role is coveted because GDLs have real power to make change; every year they vote on the issues, large and small, that must be addressed by the business as a whole. Third, the company uses an employee survey to identify areas for improvement and to provide 360-degree feedback to GDLs and top management. And fourth, successes are celebrated constantly--through stock awards for the best GDLs, Business Builders Awards for great innovators, and many other, less formal means. Since 1994, the company has cut employee turnover in half, seen sales grow 83%, and watched pretax profits rise 336%--indicators of how cultural change is driving business results. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the past decade, 360-degree feedback has revolutionized performance management. But one of its components--peer appraisal--consistently stymies executives and can exacerbate bureaucracy, heighten political tensions, and consume lots of time. For ten years, Maury Peiperl has studied 360-degree feedback and has asked: under what circumstances does peer appraisal improve performance? Why does peer appraisal sometimes work well and sometimes fail? And how can executives make these programs less anxiety provoking for participants and more productive for organizations? Peiperl discusses four paradoxes inherent to peer appraisal: In the Paradox of Roles, colleagues juggle being both peer and judge. The Paradox of Group Performance navigates between assessing individual feedback and the reality that much of today's work is done by groups. The Measurement Paradox arises because simple, straightforward rating systems would seem to generate the most useful appraisals--but they don't. Customized, qualitative feedback, though more difficult and time consuming to generate, is more helpful in improving performance. During evaluations, most people focus almost exclusively on reward outcomes and ignore the constructive feedback generated by peer appraisal. Ironically, it is precisely this overlooked feedback that helps improve performance--thus, the Paradox of Rewards. These paradoxes do not have neat solutions, but managers who understand them can better use peer appraisal to improve their organizations. INSET: Managing the "Peer" in Peer Appraisal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers ideas on developing a self-improvement team to support personal change efforts in the workplace, including conducting an informal 360-degree feedback, establishing accountability for change, and hiring a coach.

The article discusses the results of research on 360-degree assessments on the difference between leaders' self-assessments and 360-degree ratings, which showed that the most effective leaders did not have the highest level of self-awareness.

Focuses on the 360-degree feedback tool, which combines input from supervisors, peers and direct reports to provide a broad perspective on an employee's strengths and developmental needs. Increasing number of companies using the feedback tool in the performance appraisal process; Reasons why firms are attracted to using the 360-degree approach for performance appraisal.

The article reports how GlaxoSmithKline created a parallel process for assessing individuals in the company's approach to executive succession. Three internal candidates competed publicly for the position of chief executive officer (CEO) via CEO-level yearlong projects which were supervised by CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier and the board of directors. The executives were evaluated by outsiders as well as the internal executives who worked with the candidates on supply-chain management, product-safety, and marketing projects. The feedback from the outsiders, the 360-degree assessments, and a "450 degree" analysis of the interviews with the internal executives who supervised the candidates was used to select the new CEO--Andrew Witty.

High interpersonal congruence – meaning alignment between team members’ self-assessments and their appraisals of one another – improves the performance of diverse teams. And 360- degree feedback can help [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even rude or irrelevant feedback can be useful, but only a rare few can put ego aside and extract the hidden value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addresses the significance of emotional intelligence among the sales representatives of Avon Products Inc. to the viability of the business. Avon focuses on the relationship that independent sales representatives develop with their customers and the company also incorporates emotional intelligence education into the development training for senior managers. Avon factors in emotional intelligence whenever employees are being evaluated. Of all a leader's competencies, emotional and otherwise, self-awareness is the most important. The author of the article, the CEO of Avon Products, says that she also relies on her children for honest appraisal. Leaders' use of emotional intelligence when making tough decisions is important to their success and to the success of their organizations.

The author discusses his experiences working for the motion picture retail website Reel.com and the Internet auction retailer eBay Inc. as of May 2014, focusing on the process of acquiring leadership skills as eBay expanded. Topics include 360-degree evaluations and performance reviews, mentors, self-awareness in leadership, and the executive Meg Whitman.

The article states that managers in the United States rate their performance higher when using 360-degree surveys and reports that there is a gap between self-evaluation and colleagues' rating of a manager's listening skills. Surveys by Personnel Decisions International suggest that managers are not receptive when they have to listen to bad news or to others' views, which signals others to censor themselves and restricts the flow of information. The gap is attributed to executives' inaccurate estimation or perception of their listening skills or openness to their peers and subordinates.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Personalize Your Management Development," by Natalie Shope Griffin in the March 2003 issue. A response by the author to the letter to the editor is also presented.

The article discusses the reasons why not getting 360-degree feedback may be a disadvantage including having different perception on leadership effectiveness, possible correlation between subjective 360 data and objective business results, and the fact that one cannot be the best judge.