High Potential Notification Guidelines: Not Too Heavy, Not Too Light

Most organizations have a process for the identification and development of "high potentials", those high flying, rock star, future leaders of the organization.

One of the most frequent questions I get when I work with a leadership team on succession planning and leadership development is around notification. "Do we tell them, and if so, how do we tell them?"

Most of the guidelines I've read on this topic are rather theoretical and dry, and not specific enough for the average manager to implement.

I thought it might be helpful to use the current Bud Light "Not Too Light, Not Too Heavy" beer commercial as a metaphor, along with handy word tracks to illustrate three common notification methods and the associated consequences of each. (That's what happens from watching too much football over the holiday break.)

These scenarios are based on my own real-world experience - having been at various times a high potential, having managed high potentials, and from managing high potential programs at different organizations. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.


Too Light:

Manager: "Pam, I've got a new opportunity for you. I'd like you to lead the new branding task force, in addition to your regular responsibilities. While you're at it, how about if you start having regular meetings with old Charlie, our VP of Marketing? I'll bet you two would have a lot of interesting things to talk about."

Pam: "Oh, OK, I guess so.... but why me? I've got a full plate already, and this assignment is completely outside of the scope of my job. What am I supposed to talk to Charlie about? I've never even met him?"

Manager: "Hey, don't worry about it, this is all a part of your development. By the way..... how attached are you to where you're living now? Would you consider relocating? Have you ever been to Buffalo?"

Two months later:

Manager: "What do you mean you're resigning? We have big plans for you... why, you were going to be the next VP of Marketing!"

Pam: "Well, that sure would have been nice to know. That's the position my new company has offered me. I'm leaving here because you kept throwing all these random "opportunities" at me, and then you told me I'm going to have to relocate to Buffalo!"

Too Heavy:

Manager: "Dwight, I've got great news for you. Now you have to keep this a secret, because I'm not supposed to be telling you this (wink wink). Me and the rest of the management team just did this "high potential assessment" exercise, and guess what? You're going to be the next VP of Marketing! We ranked you and all your peers on this nine box matrix, and you were the only one in the "A1" box. Yeah, that's you, Dwight old buddy, you are an A1!! Congratulations!"

Dwight: "Uh, gee, thanks. That's great, I'm honored. So what does all this mean?"

Manager: "Well, first of all, if you're going to be a VP, you need to start acting like a VP. I'm going to have you start to run some of my meetings, and working with me on the budget. Oh, I'd like to have you coach a couple of your co-workers; that would be good practice for you, and I'm sure they'll appreciate learning from the best. This is going to be great, we'll have you ready for that VP position in no time!"

Two Months later:

Manager: "Dwight, I need to talk to you about something. Your co-workers have been complaining to me about your behavior. They say you've been acting really obnoxious lately, running around like someone anointed you their boss. I have to say, you've been getting a little arrogant with me too. Oh, and old Charlie isn't feeling too well these days. I can't believe he said this, but he thinks you've been slipping something into his coffee. Is this true?"

Just Right:

Manager: "Jim, I'd like to talk to you about your career path and your development. First of all, I want you to know that I'm really impressed with your work, and I see you as having potential to grow beyond your current responsibilities. I'm not the only one who feels that way, the rest of the management team does too. You're seen as someone with a lot of creativity, vision, and leadership ability."

Jim: "Wow, that's awesome. Thanks! I'm glad to see my hard work has been noticed. While I really love what I do, I have aspirations to do more."

Manager: "That's great. How do you feel about Marketing? You seem to have a real knack for that kind of work. It's a growing department, so there may be opportunities in that area if you're interested."

Jim: "Sure, that sounds great. I have a degree in Marketing"

Manager: "Well, let's talk about how we could get you ready for that kind of an opportunity if it ever opened up. Of course there's no guarantees, so let's make sure your development plan is focused not only on this option, but others as well, in addition to making you stronger in your current role. First off, how would you like to lead the new branding task force? I know it would be a stretch for you, but it would be great development and exposure, and would help develop your influence skills as well. I could talk to Charlie, our VP of Marketing, about being a mentor for you."

Two years later:

Charlie retires, Jim is named as his replacement, and everybody lives happily ever after.

In summary, follow these guidelines for high potential notification:

1. Don't tell someone they are an "A1", a successor, or even a "hipo". Skip the labels.

2. Do let your best people know that they are valued and discuss potential future opportunites (with no gaurentees).

3. Be clear with people about their development plans. Let them know if a project is for development and why.

4. Careers and development should be a two-way discussion. Find out what the employee desires and inform them about company needs.

A Leadership Crisis or a Branding Issue?

It sure has been a tough year to be a leader.

In the summer of 2009, Development Dimensions International (DDI) surveyed 1000 US workers employed across industries and throughout the United States. Concentrating on specialists and professionals in non-leadership positions, they asked individual contributors how they feel about their jobs, their opportunities for growth, engagement levels, and skills they desired to develop.

There were 6 key findings in their “Pulse of the Workforce” report.

One of them was……. drum roll please….

Individual contributors are disappointed in their bosses and managers.

Shocker. No surprise here. And dissatisfaction with leadership isn’t just a US issue.

A survey of the UK workforce (3,000 adults surveyed by OnePoll), conducted on behalf of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) revealed that 50% believe that they could do a better job than their current manager and a similar number (49%) said they would be prepared to take a pay cut, in order to work with a better manager.

We’ve been hearing about the “leadership crisis” for years now. Just for fun, try searching “leadership crisis” and you’ll find thousands of headlines going back to 2001, from every industry, and from every part of the world.

There is also no shortage of Monday morning quarterbacks, bemoaning the lack of leadership and telling leaders what they need to do to snap out of it. Lee Iacocca wrote a bestselling book a couple years ago, “Where Have All the Leaders Gone?”, where he “sounds a howl of anger against the sad state of leadership in the U.S. today”.

I hate to say it, but I’m almost getting numb to the whole “leadership crisis” thing. It’s getting tired.

However, there was another finding from the DDI survey that I found even more troubling:

Sixty-two percent of the individual contributors surveyed have no aspiration to assume a management role.

This anti-leadership sentiment showed up in several other areas of the research. Survey respondents were asked if they could leapfrog to any position in their organizations, what role would they take on. Very few, just 32%, find their boss’s job or even more senior positions appealing.

It seems leadership has a serious branding issue. I wouldn't be suprised to see "leader" on next year's "Worst Jobs" list.

If you think we’re in a leadership crisis now, we’re going to be in an even deeper crisis if we don’t do something to make the role of a leader more appealing to our best and brightest.

So what can we do to address the real or perceived lack of leadership talent, as well as the branding issue?

First of all, I really don't believe we have a leadership “crisis”. In any population, you’ll always have a bell curve of performers. So for leaders, 10% of them are bad, 10% are great, and the other 80% somewhere in the middle.

So based on that assumption - here’s my 5 step proposal:

1. Cut the Deadwood.
See “Real Leaders Fire Underperformers”. Let’s start holding leaders in all sectors accountable. Its a few bad apples - the 10% - that are getting all the attention and causing all the problems. Throw the bums out.

2. Stop the whining.
See Marshall Goldsmith’s “Bashing the Boss”. In it, he says when you complain about your manager “You demean yourself. If you are so brilliant that you can consistently judge your boss, and your boss is so stupid that he merits endless hours of critique, why do you report to the idiot? Ultimately, when we discredit our boss, we discredit ourselves. The people around you will not say so on the outside, but on the inside they may be thinking you are an even bigger loser than your boss.”

For another similar perspective, see Jack Welch’s “Are You a Boss-Hater?” Welch says “We realize there are days when it can feel as if everyone around you is inept. Companies, after all, are composed of people, and people screw up, reward mediocrity, play politics, and otherwise commit myriad organizational sins. But the “everyone’s dumb but me” attitude is dangerous. Not only is it a career-killer, but it’s also simply not a realistic perspective on business.”

It’s true. It’s way to easy to point the finger at “leadership” when times are tough, and stand back smugly on the sidelines and complain.

3. Recognize and Celebrate the Great Leaders.
To some extent we do this, but no where near as much as we should. Bad news never has sold as well as good news. Great leaders are all around us, and we need to expose people to them as role models and mentors. Here are some, and here’s some more, and some more. And how about this guy!
These are the people we need to think of when we think “leader” – not the bums.

4. Improve the Selection Process.
Help aspiring leaders make the right choice. Promote for leadership potential, not just high performance.

5. Develop Leadership.
For all those leaders in the 80% category – let’s help them become better leaders, through training, coaching, and development. The idea of a natural born leader is a myth, and we need to stop perpetuating it. Leadership is a skill that can be learned. The great ones are great because they’ve worked hard at it, harder than anyone else.

What do you think? What else can we do to improve our worldwide leadership brand?

How to Maximize Collaboration and Reach Consensus in Under an Hour

In my last post, I described 5 decision making options leaders can choose, depending on the amount of time allowed and input and buy-in needed.

This post will describe a process a leader can use to help a group reach an efficient consensus decision.

First of all, it’s important to define what’s meant by “consensus”.

Here’s a definition that’s worked for me:
“Consensus is a decision that every member of the group has had input to, understands, and is willing to support.”

Note that consensus does not mean that everyone agrees with the decision 100%. It mean’s they’ve had their say – and have been listened to – and at the end of the day, are committed to supporting the decision. The final decision is owned by the group.

The leader also needs to decide on a “fallback” method in case the group cannot reach true consensus. Otherwise, in theory, if just one person is not willing to support the decision, the meeting can go on forever.

The two most common fallback options are:
1. The group votes, majority rules.
2. The leader decides.

The threat of a fallback is a deterrent – it rarely has to be used, however, having it will motivate a group to give and take in order to reach a consensus.

Here’s a general process to use when making a consensus decision. It’s a way to ensure everyone has a say, generates energy, and can quickly move a group to a decision they can all buy in to and support.

The leader should check for agreement at the beginning and end of each step. Consensus building is a series of small agreements as you scale the mountain – you don’t just leap to one big agreement at the end.

1. Frame the decision.
Agree on what is being decided. Test your decision statement to make sure it’s not too narrow in a way that limits your options. For example, instead of “choose between a Honda Pilot or a Ford Explorer”, the decision might be “choose the best mode of family transportation”.

2. Generate alternatives.
This is the time to brainstorm. Follow the rules of brainstorming (anything goes, don’t evaluate, build on each others ideas, etc…) and write each idea on a flipchart of whiteboard (or a virtual whiteboard if using web conferencing).

3. Clarify alternatives.
Take some time to allow questions for clarification. This is not the time to evaluate an idea – or to agree or disagree – it’s strictly to make sure everyone understands each alternative.

4. Narrow down the choices.
Add up the total number of ideas and divide by 3. So if 30 ideas: 30/3=10. In this case, give each team member 10 sticker dots (can be purchased at any office supply store). Have the group place their stickers on the alternatives they like the most. Make sure you tell this group this IS NOT the decision making process – it is strictly an efficient way to “take the temperature” of the group to see which ideas rise to the top and sink to the bottom. There are many ways to do this, but I usually say one sticker per alternative to keep it simple.

5. Keep and discard.
Start with the alternative with the most votes and ask: “It looks like this one got the most votes – how about if this one stays for now?” If everyone agrees, then circle it. The go to the alternative with no votes, or the least, and ask: “OK, this one didn’t get any votes – can we eliminate it?” If no one objects, draw a line through it. If someone strongly objects – ask why. Give them time to make their case, and then move on to the next.

Although this may sound like a long and tedious process, it actually can go pretty quickly. The group often just decides they’ll go with the alternative with the most votes. A leader can also suggest combining ideas, by asking “So what is it about option A that you like so much? Can we add something to option B to satisfy that need?”

There may be times when it’s appropriate to choose multiple alternatives. In fact, that’s often the case. For problem solving (i.e., “best ways to reduce expenses”, or “best ways to generate revenue”), it’s typical to leave with a list of alternatives.

6. Summarize the decision(s), and decide on who’s going to do what by when.
This is the test of true commitment. Usually when a group reaches a true consensus decision, the energy and commitment is so high people are clamoring to sign up for action items. If all of a sudden the room goes quiet and no one is making eye contact, chances are you missed a step in the consensus building process.

Then, pass out pins, have everybody stick a pin in their finger, and sign their names on the flipcharts in blood (just kidding).

Consensus building is hard work for a leader – it takes a willingness to “roll the dice” and be open to any alternative. Big egos need to be set aside. However, the time and work invested will yield not only higher quality decisions, but implementation will be faster and smoother because everyone will be committed to the outcome.

5 Decision Making Options for Meeting Leaders

Leaders often need to make hard decisions.

Our current president recently said “by the time something reaches my desk, that means it’s really hard. Because if it were easy, somebody else would have made the decision and somebody else would have solved it. So typically, if something’s in my folder, it means that you’ve got some very big, difficult, sticky, contradictory issues to be wrestled with.”

Yes, it can be lonely at the top. But it doesn’t always have to be. There are times when a leader may want to involve others in the decision making process.

There are five ways a leader can do this. None of them are “right” or “wrong” – it all depends on the degree of involvement required and how quick the decision needs to be made.

5 Decision Making Options:

1. Tell
“I want to inform you of a decision I’ve made and give you an opportunity to ask any questions.”

2. Test
“I’m thinking of choosing option A to solve the problem – what do you think?”

3. Sell
“I’m thinking of choosing option A to solve our problem – let me convince you why I think it’s a good option.”

4. Consult
“I need to select an option, and would like your input on which to choose.”

5. Consensus
“We need to make a decision, and I’d like us to make the decision together.”

The chart below can help a leader choose the best decision making option. If a decision needs to be made right away – and little involvement is needed, then the “Tell” method is perfectly appropriate. Examples of when this method might be used include emergencies (“the building is on fire – exit the front door now!”) – or trivial matters, where the leader does not want to waste everyone’s time.



As you can see from the chart, the more buy-in needed, the more time it usually takes to make a decision.

There are pros and cons for each option. Obviously, the ones requiring less involvement are faster. However, with little involvement, there is little buy-in and commitment, and a missed opportunity to incorporate multiple perspectives.

Again, each of these options has it’s time and place. The important thing is for a leader to be clear with the group which option is being used. This helps set the right expectations and informs people how they need to prepare. When a leader bounces back and forth between options and doesn’t tell the group, it confuses and frustrates the team – as well as the leader.

Consensus will provide the highest degree of involvement, collaboration, and commitment. However, if mismanaged, attempting to reach a consensus decision can turn into the meeting from hell.

In my next post, I’ll show you how to reach a consensus decision in an efficient way – usually in less than an hour.

7 Elements of a Great Leadership Development Workshop

Whenever I’m designing a leadership development workshop, I’m always aware of the cost of pulling 20 or so supervisors, managers, or executives away from their work for anywheres from 4 hours to 4 weeks. The biggest cost of any training program isn’t the instructors, travel, facilities, and food. It’s not even the salaries of the participants. The most significant cost, and often overlooked, is the lost opportunity cost. For every hour a manager, or salesperson, or programmer, spends in a classroom, that’s one hour of lost productivity. For executives, the opportunity cost is even greater. That could mean one less deal being made, one less critical decision being made, one less meeting with an investor or customer, etc…

Being aware of these total costs gives me additional motivation to make sure every minute is well spent and the benefits far outweigh the costs. Here are some things I’ve learned over time that will lead to a great leadership development experience.

1. Executive and management involvement
I’ve already written about this topic – see “10 Ways to Involve Leaders in Leadership Development Programs”. Involve them right from start to finish, and everywhere in between. You’ll get a better workshop and the learning will be reinforced – that’s a given. However, here’s the real secret sauce of involving executive sponsors and the participant’s managers: they end up learning and role modeling as well! I’m not sure if there’s an official name for this phenomenon, but I’ve been calling it “the ripple effect”.
As you design – always bake in ripple throughout the process. More ripple = more ROI.

2. Participant selection
I’ve never been a fan of unscreened, open enrollment programs. I’ve found that careful participant selection can make or break a program. Consideration should be given to skill level, common interests, challenges, and needs, motivation, and diversity. Take advantage of activities, breaks, meals, and evenings to promote networking.

3. Pre-work and postwork
Think of any leadership development as a process, not just an event. With effective pre and post work, you can often build as much development before and after the workshop as you can during the workshop. Examples of effective pre and post work include:
- Pre and post meetings with the manager to review expectations and debrief learnings (see #1)
- Readings – case studies, books, and online articles
- Blogs, Wikkis, and threaded discussions
- Journaling (send them a nice journal with tips on how to journal)
- Shadowing assignments or interviews
- Conference calls or webinars
- Online training

4. Extraordinary content
I understand the value of self-discovery and learning from our peers – that’s all well and good. However, the best leadership development programs always include some amount of fascinating and incredibly relevant content. That is, helpful tips, new ideas, proven best practices… the kind of content that causes participants to light up, pick up their pens and start writing. The source of this content can be internal or external experts –there’s a time and place for both. Or, extraordinary content could be researched or purchased, and delivered by a skilled trainer.

5. Participant involvement
Extraordinary content by itself will not always produce learning, and certainly not development. Great leadership development programs always have at least 50% of the time devoted to doing. The “doing” can include action learning, case studies, discussions, role plays, white paper development and presentation, and simulations.

6. Participant insight
Every leader is different, and no workshop could possibly be designed to address each leader’s specific development needs. In order to ensure these unique needs are uncovered and addressed, build in assessment, feedback, coaching (peer or professional), time for reflection and individual development planning.

7. Great logistics
It’s unfortunate, but I’ve seen great programs unravel due to inadequate meeting rooms, horrible food, ice cold or sauna-like room temperatures, technology failures, guest speakers not showing up, and all sorts of other little things that were just overlooked. My approach is to plan it like a wedding – think through every little thing that could go wrong, and have back-up plans for every kind of emergency.

Getting Beyond Survive To Thrive At Work

Guest post by Eileen Habelow:

According to Randstad’s 2009 World of Work survey, an alarming number of workers surveyed (83%) feel fortunate to have a job. Why do I say alarming?

While this sentiment might simply be an expression of gratitude for some, I believe it is just as likely that this response reflects a distinct undertone of survival mentality – just grateful, just thankful, just fortunate.

So, what is the impact of survival mentality? Survival mentality tends to put people into a defensive mode – a reactive and protective stance. When employees are in survival mode, they are constantly looking over their shoulders or in the proverbial rearview mirror for the other shoe to drop. The impact is lower productivity and less focus on the job.

Adding to the premise of a survival mentality is fear. The same survey also revealed that 52 percent fear for their economic well-being! This response alone provides a clear picture of the roller coaster of emotions that employees bring into the workplace. Couple fear with a steady diet of predominately negative news – job losses, dwindling consumer confidence, institutions in financial turmoil, recession – and the recipe is the same: lower productivity and less focus on the job at hand.

So, how do we help employees get from survive to thrive with the swirling of negativity all around? What can we do to encourage the language of an environment that thrives? How can we facilitate or create a workforce that has a forward-looking, windshield outlook instead of a rearview mirror viewpoint? The answer is communicate, communicate and communicate some more!

Tell them all that you can tell them. Paranoia is a killer! During a tough time at work, silence is NOT golden and no news is NOT good news! When employers leave ‘dead air’ in the workplace instead of open communication lines, paranoia will set in; and with paranoia comes the survival mentality I previously mentioned. There is always something that can be communicated to the workforce even if it is ‘no decisions have been made, but we are working on it’. While there will always be information and news that cannot be shared, make sure to share what you can. This communication helps to keep employees from wondering what just happened and what might happen next. Over communicate during a tough time and be as transparent as possible to keep your employees informed.

Pay close attention to your top performer. Often times, we assume that our best employees already know that they are the best and that they must know how important they are to the company. Wrong. How many times has your company been surprised by the exit of a key performer after it was too late to convince him or her to stay? Even the most confident performers can have doubtful moments during a tough economic time. Sales, results, growth and profit can all be down for even the best formers so it’s critical for your most important employees to know (for sure) that they are valued and why they are valued. This can be as simple as a personal conversation that discusses the employee’s value and seeks to discover what is most important to them at the moment. Bottom line: make sure the employees you value most know that they are valued.

Be clear about why some are gone and why some are still here. Honesty is the best policy. You may think that you are saving face for those who have been let go, but while you may soften the blow (very temporarily, by the way) of those who exit, you could be doing damage to the perceptions of those who are left. If every layoff brings a company line of ‘it was just a business necessity’, those who survive the layoff may NOT know why they are still around. You know what comes next…they are ‘just grateful’ to have a job. Consider instead communicating specifics around why decisions were made and what impact those decisions will have on those who remain. Of course you can customize the reasons for your situation, but the key is telling employees why they are still here and why they are valuable to the company. That alone can encourage employees to look forward for the next goal without feeling a sense of guilt or speculating as to why some are gone.

Avoid credibility killers. When talking with employees, you are representing the company as a leader. Avoid using phrases like ‘the company’ or ‘upper management’ – they are surefire credibility killers. Another quick credibility killer is ‘the boss and I really think you need to get your game together’. Every time you bring someone else into the room for a tough conversation (literally or figuratively), it may make the conversation easier for you, and you may even think it softens the blow, but consider how you instantly demote yourself when you relegate the decision to someone higher up. You may even inadvertently communicate that you are not the leader your position suggests you should be.

Focus on the goals and be clear about the role. Find a common destination or a shared goal that is guaranteed to get employees looking forward, through the windshield. Then get all employees moving in the same direction toward the goal by establishing clear roles and expectations for each employee. Again, this focus will get your employees looking forward and help each employee be clear about what they bring to the table.

Dr. Eileen Habelow is the Senior Vice President of Organizational Development at Randstad US. Eileen’s formal education has been focused on instructional design and educational psychology. Her professional experience has ranged from learning and development, sales and operations, and organizational effectiveness.

10 Ways to Get the Most from a 360 Degree Leadership Assessment

A 360 degree leadership assessment is one of the most effective ways to get feedback from your employees, peers, and managers against a set of pre-defined leadership competencies.

Having debriefed these for hundreds of managers, and taken a number of different 360s myself, I’ve discovered some best practices that have worked for me and others.

Here are 10 tips for getting the most value from a 360 degree leadership assessment:

1. Mentally prepare yourself.You have to go into these things with the right frame of mind. Don’t get all worked up dreading the results and hoping no one says anything bad about you. Instead, go into it with the objective of unlocking the secrets of what you need to do to become a better leader.

2. Don’t try to figure it out yourself.This is critical. Any responsible program or organization wouldn’t implement a 360 degree feedback process without offering assistance with making sense of the data. Even though I may know the instrument inside and out, I still will sit down with a coach, a colleague, or my manager to review it with me. When you’re too close to the data it’s way too easy to miss something. It’s human nature – we sometimes see what we want to see, are too hard on ourselves, or make assumptions that others would not make. If anything, having someone to talk through it with just provides emotional support.

3. Don’t play detective.Don’t waste time trying to figure out who made a comment or who rated you high or low. Unless it’s your manager’s rating, the reports are designed to protect the raters. Too managers make assumptions – and I’ve done it myself – and have been wrong. Just take each comment and rating for what it is – data – and focus your energy on what you’re going to do about it.

4. Holistically of systematically?There’s two ways to sort through all of the ratings and comments. Some managers take a more holistic approach – they take it all in, let it marinate, and come up with themes, patterns, connections, and trends. It’s like an art to them. Other managers prefer to take a more analytical, systematic approach. They focus on the statistically significant differences (and I can barely explain what that even means) and their own complex algorithms in order to make sense of it all. There is no right way – they both work. Use whatever method works for you, and don’t let someone force you to use a method that doesn’t fit your style.
Also – while comments are important – don’t get too hung up on a single comment, especially if the ratings and rest of the report don’t support the comment. It’s this tendency to overreact to a single comment that has caused some 360 providers not to use them. Personally, I find value in them, when taken for what they are – a single data point.

5. Pay attention to and celebrate your strengths!No, really, this is not just a cliché. I’ve had managers completely dismiss what I thought were some awesome strengths. That’s another reason why it’s better to have someone go through the results with you. Unfortunately, leaders don’t always get to hear about what they are doing right. These strengths can also play a part in figuring out how to overcome or work around weaknesses.

6. Look for blind spots and differences.Blind spots are areas where you’ve rated yourself higher than others have. This could either be due to lack of self-awareness, or a marketing problem. Either way, they may need to be addressed. Differences in ratings between rater groups may mean you’re showing up differently depending on the situation. Perhaps your manager sees you as a great listener and your employees don’t. In this example, it’s not an issue of not knowing how to listen – you’re just choosing who you listen too. It could be more of a respect issue.

7. Absolute vs. relative scores?If a “4” on a seven point scale is defined as “good”, and your lowest score is a 5.5, does that mean you don’t have any development needs? No, not unless every single one of your scores is a perfect 7. Anything less means there’s room for improvement. Some organizations or groups of employees tend to rate their manager’s higher. Focus on your own relative strengths and weaknesses, not what the rating scale says.

8. Find 2-3 things to improve.When all is said and done, the objective is to find 2-3 leadership behaviors:
A. Where you have opportunity to get better
B. That are important to improve, i.e., they will make a difference in your success
C. You are motivated to improve.
Why 2-3? Actually, there’s no science behind that number. If something is really going to be hard for you to improve, than one is enough. Other times, you can improve more than 2-3 things if they are related or easy to learn. But for simplicity, people seem to buy-in to 2-3.

9. Make a plan and take action.360s are great input to an individual development plan. However, don’t just keep the plan to yourself – share it with others. These two steps – having a written plan and sharing it with others – have proved through research to be the single biggest differentiators of those who have taken a 360 and improved and those that have not improved. Follow-up and thank those that have provided you feedback and let them know what you’re going to work on to improve your ability as a leader.

10. Follow-up.If possible, take another assessment 12-18 months later. That’s about how long it’s going to take for people to notice any improvement in behavior. You don’t have to take the entire assessment again – just the questions relevant to the areas you are trying to improve.

Asking for feedback takes a lot of courage, and it’s a big investment of a lot of people’s time. Follow these tips and you’ll get the most ROI for the effort.

The November 1st Leadership Development Carnival

Welcome to the day after Halloween, too much candy hangover, take the leftovers to work, full moon, November 1st edition of the Leadership Development Carnival.

There's no bottom of the treat bag dum-dums in this edition - nothing but full-size snicker bars.

So grab your candy bag and get ready to fill it up with some sweet advice, opinions, and ideas from some of your favorite leadership bloggers.

You can also follow many of these bloggers on Twitter by using this Twitter group, courtesy of Becky Robinson.

We lead off with Wally Bock presenting Let’s hear it for the role models posted at Momentor.

Next up is Mary Jo Asmus presenting Choosing posted at Mary Jo Asmus.

Anne Perschel presents Never Waste A Good Recession posted at Germane Insights.

Steve Roesler presents Team Leaders: Do You Do This? posted at All Things Workplace.

Becky Robinson presents Leading in Relationships posted at Mountain State University LeaderTalk.

Ideas for leaders to ponder when using metaphors to inspire followers: Jennifer V. Miller presents In the Family Way posted at Jennifer V. Miller.

Mark Stelzner presents What Costume Are You Wearing? posted at Inflexion Point.

Chris Young presents Maximize Possibility Blog: Are You a Victim of "Satisfactory" Performance? posted at Maximize Possibility Blog.

Bret L. Simmons presents Leadership Integrity: Touchy-Feely Crap? » Bret L. Simmons – Positive Organizational Behavior posted at Bret L. Simmons - Positive Organizational Behavior.

Can you teach someone to be a great leader? Or does something else have to happen? Wally Bock presents Can leadership be taught? posted at Three Star Leadership Blog.

Mike Myatt presents CEO Success...It's not Random posted at N2Growth Blog.

Everyday management lessons from a popular reality TV show: Sharlyn Lauby presents What I've Learned About Business From Mike Rowe posted at HR Bartender.

This post is a description of my most recent personal journey to do hard things: Michael Ray Hopkin presents Do hard things posted at Lead on Purpose.

Adi Gaskell presents How far are you spreading your talent web? posted at The Management Blog.

Alice Snell presents Home Grown Leaders Get Respect posted at Taleo Blog - Talent Management Solutions.

This is a list of the 7 books that were most influential in my develop as a leader: Tom Glover presents 7 Books That Made Me the Leader I Am Today posted at Reflection Leadership.

Some important takeaways from the recent "Talent Management Challenge" around Strengths focus and Self-assessments: Amy Wilson presents A Couple Things to Learn about Leadership posted at TalentedApps.

The most important actions that foster engagement aren't rocket science; they just require a little consideration and common sense. Miki Saxon presents Ducks In A Row: The 7 Word Genius Of Engagement : Leadership Turn - Articles, tips, and resources about leadership. posted at Leadership Turn.

Lisa Rosendahl presents On NOT Making a Decision posted at Lisa Rosendahl.

Building the bench is not reserved for good economic times. It is just as critical when times are tough and is a critical leadership responsibility. Tom Magness presents Building the Bench posted at Leader Business.

Chris Young presents Maximize Possibility Blog: Are You a Victim of "Satisfactory" Performance? posted at Maximize Possibility Blog.

Bill Matthies presents Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By posted at Business Wisdom: Words to Manage By.

Janna Rust presents Leadership & Management: What's the Difference? posted at Purposeful Leadership.

If you're looking to develop leadership talent in your organization, start by getting the support of your top executives. According to the preliminary results of i4cp's major new study on leadership competencies, conducted in partnership with the American Management Association, executive support is the number-one factor that contributes to proper leadership development. Erik Samdahl presents It Takes Good Leadership to Develop Good Leaders - i4cp posted at Productivity Blog.

As more and more followers yearn for their leaders to be real, this post explores what steps are needed to lead with authority. Eric Pennington presents So Many Masks, So Little Time posted at Epic Living - Leadership Development Career Management Training Executive Life Coaching Author.

Management must strive to transform their organizations into engaged and authentic communites during the next 10 years. David Zinger presents Henry Mintzberg on Creating a Community of Employee Engagement posted at David Zinger Associates.

Anna Farmery presents Who is at the centre of your world? posted at The Engaging Brand.

Wayne Turmel presents Why can't IT speak our language? posted at TPN :: The Cranky Middle Manager Show.

Silence truly is golden, it allows your mind to soar, explore and be creative; it also encourages you to become friends with yourself. Miki Saxon presents MAPping Company Success posted at MAPping Company Success.

Nick McCormick presents Ready to Take ?The Leap?? posted at Joe and Wanda on Management.

There are many theories on every aspect of leadership. The reason for this amount of theories is that leadership is complex and variant. Given the importance of effective leaders in any organization, the companies try to ask many questions for evaluating leadership characteristics of a candidate. Nissim Ziv presents Leadership Interview Questions and Answers: Examples of Skills for Leaders posted at Job Interview & Career Guide.

Dan's note: this one's a little off the theme of leadership, but it's a great list of writing resources: Barbara Williams presents The Ultimate Guide to Better Business Writing: 100 Tips, Tools, and Resources posted at Online Degree Programs.org.

Albie presents Your personality affects your global leadership style posted at iDevelopWorld.

Bill Bubenicek presents 10 Ways To Get A Seat On A Small Business Advisory Board posted at BoardMyBiz.com.

Here are a few tips to help you create powerful presence when you open any presentation: Angela DeFinis presents Create a Powerful Presence posted at DeFinis Communications.

Kara Wirt presents Good questioner = good person posted at Dr. G.

Linda Jones presents 101 Business Books Everyone Can Learn From posted at AccreditedOnlineColleges.org.

This post is about how managers can help survivors of layoffs and keep them productive and committed to the company: Aaron Windeler presents Helping survivors through layoffs: the importance of feeling in control posted at Scientific Management.

Trent Cotton presents 7 Ways to Increase Morale and Productivity posted at Helping Businesses Succeed.

Wise_Bread presents How to Get Laid Off by a Step by Step Guide posted at Wisebread.

Karthik Raj G presents What makes a good leader? posted at KARTHIK RAJ G.

I became more productive and focused throughout my day by waking up earlier. Learn the techniques I used to accomplish much more with my business. Ralph Jean-Paul presents How To Wake Up Early Without Hating It: My 3 A.M. Experiment posted at Potential 2 Success.

Leaders need to be sure they are taking care of themselves, so they can bring the most benefit to others. Erin Schreyer presents Be the Best You, To Be the Best Leader posted at Authentic Leadership.

When hiring new employees, jargon specific to the workplace should not be used or explained up front. Dallas Bragg presents Watch that Workplace Jargon! posted at Developing Daily.

Jane Perdue presents Losing Your Leadership Wings posted at Life, Love & Leadership.

Bob Lieberman presents The Identity Crisis posted at Cultivating Creativity – Developing Leaders for the Creative Economy.

Albie presents 10 Reasons why you should keep a journal posted at iDevelopWorld.

This blog posts discusses how to manage whining into a constructive activity: Elyse presents How to manage Whining with no Problem Solving posted at Anticlue.

That's it for this month's edition! Next month's Carnival will be December 6 , 2009, hosted by Mark Stelzner, at Inflexion Point. Use the Carnival Submission Form to submit your post.