BE AN EFFECTIVE LEADER WITH 360 DEGREE FEEDBACK - By Dr. Prakash Bhide

Dr. Prakash Bhide

1. Introduction

It is rare to get authentic feedback on individual leadership style, particularly at senior levels. It is seen that in Indian culture and ethos, neither subordinates nor peers or even bosses give negative feedback as they are afraid that it may upset the individual and they may spoil the interpersonal relationship. Subordinates have a dependency proneness and normally praise the BOSS or keep quiet on the negative aspects of leadership behaviors. Bosses also do not seek feedback as they feel that asking feedback is a sign of weakness. 360 degrees multi rater feedback is a powerful tool to give authentic and anonymous feedback to LEADERS.

2. 360 Degree Feedback

In 360 Degree feedback the individual leader is given feedback by people working closely with him/her – such as BOSS, PEERS and SUBORDINATES and sometimes significant customers. The 360 SURVEY has to be designed to have questions or statements to get focused feedback on specific aspects as per the survey objectives. Many times open-ended feedback on WHAT TO STOP DOING? WHAT TO CONTINUE DOING? WHAT TO START DOING? can provide rich insights for leaders. The survey is ONLINE and anonymous to get authentic feedback. Many companies initially use external consulting agencies to ensure and effectively manage the respondent’s perception that the feedback is really anonymous. Normally boss, 3 or 4 peers and 3 or 4 subordinates (total 8 to 9 respondents) are invited to give the feedback. It is a good practice to let the leader choose the respondents. This ensures that leader accepts the feedback more readily – both the positive and negative aspects.

The survey should be initiated after proper discussions with the leadership team and having a consensus. The CEO must also participate in the survey and get the feedback. This breaks down the resistance if any of the team members. It is reported that Kumar Mangalam Birla got his own 360 degree feedback from his subordinates before it was rolled out to his senior team members. In an organization, it is best to start with CEO and top management levels. This is then accepted more readily at lower levels. The survey and leader development is more effective if the leaders participate voluntarily rather than being forced into action. As they say, “YOU CAN TAKE A HORSE TO WATER BUT YOU CAN’T MAKE HIM DRINK.” Hence it is important for HR to convince and build consensus.

3. Leadership Development

The 360 degree feedback is used for development. It should not be used for performance appraisal. Companies using it for performance appraisal quickly find that it loses value as employees manage the feedback. “You scratch my back and I will scratch yours” starts killing the authenticity & hence the value.

As per my experience the leaders participating in 360⁰ survey go through a shock as they normally expect a much more positive and favourable response. All leaders believe that they are GREAT in their leadership style. The crucial point is the PERCEPTION of others, which is a REALITY for them. e.g. a leader may believe that he/she is a good listener, but others may experience him/her as a poor listener. The next stage is DENIAL that this is not correct feedback and respondents have not understood the questions in the survey. The next stage is JUSTIFICATION when the leader rationalizes that he/she needs to be so to be effective. e.g. “If I keep on listening to all these people, it will be a waste of my precious time. I am effective because I don’t waste time in useless discussions.”

A leader has to realize that “What got you here won’t get you there.” He has to change. The perception of his/her chosen respondents is their reality and to be more he effective he/she has to change.

Unless the leader reaches the stage of acceptance and then WILLINGNESS TO CHANGE, the results and effectiveness of 360⁰ survey are minimal. For leadership development, the survey then at best can give rich data for the organization for selection and promotions.

 4. JK Organization Experience

JK Organization (EZ) is a Rs 13,000 crore group with companies like JK Tyre, JK Paper, JK Laxmi Cement, Fenner (India) etc. From early 2008 up to 2012, we have conducted 360⁰ surveys starting with Owner Directors, Business Heads, VP’s and GM’s, a group of more than 160 senior leaders. The survey results are confidential and given to the individual leader and shared with his boss and Group President – HR. The feedback is used only for leadership development. Using Marshall Goldsmith methodology of stakeholders, feedforward suggestions and an external executive coach, each leader undertakes to improve on 2 High Impact Behaviors for leadership effectiveness. The executive coaching is for 9 months to 12 months period. We have seen remarkable improvements in leaders which have sustained over years, made them more effective leaders and achieved better business results.

More on Executive Coaching and Marshall Goldsmith methodology in the next blog.