INDIVIDUAL LEADERSHIP FEEDBACK AND COACHING
I work with self-reflective, motivated leaders (typically C-Level executives of public and private companies and senior partners of professional services firms) to collect and deliver quality performance feedback and specific recommendations for improvement. Unlike the survey-based 360s that are based on preset criteria, this customized and confidential approach involves the following steps:
- identification of key questions the individual would like answered
- in-depth private interviews with peers/direct reports/board members/ clients/ customers in the best position to offer insightful points-of-view on the individual
- interpretation and synthesis of the interview results
- development of a detailed written summary
- debriefing with the individual
- creation of a detailed 12 – 18 month action plan.
I deliberately place a great deal of emphasis on getting the “diagnosis” right and persuading the individual leader with facts, data, specificity, and clear direction. In my experience, if you get this part right, the individual know what to do next. Ongoing coaching usually involved meeting periodically (perhaps once a month) to review progress, discuss real-time challenges, and provide structure for what otherwise can feel like an intangible exercise. It can also be useful to re-interview the original input providers 6 – 12 months later to gauge progress.
CEO 360° REVIEW
A CEO 360 review is a formal process that involves many of the steps described under Individual Leadership Feedback and Coaching with two key differences: 1) the BOD is an active participant in setting up and debriefing the process and 2) the emphasis is more on performance feedback than ongoing coaching.
Most confident and high-performing CEOs are interested in regular, unbiased, structured feedback on their leadership performance (as opposed to their strategic and operations performance, which are generally tracked through various organization dashboards). In my view, every organization and CEO is wholly unique and therefore simply administering a generic 360 survey only gets you so far. While these can and do provide useful information, they more often than not miss critical topics related to CEO performance.
A typical CEO 360 Review engagement involves the following:
- The engagement is initiated by either the BOD or the CEO
- The CEO and BOD weigh in on the topics most relevant to CEOs leadership success
- Confidential, in-person, lengthy (at least one hour) interviews are conducted with the Directors, senior executives, and anyone else in a position to offer insightful and constructive input on the CEO
- A detailed summary report is developed, typically with the following sections: Most important Messages, Strengths Summary, Areas for Development, Illustrative Quotes, Recommendations, Next Steps
- The CEO receives the report and two days later an in-person debriefing is conducted.
- The CEO and I collaborate on developing an executive summary for the BOD – while I never censor or otherwise change the content of the original report, there is value in collaborating on how the material is presented to the BOD.
- BOD presentation
- Private debriefing between the CEO and the BOD – this is where the CEO presents his/her action plan coming out of the process.
LEADERSHIP TEAM HEALTH CHECK-UP
Through intensive individual interviews, I assess the following dimensions of senior leadership team functioning:
Alignment: How aligned is the executive team on strategy, priorities, and required tradeoffs? It is always instructive to simply ask senior executives to articulate the organization’s strategy.
Shared Purpose: Is there a clear purpose for the executive team? What do they collectively deliver to the organization? Does the whole add up to more than the sum of the parts?
Discipline: How consistent and disciplined is the team in executing?
Accountability: Do individuals project accountability, or do they blame each other or outside circumstances?
Mature Confidence: Can team members effectively challenge one another and the CEO?
Sense of Humor: Essential and priceless.
