360 degree feedback- A complete guide with free pdf questionnaire

What is 360-degree feedback? A complete guide of what, why, and how of 360 degree feedback with a free downloadable pdf questionnaire and a sample report. Plus 360 degree feedback best practices and guidelines.

What is 360-degree feedback?

Download the link for the 360-degree questionnaire pdf and the sample report at the end of this article. The 360-degree feedback is a talent management tool. As human beings, it is virtually impossible to see ourselves completely objectively.  The 360 degree feedback allows the leader to find the gaps between their own perception and how others team members perceive them.  The 360 degree feedback is usually administered to help mid to senior-level leaders increase their self-awareness and consequently support them to become better leaders. This tool allows leaders to see the gap between their own self-perception and how others view the leader.

Why the name 360-degree feedback?

In any work environment, usually, the feedback flows from top to bottom. Most employees get feedback from their direct managers about their performance and behaviors, and they in turn give feedback to their direct reports. This feedback is unidirectional or from a single rater or a single source.   The direct manager’s perception can be inaccurate or biased. In contrast, 360-degree feedback comes from all directions. The word 360-degree refers to “all-around” or all directions as there are 360 degrees in a circle.   The 360-degree feedback is solicited from people who work above, below, and across the employee for a particular employee.  These are usually boss(es) or direct manager(s) (above), direct reports or subordinates (below), and peers (across).  Sometimes, 360-degree feedback can also include vendors or customers.  It depends on the role of the person undergoing the 360 degree feedback process. The 360-degree feedback is also known as multi-rater feedback, or multi-source assessment, as multiple people are rating a single employee, and feedback or assessment comes from multiple sources.  The United States Army pioneered the 360-degree feedback process and started using it in the early 1940s.  However, since the 1990s, it has gained popularity and become a permanent talent management tool for most multinational companies today.

Importance of feedback – an example

Let me give you an example to elaborate on the importance of 360-degree feedback. Imagine that you are in the soft drinks business and are planning to launch a new cola.  How do you ensure the success of this new product?  How do you ensure the success of this or any new product or service?

The customer feedback process

Here is a typical process most companies would follow. They concoct the cola and then offer it to some sample consumers. They then ask for their feedback on the cola. If most of the consumers like cola, you probably have a winner. Usually, this does not happen. You may get some feedback like – the cola does not have enough flavor, too much sugar, not enough fizz, etc. Based on their feedback, the product is modified. We then offer the consumers the “improved” product and ask them to provide feedback again. Usually, after a few iterations of feedback and improvement, you get a reasonable level of certainty that the product is likely to succeed. On the contrary, there are many examples of products and services that management was really excited about but was launched without proper customer feedback. Unfortunately, the customers did not share the management’s enthusiasm, and hence the products failed miserably.  The “new” Coke and Crystal Pepsi are examples of such products in the soft drink industry.  However, the importance of customer feedback is obvious and important for any product or service in any industry. Without good quality feedback from consumers, there is little chance of improving any product or service.

Who are the consumers of your leadership?

Now here is a question. If you are a leader, who are the consumers of your leadership? The answer is obvious, isn’t it?  The people who are at the receiving end of our leadership are our consumers. These include direct reports, peers, and bosses. Sometimes it can also include customers and suppliers. As mentioned earlier, the term 360 refers to feedback from all directions. From those who are above the leader, below the leader, and across from the leader.  The term multi-rater feedback or multi-source feedback refers to feedback from multiple raters and multiple sources. The purpose of 360-degree feedback is to help improve performance by providing the leader with an awareness of his/her strengths and weaknesses.

Why 360-degree feedback or multi-rater feedback?

The higher a leader moves up the career ladder, the less likely she is to get honest feedback. When a leader moves up the career ladder, both the quality and quantity of the feedback are reduced. Leaders tend to get more positive reinforcement than critical feedback that may help them improve. This constant positive reinforcement often makes the leader think that everything they do at work is fine. In reality, that may not be true. The leaders only hear the positive aspects of their performance or behaviors.  They seldom get the “negative” or “constructive” feedback that is essential for improvement. Team members around the leader usually avoid giving any negative feedback to the leader. First, as human beings, we are uncomfortable giving feedback to anyone!   It is just a human tendency to avoid such an uncomfortable situation. Second, they may be afraid of the consequences if the leader may dislike their honest or critical feedback.  This is especially true if that person is your boss.  The perception (whether it is true or not) is that giving your manager honest feedback may upset them and can have career consequences.  Hence it creates a tough situation. While the leader needs candid feedback to get better, she hardly receives good quality feedback that will help her improve.

Using collective Intelligence and reducing biases

Turnow (1993) describes the rationale for feedback as follows 360-degree activities are usually based on two key assumptions:

1. Awareness of any gap between how we see ourselves and how others see us increases self-awareness
2. Increased self-awareness is key to improving performance as a leader.

Hence the 360-degree feedback becomes a foundation block for management and leadership development programs. With feedback from multiple raters who work closely with the leader, team members’ collective intelligence provides a more comprehensive and accurate picture of a leader’s behaviors and performance. Besides, multiple raters minimize the biases inherent to any human interaction. The higher the number of raters, the more likely the individual biases will cancel out. This results in a more complete and more accurate picture of the leader.

Why is it difficult for leaders to get honest feedback?

There are several reasons leaders don’t get honest feedback as they move up the career ladder.

• Leaders don’t ask for feedback!
• Team members feel uncomfortable giving feedback.
• Team members often don’t know how to give feedback.
• Fear of consequences–fear that leader may take revenge.
• The leader may get defensive when someone tries to give feedback.
• People have learned to tell you what you want to hear (not what you need to hear!)
• As leaders, we may really not listen nor act on any feedback, which stops any further feedback.

Get honest and constructive feedback.

That is where 360-degree feedback helps. It is anonymous feedback. What does it mean? It keeps the identity of people providing the rating or feedback hidden. The best way to get honest and useful feedback for leaders and senior executives is through 360-degree feedback. Similar to our cola example above, there is little chance of improvement for a leader without honest and constructive feedback. The feedback and improvement loop allows an employee or a leader to improve. Besides, 360-degree feedback is usually administered by an external agency not connected with the organization. This brings a neutral third party who is more objective. Feedback providers also trust an external agency more than an internal human resources team to protect their anonymity.

How does 360 degree feedback work? 

Download the 360-degree questionnaire pdf and the sample report at the end of this article.Administering 360-degree feedback. The following are the steps in administering the 360-degree feedback process.

Select the raters

For each leader or employee for whom we administer, we compile the list of people giving the feedback. First, it is the leader’s own feedback, aka Self. Other groups are the boss(es), subordinates, peers, etc. Usually, the people who frequently interact with the leader are chosen to observe the leader and hence provide feedback. For each group, like subordinates and peers, there are at least three or more raters, and we average their rating. This helps protect the anonymity of individual rater.

Conduct pre-briefing sessions

Conduct pre-briefing sessions for both leader and the stakeholders The pre-briefing sessions are crucial for the success of the 360 degree feedback process. In general,  people avoid giving honest feedback, even in anonymous settings. It is important to explain to the stakeholders the benefits of the process to them, the leader, and the team. It is also important to assure their anonymity so that they can give honest feedback. It is also important for the leader to understand that feedback sometimes is like bitter medicine. It is needed if the leader wants to get better.  An experienced coach conducting the debriefing sessions can really set the stage for the 360-degree feedback efforts’ success. If this step is skipped or not done properly, it may compromise the entire process’s effectiveness.

Distribute assessments

Based on the competency framework (which competencies make the leader successful in his/her role), the competencies to be rated are decided. For each competency, we include several questions. We decide on the rating scale for each question. Usually, the rating scale is from 1 to 5 or 1 to 10. For a sample 360 degree questionnaire pdf, please click the link at the end of the article. We distribute an online survey link of the assessment consisting of the survey questions via email to all the raters.

Close the survey

Once enough raters have submitted their ratings, the survey can be closed, and the process then goes to the next step.

Analyze data and generate reports

Once the survey is closed, the online system crunches a lot of numbers. We then produce a detailed 50 plus report is then which can is shared with the leader and the sponsor (the Human resources department of the manager)

Host debriefing session

The debriefing session shares the report with the leader and has two objectives. The first is to help the leader make sense of the data and convert it into actionable insights. The second is to make the leader aware and help him/her accept the feedback and develop an improvement plan. An external coach certified and skilled in using the 360-degree feedback tool is the best person to share the report with the leader. Why? There are several reasons.

• The external party not associated with the company brings in a neutral and unbiased perspective.
• A skilled facilitator helps create awareness in the leader’s behavior without causing resentment.

It makes the leader aware of her strengths and improvement areas in terms of the perception of all team members. Usually, the leader also prepares an individual development plan as part of the debriefing.
Read the article: Everything you ever wanted to know about executive coaching.

Hiring a leadership coach to debrief

A skilled coach helps the leader to interpret the results of the feedback.  The coach helps the leader convert data into actionable insights. The coach also helps develop an IDP or individual developmental plan. Some companies are under the incorrect impression that providing feedback will motivate the leader enough to change. However, research has shown that these plans hardly ever get converted into consistent actions by the leader. After the feedback session, hiring an executive coach drastically improves feedback, resulting in behavior change at work. Without proper support and follow-up, the value of 360-degree feedback can diminish, and it may lose credibility and cause distrust in employees to undergo this process.
Read: How to find the best executive coach for you or the leaders in your organization.

360 degree feedback advantages and disadvantages

What are the advantages and disadvantages of 360-degree feedback?

Advantages to the leader

• It increases the self-awareness of the leader.
• Help identify strengths and improvement areas.
• Starts an open dialogue around the leader’s behaviors and their impact
• It can act as a launchpad for the leader’s improvement and career growth.

Advantages to the team

• It gives a voice to all team members on how they see the leader’s behaviors.
• The leader’s openness to receiving feedback cascades down and improves team dialogue
• It improves team communication and engagement.

Disadvantages of the 360-degree feedback

• If not administered correctly, sometimes it may deliver biased feedback, either too positive or too negative.  Hence it is important to sensitize the leader and the raters of their roles and responsibilities.
• It is time-consuming and tedious. Hiring an external consultant who has expertise in the 360-degree process helps a lot. They can help improve both the quality and speed of the process.
• In a culture of high distrust, it may spoil relationships between the team and the leader.

360 degree feedback Guidelines and best practices

What are some guidelines and best practices to implement 360-degree feedback?

• Agreement, involvement, and support of the top management – they should themselves take part in it and encourage others also.
• Use it as a developmental tool and not for performance management.
• Select the relevant competencies and design questionnaires based on them.
• Ensure that the leaders understand the benefit and are not threatened by the process
• Keep the questions short, simple, understandable, and specific.
• Sensitize the stakeholder, assure anonymity, so they share honest feedback
• Ideally, get an external agency with expertise in this process which can help ensure all the above points.  We can help.  Find out more about our 360-degree tool that is used by everyone from startups to Fortune 500 companies.
• Conduct a debriefing session that generates awareness and acceptance in the leader
• Prepare a development plan – and Individual development plan or IDP
• Follow up with executive coaching sessions to help leaders form new habits and change behaviors successfully – read more about what executive coaching is and how it can help.

Which is the best 360-degree feedback tool?

For mid-management to C-suite levels, probably the best tool is the Global Leadership Assessment or GLA 360 tool.

What Is the Global Leadership Assessment GLA 360?

The Global Leadership Assessment (GLA360) is a 360-degree feedback tool based on extensive research and designed and tested by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith. He has been awarded and recognized worldwide and is considered the #1 Leadership Thinker and the Executive Coach to Fortune 500 CEOs. The research included the CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, global thought leaders and their inputs, and international business executives of multinationals on six continents. A statistician creates most assessments. In contrast, the GLA 360 is created based on inputs by the leaders and for the leaders. A real-life leader, in all likeliness, will know a lot more about leadership than an academician or a statistician. You are assessed on competencies that have made real leaders in multinationals successful. You are compared with actual leaders, which gives a more accurate assessment helpful in the real world. The GLA 360  measures the following 15 competencies that matter to real leaders on 6 continents. It shows leaders the areas they need to develop to succeed in a competitive business environment.

Comprehensive survey

• Easy to administer as an online survey including data collection monitoring – anywhere in the world
• 15 competencies in 5 clusters, scientifically validated
• 72 questions (5 points Likert scale) plus 3 open questions for verbatim feedback
• Norm group of 2,800 international leaders from a wide range of countries, ethnicities, ages, organizational levels, industries, and educational backgrounds
• Available in multiple languages (English, Chinese (Simplified), Polish, Dutch, German, and French)

Get the best 360-degree feedback tool for your team.

We offer GLA 360, a tool designed by the world’s number 1 leadership thinker Dr. Marshall Goldsmith.  It is based on solid research and compares your scores to a norm group of successful leaders worldwide. We can administer the 360-degree feedback for you or your team anywhere globally and in multiple languages English, Chinese (Simplified), Polish, Dutch, German and French.

Cost-Effective & All-Inclusive Solution

360-degree feedback is an effective tool for leadership development.  It is also complicated and requires the expertise of a certified professional to understand.  We offer a cost-effective and all-inclusive solution for your 360 degree needs.

Here are the inclusions

• Globally used and validated GLA 360 instrument designed by the world’s number 1 leadership thinker Dr. Marshall Goldsmith
• Unlimited number of respondents or raters for each leader
• Available worldwide in multiple languages
• Complimentary sensitization session for leaders via video call
• Complimentary sensitization session for raters (team members of the leader) via video call
• Individual and confidential behavioral Interviews with ALL team members of the leader
• Report generation – detailed report that is 50+ pages
• Quantitative/objective – 360 degree feedback report
• Qualitative/subjective – Compilation of the feedback from the interviews
• Debriefing session with the leader to Decide the leadership growth areas for the leader
• Confirm the growth areas with the leader’s manager and/or HR
• Help the leader prepare an IDP (individual development plan)
• Start the executive coaching for the leader and deliver guaranteed and measurable leadership growth (optional)

Schedule an exploratory 15-minute conversation to explore the GLA 360 tool – We deliver it virtually across the globe. Click the button below to schedule a conversation. SCHEDULE NOW!

360-degree questionnaire pdf

What are some sample 360 feedback questions?The GLA 360  instrument we use measures the 15 competencies that matter to real leaders on 6 continents. It shows leaders the areas they need to develop to succeed in a competitive business environment. We can group the feedback providers or raters under the following groups.

1. Boss (or bosses)
2. Peers
3. Subordinates
4. Others
5. Vendors (only if required)
6. Customers ( (only if required))

Here is a sample question under self-awareness competency “Is aware of how his/her actions and decisions affect others.” The raters give a score of 1 (being lowest) to 5 being highest. So, in this case, if the rater thinks that the leader is quite aware of his actions and decision on others, she may rate the leader a 4 or a 5. On the other hand, if the leader is clueless about how his behavior or actions affect others, he may rater the leader a 1 or a 2.

Download a sample 360-degree questionnaire pdf and the sample report by entering your details below

Next steps post the 360 degree feedback.

What is the next step after the debriefing session? Debriefing session creates awareness of the leader’s strengths and improvement areas.  The leader will also prepare an IDP.  Is that enough for behavior change and improvement?  Unfortunately, the answer is no.  Not because the leaders are not committed or lazy.  But because leaders get busy.  They handle relentless demands from multiple stakeholders.  Urgencies and emergencies are a norm and not an exception.  In such an environment, the individual development of the leaders takes a back seat, and things go back to their default mode. Leadership development has similarities to fitness goals.  Can you lose weight and get fit on your own?  Of course, you can.  But as we all know from personal experience, it is not so easy. Fitness goals often top the new year’s resolution lists.  Gyms are crowded in the first week of the new year.  By Valentine’s day – crowds at the gym are back to normal. Instead, if you hired a personal trainer to help you achieve your fitness goals – would that improve your chances of success?  Research shows that the chances go up 1100% Similarly, you can achieve your leadership development goals on your own.  But we know from experience that it is not easy.  Hiring an executive coach increases your chances exponentially. 

360 degree feedback for leadership development and Executive Coaching for your leaders

We offer Marshall Goldsmith executive coaching worldwide.  It is the best coaching program because it is the same executive coaching process used by Marshall Goldsmith to coach CEOs of Fortune 500 companies worldwide. We guarantee measurable leadership growth, or you don’t pay at all. We are also offering Global Leadership Assessment GLA 360 and executives across the globe. We can administer the GLA 360 for any country in the world online available in multiple languages ( English, Chinese (Simplified), Polish, Dutch, German, and French).
Read: Which is the best leadership development program?

We offer our New Age Leadership – NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching.

That delivers guaranteed and measurable leadership growth.  It is based on a stakeholder-centered coaching process with a 95% effectiveness rate (in a study or 11000 leaders on 4 continents).

It is used by companies ranging from startups to 150 of the Fortune 500 companies to develop their leaders.

Here are some of the salient benefits of NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching

Time and resource-efficient: The leader does not have to leave work to attend training programs.  We go to the leader and her team.  And it only takes 1.5 hours per month. The rest of the time, the leader is working to implement with her team.

Separate and customized improvement areas for each leader: Every leader is different.  One size fits all approach doesn’t work.  Individual development areas for each leader aligned to the business strategy.

Involves entire team: Unlike most leadership programs, NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching involves the leader’s entire team, and it has a cascading effect – increasing the team effectiveness and improving organizational culture.

The leader becomes the coach: for continuous improvement for leaders themselves and their teams. It is like kaizen for your leadership development.

Cost-Effective: Our entire one-year coaching engagement often costs less than sending the leader to a short-duration leadership program at any reputed B school.

Guaranteed and measurable leadership growth: as assessed – not by us – but anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members.

Pay us only after we deliver results! : We work with many of our clients on a pay for results basis.  What does it mean?  If the leaders don’t improve, you simply don’t have to pay us.

Schedule an exploratory 15-minute conversation with our leadership adviser today

Click the button below.SCHEDULE NOW!

Summary and Conclusion

• 360-degree feedback is one of the best tools available for the development of managers and leaders.
• It increases the self-awareness of the leader and hence leads to improved leadership behaviors.
• Hiring an external agency is the best way to implement 360-degree feedback.
• Feedback report sharing and preparing developmental plans are essential.
• Using a leadership coach’s services can help leaders convert the IDPs into action plans into job behavior change and improvement.
• Download our FREE 360-degree questionnaire and sample report.
• Or connect with us to get GLA 360 degree assessments and multiple value additions for one low price for your leadership team, delivered anywhere globally, in multiple languages English, Chinese (Simplified), Polish, Dutch, German and French.

References: Human Resource 360 Degree Feedback by Mohammad Rouhi Eisalou Harvard Business Review

How to get promoted and avoid mid-career crisis

Most leaders suffer from a mid-career crisis. This is when they feel stuck in their careers and career growth stalls. How to get promoted and avoid a mid-career crisis? Read how you can use this one tool to supercharge your performance and career growth.

Rapid growth at the start of the career

If you are like most professionals, here is what happens. When we start our careers, there is a period of rapid learning and performance improvement.

Over a period of a few years, we become good at our profession – whether we are a doctor, an engineer, a teacher, a musician, a scientist, or a leader. The sad part for most of us is that we stop getting any better. We hit a plateau, and more often than not, it acts as the ceiling for our performance level, often for the rest of our lives!

Hitting the plateau and the mid-career crisis

How do we get better in our profession, even when we are reasonably good at what we do? How do we become better leaders? How do we get past the plateau? How do we get great at something? How do we take our performance to the next level? How to get promoted and avoid the mid-career crisis?

These are the questions Dr. Atul Gawande asked himself. Dr. Atul Gawande is an American surgeon and an author – has written four New York Times bestsellers and is a public health leader – has won several awards for his research to improve healthcare. He did some research on how to improve his performance and finally found the answers. In his TED talk, he describes how he got past his plateau as a surgeon. Watch Dr. Atul Gawande’s Ted talk here – Want to get great at something? Get a coach

The traditional view of professional development – How to get promoted?

The traditional view in most professions–leaders included–is that the individual is responsible and capable of managing their own career and performance improvement. School, college, on-job training, etc., help the professional learn. Then she practices these skills at work and gets better. Most professionals use this approach to become successful in their careers.

Dr. Atul Gawande also used the traditional approach to become a good surgeon. For the first five years of his career, he had significant learning and improvement as a surgeon. His complication rates dropped steadily until they leveled off around five years into his career. Although he was a successful surgeon, he had hit a plateau.

A coaching approach to professional development – How to get promoted after the mid-career crisis?

The opposite view comes from the field of sports. In sports, no matter how good you are, the expectation is that you can get better. You are never done.  And you don’t do it on your own. Everybody has a coach. The average player has a coach, the good player has a coach, and the greatest in the world also has a coach.

Would the sports coach analogy work in other professions? Can it help avoid mid-career crisis and help how to get promoted?  Dr. Atul Gawande wanted to see if it would work for his own profession as a surgeon. He hired his professor Dr. Olsteen, who had retired at that time, to observe and critique him during the surgery in the operation theater. Initially, this idea sounded absurd to him.

Coaching creates awareness and growth. 

It was a painful process, and sometimes it seemed like things were getting worse; he didn’t want to work on doing things differently; he didn’t even like being observed. Although unpleasant, this was a different level of awareness.

He recalls the first surgery that he performed with his coach Dr. Olsteen observing him. Atul’s perception was that the surgery went without a hitch. It was quite flawless. Dr. Olsteen had a different idea. He had a page full of notes and observations to share–how the spotlight was off the wound, and the surgery was performed with reflected light, how his elbows were raised, which is not a good position for a surgeon, and on and on.

Achieving performance improvement after the plateau, avoid mid-career crisis, and get promoted faster

After two months of continuous feedback from the coach, he started improving again. This was the first time he had seen improvements since five years into his career.  His stalled career growth started again, and he avoided the proverbial mid-life career crisis. A year after the coaching ended, he got even better as the surgeries’ complication rates dropped even further.

Dr. Gawande found this fundamentally profound. Great coaches act as external eyes and ears and provide a more accurate picture of your reality. They break down your actions into fundamentals, help improve each area, and then build it back up for improved performance.

Using coaching for leadership development, avoid mid-career crisis, and get promoted faster.

Leadership development is similar.  Leaders hit a plateau and often suffer from the mid-career crisis. How to avoid it, hit career growth, and how to get promoted? The answer lies in coaching!  One-on-one coaching with an experienced leadership coach has proven to be the best and most effective leadership development method.  A coach helps the leader to become more self-aware. Understand their strengths and improvement areas. The coach helps the leader to devise a strategy to utilize strengths and overcome derailing behaviors. The coach also provides support and accountability while the leader tries new behaviors and keeps working until these new behaviors become habits.  How to get promoted and avoid a mid-career crisis?  Improve your performance through coaching!

Get the best leadership coaching to get promoted faster.

We offer our New Age Leadership – NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching.

That delivers guaranteed and measurable leadership growth.  It is based on a stakeholder centered coaching process with a 95% effectiveness rate (in a study or 11000 leaders on 4 continents).  It is used by companies ranging from startups to 150 of the Fortune 500 companies to develop their leaders.

Here are some of the salient benefits of NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching

Time and resource-efficient: The leader does not have to leave work to attend training programs.  We go to the leader and her team.  And it only takes 1.5 hours per month. The rest of the time, the leader is working to implement with her team.

Separate and customized improvement areas for each leader: Every leader is different.  One size fits all approach doesn’t work.  Individual development areas for each leader aligned to the business strategy.

Involves entire team: Unlike most leadership programs, NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching involves the leader’s entire team, and it has a cascading effect – increasing the team effectiveness and improving organizational culture.

The leader becomes the coach: for continuous improvement for leaders themselves and their teams. It is like kaizen for your leadership development.

Cost-Effective: Our entire one-year coaching engagement often costs less than sending the leader to a short duration leadership program at any reputed B school.

Guaranteed and measurable leadership growth: as assessed – not by us – but anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members.

Pay us only after we deliver results!: We work with many of our clients on a pay for results basis.  What does it mean?  If the leaders don’t improve, you don’t have to pay us.

Schedule an exploratory 15-minute conversation with our leadership adviser today

Click the button below.

SCHEDULE NOW!

Leadership feedback has a problem!

Leadership feedback has a problem.  Daniel Goleman terms this problem as the CEO disease! Is feedback in leadership important?  Do leaders get good feedback for their leadership growth?

No leader would argue against getting feedback from customers regarding their products or service.  Leaders know that it is the only way to improve their offerings, keep up with the competition, and have loyal customers.  However, with soliciting feedback for their own behaviors, leaders are not enthusiastic.

Feedback in leadership is not up to the mark.

Only arrogant leaders would avoid soliciting feedback.   Wrong!  I can understand how it would be easy to think that way.  The fact remains that even the most humble and well-liked leaders fall prey to this bad habit. Not intentionally.

Not because they don’t want to hear the feedback.  Not because they don’t care about employee feedback.  Because of their assumption that as the team is open, honest, and functional, there is no need to ask for formal feedback on their performance. 

They assume that as the team is open, they will share their feedback with the leader without soliciting it formally or informally.  Is that a correct assumption?  What do you think?

Do leaders get enough feedback for leadership improvement?

What happens to the quality and the quantity of feedback as you move up the career ladder?  When I ask senior leaders, they say that they often get feedback from their team. 

When I probe further, it is easy to discover that what they are talking about is feedback about business issues – and not about the leader’s behaviors.

If they do get some feedback on their behavior – let’s say the leader doesn’t listen to other’s ideas – it is usually indirect, vague, generalized, and watered down. 

They avoid spelling out the ineffective behavior clearly and specifically.

Why is leadership feedback difficult?

Why?  Most people are uncomfortable giving feedback to others to their faces. If the leader is powerful or perceived as arrogant, people are afraid of the repercussions of critical feedback.  Even when the leader is well-liked and admired, team members, avoid criticism to hurt the leader’s feelings.  They also think overall, the leader is doing a good job, so it is OK to hide feedback on some negative aspects.  Consequently, top leaders only hear positive feedback.  This eventually gets into their head, and they believe that they are the best leaders!

Read: Lessons for leaders: Henry Ford FAILURE story & bad leadership.

The CEO disease!

Daniel Goleman calls this problem of leadership feedback – the CEO disease.  It is a paradox.  The higher a leader’s position, the more is the importance of candid feedback.  The higher the leader’s position, the less likely she will get the honest feedback needed for the leader’s improvement.  Leaders have more trouble getting feedback than an average employee.

From a fire hose to a trickle!

A study by the Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence confirms this.  They studied one thousand employees in organizations.  They classified the employees into three groups: first-level managers, mid-level managers, and senior managers.  The senior managers consistently rated their own performance a lot higher than rated by their team members.  This gap was lowest with the first-level managers, went up with the second level managers, and was the highest senior managers.  As the employee moved up the career ladder, their self-awareness reduced, and their self-rating increased!

Any guesses why leadership feedback is reduced?  It is because of the reduction in the quantity and quality of constructive feedback as they moved up the career ladder!  The feedback at the level of a fire hose at lower levels turns into a trickle as the leader moves to the corporate ladder’s top rungs.

How do you overcome the CEO disease and get candid leadership feedback?

As people are uncomfortable sharing candid feedback with anyone, especially a top leader, the best way is to conduct a 360-degree assessment, aka multi-rater assessment.  First, the feedback is anonymous.  This allows the leader’s team members to open up.  These team members include subordinates, boss or bosses, peers, and sometimes vendors or customers.  Second, an external agency conducts it.  This helps overcome the pre-conceived notions or biases that may exist internally.  Finally, 360-degree feedback generates a lot of data.  An experienced coach can help the leader generate actionable insights from the mountain of data.

Read: What Got You Here Won’t Get You There-Marshall Goldsmith-Book summary.

Get the best leadership feedback with GLA 360 assessment.

The Global Leadership Assessment (GLA360) is a 360 leadership assessment rooted in groundbreaking research conducted by Marshall Goldsmith (#1 Leadership Thinker and Executive Coach), involving CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, global thought leaders, and international business executives of organizations on 6 continents.

Whereas a coach or statistician creates most assessments, the GLA360 is the first and only assessment in the market created by multinationals for multinationals.

The GLA360 articulates and measures the top 15 most pressing competencies for today’s global leader.  It shows leaders the areas they need to develop to succeed in a competitive business environment.  This is the best leadership feedback that any leader can get to improve her leadership.

Schedule an exploratory 15-minute conversation with our leadership adviser today

Click the button below.

SCHEDULE NOW!

Reference

Ego vs. EQ by Jen Shirkani

Buy it at Amazon here

Executive and Leadership Coaching in India

Executive and leadership coaching in India. How does executive coaching help the leaders in India? The difference between executive coaching in India and the USA? How to hire the best executive coaching services in India?

This article is about executive and leadership coaching in India

If you want to know about executive coaching read the article – Everything you wanted to know about executive coaching

If you want to know how to choose an executive coach, read the article – How to choose the best executive coach for you or for the leaders in your organization

Liberalization and brief economic history of India

India had pursued a more socialistic approach since its independence in 1947 all the way into the early 1990s. The business environment was steady, and changes were slow. Exposure to the outside world was limited. Businesses operated in a relatively protected environment.

There was little competition, usually from a few local players. As a result, business practices and technological advances in India lagged the United States and Europe.  Since the independence in 1947 up to the early 1990s,  this lag was almost two decades and sometimes even more.

Then in 1991, Prime Minister Narasimha Rao took a path of economic liberalization. The purpose of liberalization was to make the economy competitive, more market-driven and more service-oriented. The country encouraged privatization. It allowed foreign investments.

Since then, India has never looked back. Multinational companies have not only arrived in India in a big way but now consider India as one of their key markets. Indian companies, especially in the IT and pharma industry – like Infosys or Sun Pharma, grew and have become multinational companies operating all over the world. Indian manufacturing and automotive giant Tata Group acquired giant companies in the UK – Corus and Jaguar Land Rover. And these are just a few of the many examples of the progress of homegrown Indian companies.

The benefits and costs of liberalization and globalization

Today, Indian companies compete with multinational companies both locally and globally. The gap in technology and business practices between western companies and Indian companies has now reduced to a decade or less. The open business environment has both benefitted India and brought the following challenges faced by companies worldwide.

• Global competition
• The fast pace of change is getting faster
• Leaner and flatter organizations
• Shortened business cycles
• Constantly increasing and changing customer demands
• Competition for good talent

All these factors have put more and more demands on company executives and senior leaders to deliver results in a dynamic and complex environment. The demands on executives are relentless and from all stakeholders – customers, employees, and investors.

Executive and leadership coaching in India

Executive coaching has arrived in India. Slowly, steadily and surely, to help senior executives with these challenges mentioned above. We can attribute its popularity to its effectiveness.  Executive coaching is probably the most effective developmental method. It works even when most of the other developmental methods like training programs, executive education, self-learning through books and courses, etc. cannot achieve a sustained change in the behavior or performance.

Although executive coaching in India is in its nascent stages, it is growing at a rapid rate. Initially, as it was in the Western world also,  people considered executive coaching to remedial – meant for someone who had to be “fixed”. Seniors executives were unwilling to hire a coach.  Even if they hired a coach, they would not admit it openly. The perception was that coaching was for weak leaders. Strong and capable leaders would not need any external help!

In the United States or the United Kingdom, leaders consider executive coaching a badge of honor.  However, there is still a stigma attached to it in India. Although more and more executives are hiring the services of an executive coach in India, there are very few executives who openly admit to having a coach. But this perception is transforming.

How does executive and leadership coaching in India help the leaders?

CEOs and C-suite executives often are lonely at the top. Despite the tremendous pressure to deliver results, they cannot openly discuss problems and issues with others, for the fear of being perceived as weak or not in control of the company. An executive coach provides a safe space to discuss issues, problems, fears, and limitations in an environment of total confidentiality.

In addition, as the company grows, there are different demands put on the executive that require different competencies. To quote Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s bestseller book – What got you here won’t get you there – executives need a different skillset and mindset as they move up the corporate ladder and as the company grows in size. The skills and competencies that have brought the executive and the company to a certain level will not be sufficient as the company grows or as the executive moves up the career ladder. An executive coach helps the leader develop new perspectives and skills to meet additional demands that come with a change in responsibilities.

Providing candid feedback to the leader

As a leader moves up the corporate ladder, the less likely she is to get candid and useful feedback that can help her get better. People around a powerful leader only give positive feedback. Negative or constructive feedback is often rare and watered down.

One of the most important tasks of executive coaching in India is to help leaders get candid feedback from all team members so they have an objective view of their own performance, their own strengths, and their own improvement areas. A skilled executive coach helps the leader create an environment of openness that allows people to share feedback (especially critical feedback) with the leader and others without the fear of being reprimanded. This culture of openness and sharing feedback allows the leader and the teams to change, grow, and innovate.

Read my article on Everything you ever wanted to know about executive coaching

In the article, I have answered the following questions

What is executive coaching?

Why do companies hire executive coaches?

What is the difference between executive coaching & leadership coaching?

Who is the best executive coach?

Cultural differences in executive coaching in India vs. the United States (and the Western world)

The US and UK have more informal and open interactions within the company employees irrespective of designations. A junior employee can call the CEO by his first name. Sharing feedback is also more common as compared with India.

In India, things are much more hierarchical. Most employees will address their boss as “sir,” or “madam,” although it is changing with the arrival of the multinational environment and culture. It is in the culture to respect people who are elder or in senior positions. And that often means agreeing with them (yes sir, you are right sir, etc.). It also means sharing no critical feedback with them.

Feedback is often a one-way street – going down from the boss to the subordinates and not the other way around. Because of the lack of candid feedback, executives often think everything they are doing is fine. They have difficulty in changing and improving. In a fast-changing world, eventually, it creates problems. A skilled coach can help address these cultural differences with executive coaching in India.

How to hire the best executive and leadership coaching services in India?

Executive coaching is the most effective development tool for leaders–bar none. Three main reasons for the effectiveness are customization to the leader’s specific needs, confidentiality, and support. However, to get these benefits from executive coaching in India, or anywhere else, it is important to select the right coach, the right coaching company, and the right coaching method.

Today, there are hundreds (if not thousands) of coaching companies that provide coaching services in India.

As executive coaching in India is unregulated, there are few set standards and processes if any. Although there are organizations that profess to qualify and certify coaches, few people accept or recognize their authority. Many coach training companies will certify anyone as a coach. Anyone who will pay the fees and attend a weekend workshop on coaching! The coaches themselves also come from varied backgrounds–Human resources, psychology, counseling, and many other disciplines. There are also hundreds of coaching methodologies and models offered as the “right” coaching solution!

With so many variables and uncertainties,– how does one choose the best coaching company or the best coach in India? Read my article on How to assess and select the right executive coach for you or the leaders in your organization in India How to choose the best executive coach for you or for the leaders in your organization.

In the article, I outline the criteria and questions you should ask a prospective executive coach in India, to choose the best executive coach for you (if you are the leader) or for the leaders in your organization (if you are in Human Resources or senior management).

The fundamental problem with executive education, leadership development, and executive coaching in India and elsewhere

There is a fundamental problem with most, if not all, leadership development tools like – training, executive education, and executive coaching in India. What is the fundamental problem that reduces the effectiveness of any leadership developmental initiative?

Well, it is ignoring the basic paradigm that knowing is not the same as doing! It is true for all areas of our lives. Although, we know a lot about many things we consistently do very little of what we know. Let me give you an example I use with my participants in any leadership development program. I ask them I am trying to lose a little weight, a few extra pounds, and inches around my waist. Do they have any suggestions on how can I achieve my goal of losing weight?

And I get all kinds of answers – go for a walk, run five miles, join a gym, reduce my intake of calories and fat, eat more fruits and vegetables, and on and on. These are useful suggestions. Then, I ask them to raise their hands if they routinely implement these suggestions in their own lives! Very few people raise their hands in the answer to that question! Most of us know a lot about what do we need to do to lose weight and get fit! Knowing is not the problem! Doing it consistently is!

Knowing is not the same as doing neither in fitness nor in leadership. Leadership knowing is not the same as leadership does.

Read my article here on the Fundamental problem with executive education and leadership development programs

For any leadership development initiative including leadership coaching in India, to be successful, it has to overcome this challenge of converting knowledge into action.

We should approach leadership development like a fitness regime

We should approach leadership development needs like a fitness regime. If we want to get fit, a one week routine at the gym once or twice a year, will not work! We need to work out regularly, probably daily. We should base the exercise routine on our individual needs and not a standard curriculum of one size fits all. Sometimes we will miss going to the gym. We should prepare for it.

Failing, dusting ourselves off, and getting “back on the wagon” should be part of the design of the fitness routine and shouldn’t come as a surprise. Why? Because this is how human beings learn and form habits. Losing weight and keeping it off is a process and not an event. It takes time, effort and commitment. Hiring a personal trainer for our fitness regime increases our chances of losing weight and getting fit by a wide margin. How wide a margin? Research studies have shown that hiring a personal trainer increases your success rate by a whopping 1100%!

Get a “personal trainer” for your leadership development

Our leadership coaching program using Marshall Goldsmith’s stakeholder centered coaching process is like hiring a personal trainer for your fitness regime! Here, the coach is the “personal trainer” for our leadership growth! He will help you shed leadership fat and build some leadership muscles – help us reduce or eliminate leadership bottlenecks and build on our leadership strengths. And best of all – it guarantees results. If there are no improvements in leadership behavior, there is simply no charge. Period!

We offer Marshall Goldsmith coaching in India, the middle east, and southeast Asia.  It is the best coaching program in India because it is exactly the same executive coaching process used by Marshall Goldsmith to coach CEOs of Fortune 500 companies worldwide. In addition, we guarantee measurable leadership growth or you don’t pay at all.

Here are some features of the Marshall Goldsmith executive coaching program in India

• Guaranteed, measurable leadership growth as assessed–not by us–but by the leader’s own stakeholders
• Unlike leadership training or executive education programs, it will involve the entire team while doing their day to day work
• The leader becomes the coach, and it has a cascading effect on the team increasing the team effectiveness and improving organizational culture
• It is a system for continuous improvement for leaders themselves and their teams – although it is leadership coaching for the individual leader; we realize the benefit of team coaching through the involvement of the entire team
• In a study of 11,000 leaders on 4 continents–95% of the leaders using this leadership coaching process improved!
• This is the exact same executive coaching process that has been used by 150 of the Fortune 500 companies to grow their leaders through CEO coaching and leadership coaching at C-suite levels
• Hence we are so confident of the process we work on a no growth no pay basis (don’t try that with other vendors, lol!)

Schedule an exploratory 15-minute conversation with our leadership adviser today

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How to find the best executive coach for you or the leaders in your organization

This article is to find the best executive coach, aka leadership coach, or find the best executive coaching services if

1.  You are a leader considering hiring an executive coach.

2.  You are in HR and/or top management looking to hire an executive coach for your organization’s leaders.

3. You have already implemented executive coaching in your organization, but it did not deliver the desired behavior change and business impact.

I have outlined the selection criteria and questions to ask a prospective executive coach.

If you would like to know more about executive coaching or executive coaching services –

Read: Everything you wanted to know about executive coaching

Finding the right executive coach is critical

A majority of large organizations now routinely use executive coaching for their leadership development plan. Choosing the best executive coach is a critical step in the executive’s success.  The process of selecting an executive coach is usually initiated by the Human Resources (HR) department with top management’s consent.  It is quite similar to an interview process to hire a candidate.  HR will line up a few prospective leadership coaches as candidates and set up the interviews with the leader to be coached.

Sometimes, executives jump into selecting a coach based on referrals, first impressions, or HR recommendations. As a consumer of coaching, it is always a good idea for the leader to know the entire process and know the criteria to select the right executive coach. Rushing this step or not knowing what to look for in a coach can result in a waste of time, money, and reputation for both the leader and the sponsors (HR or top management)

During the first meeting with prospective coaches, it is the leader’s job to assess the leadership coach’s ability to select the best execute leadership coach’s ability to coach to improve her leadership skills.

Here are some criteria to find the best executive coach

Is the coach supportive?

Executives are paid and rewarded for being decisive, precise, and confident.  By the nature of the leadership position, it is difficult for executives to admit flaws or ask for help.  However, for leadership growth to occur, these are precisely the things an executive needs to do!  A coach who listens, understands, is non-judgmental, and supports will provide a safe environment for the leader to open up and address his fears, uncertainties, concerns, and improvement areas. After speaking with the executive coach, the leader should feel that the coach “gets him.”  The leader should think that it is OK to open up with the coach, discuss issues, and take actions to improve.

Can the coach challenge you?

While it is good for the coach to make the leader comfortable, it is also essential that the coach challenges the leader to examine unhelpful beliefs and behaviors in a polite but firm manner.  A coach who is a cheerleader will have little chance of nudging the leader out of her habitual behaviors and comfort zone.  Here is a leadership quote by Dr. Marshall Goldsmith.

There cannot be any growth in the comfort zone, and there is little or no comfort in the growth zone!

The executive coach must be able to probe and uncover unproductive or unhelpful assumptions and confront the leader in a calm, polite, and non-judgmental way.  A good executive coach is an expert in “tough love” and striking the right balance between supporting and challenging the executive.

Can the coach collect and deliver honest feedback about you from your team members?

Executives hold a lot of power due to their senior position in the organization.  Generally, team members are reluctant to provide any critical feedback to a senior leader.  The team members may fear the consequences of making the leader unhappy or maybe uncomfortable, giving crucial feedback to the leader’s face.  As a result, executives end up getting anywhere from plain flattery to only positive feedback.

A skilled coach should collect honest feedback from the team members while ensuring their anonymity and respecting their boundaries. This step is essential at the beginning of the coaching engagement.  The executive coach has to sensitize the team members of the benefit of candid feedback for the leader, team, and the organization.  When the leader improves in certain areas, it also benefits the team members.  When the team members see the benefits and are aware that their identity for individual feedback will not be revealed, they get comfortable and provide accurate and honest feedback.

Without clear and candid feedback, there will be an inaccurate diagnosis of the leader’s strengths or improvement areas. Without proper diagnosis, any cure that the executive coach may offer may be ineffective or even harmful.

The coach will collect this feedback through multi-rater (or 360-degree assessments) and behavioral interviews with each team member.

Once the feedback is collected, the coach has to deliver the sometimes unpleasant feedback to the leader in a non-judgmental way that does not elicit a defensive response from the leader.  The coach also makes the leader understand the benefits of accepting feedback and improving.

Can the coach provide a structured and tried and tested process for the leader’s development?

Changing the behavior of an adult is one of the most challenging tasks.  Changing the behavior of a successful leader usually is an even more challenging task.  A good coach should have a tried and tested, a well-structured process for the coaching engagement that he should be able to share with you.  It is essential to find the best executive coach.  Too many coaches and coaching engagements are unstructured.  Structure helps, especially with the busy schedule and work pressures that executives face.

The coach should provide a clear road map for the entire coaching engagement and the timelines. Some of the common steps involved in a coaching engagement are

• signing a coaching contract
• assessments to get feedback and understand the leader’s inherent style
• reviewing the feedback
• planning regular coaching meetings
• involving team members to practice new behaviors
• assessing the results of the efforts
• helping the leader form habits that will last even after the end of the coaching engagement.

Can the coach maintain confidentiality?

During a coaching engagement, the coach comes across a lot of information that is of a sensitive and confidential nature. The coach routinely interacts with many team members to collect feedback. The coach may also be working with other leaders in the organization. Although it seems quite obvious, to keep the trust of the leader and the team members, the coach must maintain boundaries and save the information confidential. In case the coach wants to share any information with others, he should first take permission from the executive.

Can the coach help you with altering the perception of team members about your leadership behaviors?

Leaders develop a leadership style that comes from their personality, past experiences, and recent successes: each leader and her style have some inherent strengths and shortcomings. When team members work with the leader for a more extended period, they form an impression about their behaviors and style.

Just as it is difficult for the leader to change her leadership style, it is equally painful for the team members to change their perceptions about the leader that has been formed over the years, even when the leader works with the executive coach to change her behaviors, the team members’ impressions persistent and sometimes even stubborn.

A good coach helps the leader to change her behavior and simultaneously improves the stakeholder’s “see” that change. Over some time, this effort results in changing both the executive’s ineffective practices and the team members’ persistent impressions about the leader’s behaviors and style.

Is the coach a role model of the behaviors he expects the leader to exhibit?

The best way to teach anyone is to teach by your example. As they say – actions speak louder than words. Does the executive coach practice the same behaviors that he expects from the leader? Some of the acts that the coach should exhibit are

Openness to feedback – when a coach expects the leader to listen to and accept feedback from the team members, he should openly receive the leader’s input. If the coach gets defensive or evasive to feedback, it is not the sign of a good coach.

Dr. Marshall Goldsmith is considered the world’s number one leadership thinker and a coach, lists three essential qualities of the leaders that are successful in improving themselves through coaching engagements. The coach should also exhibit these same behaviors in the coaching interview with the leader.

Courage – Courage to tell the leader the unpleasant truths even if it may alienate the leader and possibly be rejected in the coach’s interview.

Humility – The executive leadership coaching engagement is about helping the leader. It is not about the executive coach. A coach who makes the interview process all about himself may lack the humility to help the leader.

Discipline – Nothing of significance can be achieved without a good dose of control. A leadership coach who has a disciplined approach has a much higher probability of helping the leader stick to the process and achieve results.

What happens if things don’t go right?  What is the escape clause?

Even after the due diligence, there is always a chance that a coaching engagement may not go as per the leader’s expectations or the sponsors. What happens in such a case? What are the conditions of early termination? It is always a good idea to ask for the details and read the contract carefully.

A good coach will have enough confidence in their own ability and have a high level of trust in their process and experience to deliver results. A good coach will always want to have a win-win deal or walk away. Hence, either party will notice short notice to terminate the coaching contract if either party’s expectations are not met.

Does the coach have the relevant education, certifications, and experience?

Executive coaching services is a mostly unregulated industry. The barriers to entry into coaching are shallow. Coaches come from varied backgrounds – human resources, psychology, business majors, consultants, and even yoga practitioners!  While there are excellent coaches from different backgrounds and vice versa.

There are a few agencies that claim to have some minimum standards of education and experience for coaches. Still, their authority is neither widely accepted, nor do they do an excellent job selecting the best coaching candidates. They seem to make a lot of money certifying coaches, while the accredited coaches by such agencies hardly have any real paying coaching clients! Anyone willing to pay specific fees can get certified as a coach by doing an online course over the weekend and “coaching” a few willing or unwilling colleagues or friends to garner experience!

Often the coaching certifications mean little. An alphabet soup coaching certifications are no guarantee in gauging the coach’s ability to deliver results for the executive.

It is good to look for a coach who has a business or other degree and, ideally, some industry experience. A good coach has experience in coaching real executives in real companies and can provide references and testimonials to vouch for the expertise and the ability to deliver results for the coaching clients. Apart from this, education and certifications are not of much importance.

Relevant experience in coaching is the only yardstick that correlates with the coach’s ability to deliver results.

Here is Marshall Goldsmith’s quote about who he considers a great coach

“The measure of a great coach is not how many degrees you have or how many books you’ve written – it’s achieving positive, measurable results.”

Will the executive coach guarantee results? Would she defer her payment only after they deliver results?

Now, this may sound radical, and it sure is! But this is the ultimate test of the coach’s confidence in their ability to deliver results. Just ask the prospective coach this question and see their response.

Is there an executive coaching service or a program that can meet all of these criteria and help me select and find the best executive coach?

Fortunately, the answer is yes! You can find the best executive coach and avoid costly mistakes! We offer Marshall Goldsmith stakeholder centered one on administrative coaching services with a no-growth pay clause. What does it mean? If we don’t deliver measurable growth in the executive’s leadership competencies, you don’t have to pay us! And the growth is not assessed by the coach, nor by the leader, but anonymously judged by the leader’s team members!

Our executive coaching India, middle-east, Asia, Europe, and USA has a 95% success rate and comes with a no-growth no pay guarantee. Our executive coaching services are one of the best executive leadership coaching programs in the world.

Read: Which is the best executive coaching program

NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching

That delivers guaranteed and measurable leadership growth.  It is based on a stakeholder-centered coaching process with a 95% effectiveness rate (in a study or 11000 leaders on 4 continents).  It is used by companies ranging from startups to 150 of the Fortune 500 companies to develop their leaders.

Here are some of the salient benefits of NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching

Time and resource-efficient: The leader does not have to leave work to attend training programs.  We go to the leader and her team.  And it only takes 1.5 hours per month. The rest of the time, the leader is working to implement with her team.

Separate and customized improvement areas for each leader: Every leader is different.  One size fits all approach doesn’t work.  Individual development areas for each leader are aligned to the business strategy.

Involves entire team: Unlike most leadership programs, NAL Triple Advantage Leadership Coaching involves the leader’s entire team, and it has a cascading effect – increasing the team effectiveness and improving organizational culture.

The leader becomes the coach: for continuous improvement for leaders themselves and their teams. It is like kaizen for your leadership development.

Cost-Effective: Our entire one-year coaching engagement often costs less than sending the leader to a short-duration leadership program at any reputed B school.

Guaranteed and measurable leadership growth: as assessed – not by us – but anonymously rated by the leader’s own team members.

Pay us only after we deliver results!: We work with many of our clients on a pay for results basis.  What does it mean?  If the leaders don’t improve, you don’t have to pay us.

Schedule an exploratory 15-minute conversation with our leadership adviser today

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SCHEDULE NOW!

References

Executive Coaching Solution – Getting Maximum Benefit from the Coaching Experience

Executive Coaching – A Guide for the HR Professional

21 most inspiring leadership quotes

Leadership is important and inspiring leaders are even more important. we are compiling 21 most inspiring leadership quotes from various books, websites, and references to ponder.

here are the 21 most inspiring leadership quotes to read upon.

• For the great achiever, it’s all about me. For a great leader, it’s all about them. – Alan Mulally
• Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed — Mwai Kibaki
• Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses — Mitt Romney
• Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile. – Vince Lombardi
• Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It’s about impact, influence, and inspiration. – Robin S. Sharma
• Remember Feedback is meant to address the problem, not the person. – Travis Bradberry
• If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then, you are an excellent leader.” – Dolly Parton
• When a leader makes a promise he builds hope when he keeps it, he builds trust, and that is the game-changer – Tushar Vakil
• Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others. – Jack Welch
• People buy into the leader before they buy into the vision. – John Maxwell
• The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority. – Kenneth Blanchard

you are enjoying reading these inspiring leadership quotes, you will love the following quotes

Quotes by John Maxwell — Galvanizing & Encouraging

21 Wayne Dyer quotes that are Life-changing

• A good leader is a person who takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit. – John Maxwell
• Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence. – Sheryl Sandberg
• I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion. – Alexander the Great
• I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. – Maya Angelou
• No matter how brilliant your mind or strategy, if you are playing a solo game, you will always lose out to a team. – Reid Hoffman
• The leader of the past knew how to tell, the leader of the future will know how to ask. – Peter Drucker
• Leadership Is Cause; Everything Else Is Effect – unknown
• A leader is best when people barely know he exists…when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say: We did it ourselves. – Lao-Tzu
• A leader is always leading by example.  Whether she realizes it, believes it, accepts it or not! – Tushar Vakil
• Leadership development is not a cognitive process but a daily modification of behaviors and habits on the job. – Marshall Goldsmith

If you are enjoying reading 21 most inspiring leadership quotes, you will love the following articles

1. Many of us have heard about the success story of the legendary leader Henry Ford, the assembly line and the Model T car. But there is also a relatively unknown and a darker story of Henry Ford’s equally spectacular failure!
2. What are the ego traps and Leadership Derailers leaders fall for? 
3. Have you wondered how leaders really become leaders in the first place? Well, what you may know about leadership development may just simply be wrong!

We offer Marshall Goldsmith coaching in India, the middle east, and southeast Asia.  It is the best coaching program in India because it is exactly the same executive coaching process used by Marshall Goldsmith to coach CEOs of Fortune 500 companies worldwide and we guarantee measurable leadership growth or you don’t pay at all.

Here are some of the features of Marshall Goldsmith executive coaching program

• Guaranteed, measurable leadership growth as assessed – not by us – but by the leader’s own stakeholders
• Unlike leadership training or executive education programs, the entire team will be involved while doing their day to day work
• Although it is a 1 on 1 executive coaching program for leaders, it has a cascading effect on the team increasing the team effectiveness and improving organizational culture, as the leader becomes the coach
• It is a system for continuous improvement for leaders themselves and their teams – although it is leadership coaching for the individual leader, the benefit of team coaching is realized through the involvement of the entire team
• In a study of 11,000 leaders on 4 continents – 95% of the leaders using this leadership coaching process improved!
• This is the exact same executive coaching process that has been used by 150 of the Fortune 500 companies to grow their leaders through CEO coaching and leadership coaching at C-suite levels. It is one of the best executive leadership coaching programs in the world.
• We have Marshall Goldsmith certified coaches India, Middle East, South East Asia. We are so confident of the process that we work on a no growth no pay basis (don’t try that with other vendors, lol!)

Schedule an exploratory 15-minute conversation with our leadership adviser today

Click the button below

SCHEDULE NOW!

Here are 21 quotes by John Maxwell that are encouraging and galvanizing. John Maxwell is an author, speaker, and pastor who has written several books that are on the New York Times Best Sellers List. Three of his books have sold over a million copies each. He speaks annually to Fortune 500 companies, international government leaders, and organizations like the United States Military Academy and the National Football League.

Quotes by John Maxwell 1-10

1. A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way.

2. A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position.

3. If you are a parent, you have probably already realized that your children are always watching what you do. And just as children watch their parents and emulate their behavior, so do employees who are watching their bosses.

4. A word of encouragement from a teacher to a child can change a life. A word of encouragement from a spouse can save a marriage. A word of encouragement from a leader can inspire a person to reach her potential.

5. Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team.

6. A man must be big enough to admit his mistakes, smart enough to profit from them, and strong enough to correct them.

7. A leader is great, not because of his or her power, but because of his or her ability to empower others.

8. If you wouldn’t follow yourself, why should anyone else?

9. When people respect you as a person, they admire you. When they respect you as a friend, they love you. When they respect you as a leader, they follow you.

10. Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.

John Maxwell quotes no 11-21 continue below
If you are enjoying reading these John Maxwell quotes, you will love the following quotes
Timeless and memorable John Wooden quotes

https://newageleadership.com/john-wooden-quotes-21-timeless-memorable/

Insightful and inspiring quotes from Tony Robbins

https://newageleadership.com/tony-robbins-quotes-insightful-inspiring/

Quotes by John Maxwell 11-21

11. Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.

12. Every person has a longing to be significant; to make a contribution; to be a part of something noble and purposeful.

13. As a leader, the first person I need to lead is me. The first person that I should try to change is me.

14. Leadership is influence.

15. Self-centered leaders manipulate when they move people for personal benefit. Mature leaders motivate by moving people for mutual benefit.

16. Everyone has the potential to become an encourager. You don’t have to be rich. You don’t have to be a genius. You don’t have to have it all together. All you have to do is care about people and initiate.

17. Good leaders must communicate vision creatively, and continually. However, the vision doesn’t come alive until the leader models it.
18. The growth and development of people is the highest calling of a leader.

19. The measure of a leader is not the number of people who serve him but the number of people he serves.

20. To lead yourself, use your head; to lead others, use your heart. Always touch a person’s heart before you ask him for a hand.

21. Real leadership is being the person others will gladly and confidently follow.

If you are enjoying reading this article about John Maxwell quotes, you will love reading the following articles
1.  Gallup organization conducted “the largest study on the future of workplace” and this is the single biggest factor for any organization’s long term success

https://newageleadership.com/the-single-biggest-factor-in-your-organizations-long-term-success/
2. As a leader would you like to instill “extreme ownership” in your team members and create a culture of accountability?  Here is the story of how Jocko Willink did it

https://newageleadership.com/extreme-ownership-how-do-leaders-inspire-it-in-their-teams-in-2020/
3. How does Google, one of the most successful and data-driven companies, identify potential leaders?

https://newageleadership.com/how-google-identifies-potential-leaders-googles-project-oxygen/
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