One of the keys to continual improvement is constructive 360-degree feedback. The problem is, we are not accustomed to providing others with honest feedback, nor do we ask others to provide the same to us. Those of us in the Navy are conditioned to receive at least one performance appraisal each year, and those of us in leadership positions understand the requirement to write the same on our subordinates. The reality is that most of us do not take advantage of these opportunities, nor do we create other forums for such feedback. For those of us in the military, it shouldn’t take long for a subordinate to recognize a performance appraisal is designed to speak to a promotion board and not serve as a true performance appraisal. That said, a formal performance appraisal should be accompanied by a complementary true assessment of one’s performance. At the same time, any required periodic counseling should be the same, vice the “wink, wink, nudge, nudge, consider yourself counseled” evolution most have made it.
Though our place of employment has created opportunities for such feedback to take place, we need not wait for them. When was the last time you asked a mentor for feedback? A junior for an assessment of your performance? A peer how you might be able to improve? Such 360-degree feedback will not happen by accident. It must be invited.
Recognizing that my significant action in my current area of responsibility, though deliberate, have not resulted in meaningful progress, I asked a senior outside of my chain of command for honest feedback. We have a telephone conversation set up for Thursday. I know the intentions of my actions, and I know how I hope they are being received, but a lack of progress illustrates that something is lost in translation. To me, the important assessment is not a self-assessment but the perceptions of others. Unfortunately, without being asked for feedback, others will not willingly provide it and, even if they do, it may not be completely honest. As one of my valued mentors has eloquently stated, “There is no more exacting a method of determining an officer’s worth – than asking his sailors.” To this statement, I would also add that hollow feedback is a determination of little worth, while honest, constructive, and often-times critical feedback is a determination of great worth.
I look forward to my feedback session on Thursday and I will continue to seek feedback from multiple sources, as we can only improve upon our shortcomings if we know what they are. Likewise, I am prepared to respectfully provide feedback to others even if not specifically asked (which may have turned a few people off over time).
At the Naval Academy, we were continually asked to recite the Laws of the Navy, but none was more meaningful than the fifth:
On the strength of one link in the cable
Dependeth the might of the chain;
Who knows when thou mayest be tested?
So live that thou bearest the strain!
Asking for feedback is but one means of ensuring we are not the weakest link, and offering it to others ensures that the chain is as strong as possible.
- How useful do you find the performance appraisal process?
- When is the last time you solicited 360-degree feedback?
- When is the next time you will share unsolicited feedback with a teammate?