— To follow is a bullet of wisdom on leadership. It comes from Tom’s rifle, named Shot, who has seen it all. You’ll get the drift by clicking Blog in the menu above. —
IMAGINE SHOOTING at a target but not going downrange to see how you’re doing. Dumb. Good marksmen often use binoculars to get a read on their shots. With that they make subtle adjustments until they hit dead center. And hit that bull’s eye again, and again.
Some leaders shoot dumb. They don’t go downrange to see how they are doing. They lack feedback. Or, worse, they distort feedback by signaling their hopes to others who reflect them back. You want to lead well? Then find ways to assess your leadership. Are you hitting the target? Are you on dead center? Here are some techniques: 1) Ask for feedback; then ask again, and again. The first responses are cautionary tales. Go for the true story. 2)Have others ask, like a trusted cohort. 3)Develop or use an existing survey, and own the answers, realizing that most people naturally avoid lower ratings. 4)Pursue performance data, without rationalization.