Discover How Your People Actually Experience Your Leadership
You may believe you already know your strengths. Successful leaders often do. Research on multi-rater feedback shows that self-ratings are a weak predictor of how others judge your risk of derailment. Peers, direct reports, and colleagues see patterns you cannot see from inside the role.
A 360-degree assessment is an anonymous feedback process that helps you as an employer and leader improve self-awareness and name the few areas that will change your effectiveness the most. The objective is a holistic view of strengths, gaps, and blind spots – not a public scorecard.
What You Learn That a Performance Review Never Captures
Ruth Easterling collates anonymous feedback from peers, subordinates, and clients, then compares those responses with the information you provide about yourself. The contrast is the gift. You discover where your intent and your impact diverge.
Issues frequently brought into the light include:
- Communication: whether people leave meetings knowing the decision and the next step
- Delegation: whether you release responsibility or keep a hidden hand on every task
- Crisis handling: whether your presence steadies the room or raises the temperature
- Respect for employees, clients, and peers under ordinary stress
- Willingness to encourage and praise in specific, timely ways
- Eagerness to mentor and offer direction before problems harden
- Alignment between daily work and the mission you say you serve
The Center for Creative Leadership research has long shown that observer ratings – especially peer ratings – are more useful than self-ratings when predicting career derailment. Leaders who rate themselves higher than observers do face greater risk. That is why anonymity and a skilled debrief matter as much as the survey itself.
How the 360-Degree Assessment Process Works
You'll start with a simple online preliminary form. Ruth Easterling then helps you select raters, protect confidentiality, and interpret the combined picture. Where others simply provide a dense report and vague instructions, Ruth will guide you on how to utilize the information to make real-world improvements.
Expect a guided conversation that answers four questions:
- Where do observers agree with your self-view?
- Where is the gap large enough to change how you lead?
- Which strength should you use more deliberately?
- What is a simple, but effective behavior change to improve performance within 30 days?
The assessment often pairs well with DiSC assessments, one-to-one coaching, or a Leadership Game session. Used alone, it still gives you a truthful baseline by which to assess performance. Used with coaching, it becomes a development plan with follow-through to improve performance.
Who Benefits Most from a 360-Degree Assessment?
This process serves the leader who is willing to hear the truth and act. It is especially useful before a promotion, after a merger or crisis, when engagement scores slip, or when you suspect respect has eroded and cannot name why.
In addition to the leader being assessed learning more about his or her skills and styles, the surrounding team also benefits. Giving others the ability to provide anonymous feedback allows them to feel heard, and encourages them that work-related communication and processes can improve.
You remain the client. Results stay confidential between you and Ruth Easterling unless you choose to share information with your team. Privacy is built in to the system, because candor from raters depends on it.
Take the Next Step to Improve Your Management Skills
Contact Ruth to start the 360-degree assessment process. You will learn how the process works, who should participate, and what benefits to expect. Starting this journey is the first step toward more effective leadership and a better organization.
Citations
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Center for Creative Leadership: Understanding your 360 results