So, What’s the Plan?

You’ve reviewed the information from your personality test and looked at the data from your 360 feedback.  You’ve now recovered from the initial shock of realizing that you are not perfect, and you are still grappling with some of the comments from others.

As we stated in our last post (360 Feedback and Self Aware; Next?), you should not passively accept or defensively reject the information you’ve been provided.  Reflect on the information and review it with a trusted confidante to help you better understand and objectively accept the data.

We all have strengths and development needs.  Generally, they can be grouped into 4 categories and we can look at these in 4 quadrants of a grid.

Let’s dig into each one of these in a bit more detail.

Confirmed Strength

This is the space where you have a strength that is recognized by both yourself and others.  It is probably one of a group of your dominant strengths and one that you use frequently when interacting with others as a leader.  Care must taken with this, however, because if a strength is overplayed or overused it can become a weakness.

Unrecognized Strength

You can almost look at this category as a gift.  It is a strength that others see in you but one that you fail to see in yourself.  This will usually be brought to your attention in your 360 feedback.  It is an excellent opportunity to talk to others and better understand how you can more effectively utilize this strength as a leader.

Confirmed Development Need

This is something that you understand you need to get better at and those people who you lead agree that you need to improve.  This category is usually more easily accepted than an unrecognized development need since you were already aware of it.  As you start to create and implement a development plan this is often a good place to start.  It can also be easier to notice improvements being made in this category since others may comment on a shift in your behavior.

Unrecognized Development Need

This may be the most difficult category to address.  Think of it as a “blind spot”.  It is a need that is seen by others but one of which you are not aware.  This is a place where you truly need to be honest with yourself and not dismissive of this feedback.  It also may require more “digging” to fully understand the need.  This should be done before any corrective action is taken.  Hopefully feedback and discussion with your confidante will be helpful here.

We’ve presented a means of categorizing or organizing the feedback from others and the info received from personality testing.  In our next post we will discuss how to set up a successful development plan.