They typically have a better vantage point for seeing your flaws, as well as observing your strengths. Similar to surveys gauging how employees feel about the company, a leadership performance survey can provide insight into how you’re doing as the founder, and what you could do to improve.
[Related: Nearly 40% of Minority Engineers in Tech Say They’ve Experienced Bias in the Workplace]
Asking my staff how I’m doing on a regular basis has
improved my leadership skills. I’ve sharpened certain skills, thanks to my teams’ insights. Here’s what it’s done for me, what it might achieve for you, and how you can get the same benefits.- I’m a better listener. Talking with my staff about my leadership style and what they need from me has helped me to stop, focus and actively listen. Not only are they talking about me, but they’re sharing insights and ideas on what I’m doing both to help or to hinder them. Really listening to them and understanding how they relate their impressions of my performance also helps me learn their communication styles.
- I have a new perspective. Just because I’m the leader doesn’t mean I know everything, or that my perspective is the only one that matters. Instead, hearing about my performance, including strengths and weaknesses, allows me to see me through someone else’s eyes. They offer their perspective, which helps me be realistic about how I’m really doing.
- I know what to work on. Hearing from others what I could be doing better provides me with a personalized list of skills to work on. Better yet, these are skills I hadn’t realized needed work and are important to my employees. If I see a pattern, it then stands out as things that should be upgraded to address the concerns and needs of my team. The feedback becomes an action list that tells me where to focus.
Read the rest at www.businesscollective.com…
Peter Daisyme is a special adviser to Invoicing, a payments invoicing company helping small business owners transact money online. He’s been a CPA for the past 18 years. He recently sold his previous company Hostt.
BusinessCollective, launched in partnership with Citi, is a virtual mentorship program powered by North America’s most ambitious young thought leaders, entrepreneurs, executives and small business owners.