When I coach leaders, I have found this one question especially useful in helping them evaluate their leadership qualities. This question can often uncover blind spots by pushing leaders out of their own mental frameworks and helping them consider how others see them. It also opens them up to other perspectives and feedback from their teams—in other words, the people who matter most.
This question is:
“What is it REALLY like to work for me?”
As I explain to these leaders, it’s natural to evaluate themselves as leaders based on their own perspectives. After all, they often must make quick decisions with limited information or evaluate business challenges that can’t be shared openly. By the very nature of leadership, they sometimes need to cultivate a more insular or detached persona to avoid appearing to play favorites with staff or acting too friendly with people at different levels of the company.
But these actions can cause leaders to be more removed from the reality of how their teams respond to their leadership styles, qualities, and skills. By periodically stepping out of their personal bubbles and asking this question, leaders can develop self-awareness, improve their abilities, and deliver better business results.
Once you start the process of determining what kind of a leader you really are, you will likely need to ask some additional questions to fully evaluate how others see you as a leader. Here are five ways to dive deeper into your self-reflection.
How to Evaluate Your Leadership Skills
1. Take advantage of objective assessments.
When was the last time you had a formal assessment of your leadership capabilities? If your answer is longer than two years ago[AD1] (or even “never”), then it’s probably time to seek one out. An objective assessment performed by someone outside your team or organization can help set a foundation for honest responses that will give you a clear picture of your abilities.
2. Solicit feedback and clarification.
Aside from more objective assessments, you should also seek more direct feedback and clarification from those you trust to give you honest responses. Ask questions such as
- What are my strengths and liabilities?
- How can I be more effective as a leader?
- Do you feel like you can approach me with challenges, conflicts, or obstacles?
3. Spend time standing outside yourself.
In your own head, imagine a recent team meeting or 1:1. Step back and try to observe the meeting from outside or through the eyes of others in the meeting. What behaviors do you see yourself performing? What messages do those behaviors send? How do you communicate with others—are you engaged in active listening, or do your team members feel unheard?
Simply taking a step back can sometimes help us observe ourselves as others see us. What we see may be very revealing and even uncomfortable, but it can be incredibly helpful in improving as a leader.
4. Ask yourself if you would want to work for you.
Once you’ve gathered some feedback and evaluated yourself from a distance, ask yourself the most honest question: Would you want to work for yourself? Would you like the behaviors and messages you see yourself using and sending? Would you share your current opinion of your own skills and abilities? If not, what changes would make you a better person to work for?
5. Make a plan to grow.
No one can come away from this honest introspection and self-reflection with a perfect leadership score. Every leader has blind spots and room for improvement. With the help of a coach, your own boss, or a trusted colleague or mentor, make a plan to improve your skills, abilities, and leadership qualities.
The leaders I’ve coached through this process of self-reflection usually come away with a better understanding of their skills and abilities and their leadership blind spots. If they are honest with themselves and truly interested in making positive changes, they can use this information to grow and create a stronger, more vital team that can deliver business results.
Self-check:
- When was the last time I had a formal assessment?
- Do I know my strengths and areas that need improvement? Have others confirmed my perception?
- Do I genuinely invite and welcome feedback from others regarding my skills, talents, and liabilities?
- When others want to share their point of view about how you can be more effective, are you approachable and not defensive?
- How do you initially react when you learn of areas you need to address? Do you justify or rationalize? Or do you try to understand and apply the feedback to improve and fully address appropriate and needed changes?
