What is a Failed Interview-Based 360? | 120 Seconds to Better Leadership

* Video Transcription *

We put a lot of executives through interview-based 360s, which means we interview usually 12 stakeholders about their overall performance in their role, to get a sense for are they performing optimally, are they promotable, or do they have some weaknesses that they need to shore up. I was asked once what happens if there’s a failed 360.

What is a Failed 360?

To me, a failed 360 is when the person can’t wrap their head around the feedback. So, it’s not uncommon for people to be upset about the feedback, to argue about the feedback, to deflect the feedback. Those are all pretty natural reactions if it’s not good feedback. The ones that are good people are like ‘yay’. We expect to see those negative reactions for up to a week and that’s fine. Sometimes leaders will withdraw from their organizations a little bit in the short run. That’s just normal human emotion.

The Difference Between a Normal Reaction and Failure

But, what we do need to see for them to be coachable and to make it a successful 360, is for them to come around and eventually take some ownership of the feedback, and demonstrate a willingness to look within themselves and look at how they might need to change to be more effective. If they get to that place, then they’ll be great working with a coach, we can usually get them where they need to be. But, if a leader can’t get to the point where they’re ready to accept their role and what the feedback was, there’s no sense in spending money on the coaching.

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