Page 204 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

Leading Yourself 193

understanding of finance”). Colleagues may be much less likely to speak
up about these organically. Furthermore, one of the greatest dangers you
face as a leader is not knowing what you don’t know, and a gap described in
writing can be more specific and powerful than relying on informal spoken
feedback.
To organize more formal and written feedback for yourself, arrange for
an anonymous and consultant-guided 360-degree feedback survey or a
more open-ended set of interviews. Or take steps to ensure that any formal
business review of performance also includes constructive assessment of
your personal contributions and shortfalls so you can learn and do better
in the future.
In any case, whether via informal or more formal feedback, leader
after leader whom we interviewed stressed the critical value of hearing
constructive suggestions from others to improve their effectiveness. For
example, Ferguson of TIAA built a strong working relationship with his
top team, which ultimately had the confidence to advise him to shift more
of his time and attention to strategic direction versus digging into opera-
tional details. John Martin of Innography listened to some trusted sub-
ordinates who convinced him that his strong analytical skills as a leader
disappeared when he lost his temper. Bob Proctor, both a venture investor
and technology CEO, listened to both subordinates and customers say in
various private conversations that he needed to get more specialized help
in building processes to complement the strategic thinking he was pro-
viding as a leader. Paula Kerger of PBS looked forward to hearing “the
often strong medicine” of her annual leadership review by the company’s
board of directors, because, as she commented, “that kind of feedback was
the only way I could really understand what I had to do to get better as a
leader.” She remembers, for example, how the “board gave me a candid as-
sessment of my options when it was time to replace my COO, who had been
ill for almost six months. It was a hard personal decision for me, but I had
to learn more about managing institutional risk, for example, the institu-
tional vacuum if I were suddenly hit by a bus. While the board encouraged
me to act, they also made it clear that the decision was mine.”