360 Reviews Often Lead to Cruel, Not Constructive, Criticism; New York Times, 2/26/16

Meg Halverson, New York Times; 360 Reviews Often Lead to Cruel, Not Constructive, Criticism:

"Given the time and cost involved in such reviews — each one takes about three weeks to complete including soliciting and collating the feedback, writing the review and prepping the manager — I’ve decided they are seldom worth the investment. Probably because of the anonymous and generic nature of the feedback, the whole process misses the mark in terms of its goal: to make people better at their jobs.

If you want feedback, do what one senior executive I know does: ask for it directly after meetings, interviews and tough conversations with customers or employees. You might be surprised what people will share, and how helpful it can be."

Managing Two People Who Hate Each Other; Harvard Business Review, 6/9/14

Liane Davey, Harvard Business Review; Managing Two People Who Hate Each Other:

"Managing people is never easy, but when the animosity between two of your direct reports escalates to the level of hatred, how do you minimize the drama and keep your team on track? Before you call for a professional mediator, remember that this is a fundamental part of your job as a manager. If you can get to the root of your employees’ fear, you can help them rebuild their relationship. And if you do it the right way, the shared vulnerability will start to foster trust in place of hate. Try the following approach to get at the root of the problem and resolve the conflict once and for all:...

When you are ready, relentlessly provide feedback whenever you see symptoms of the poor relationship. For example: “When Giselle spoke, you rolled your eyes. For me, that demonstrated a lack of professional maturity. What caused your reaction to what Giselle was saying?”

Take every opportunity to call out bad behavior and don’t hesitate to provide feedback on the absence of behavior either, as in: “I noticed that you didn’t say anything during Giselle’s presentation. What was going on for you?” In each case, ensure that your feedback ends with an open-ended question that gets the person talking."

Military Makes Ethics a Priority; Wall Street Journal, 2/2/14

Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal; Military Makes Ethics a Priority:

"The U.S. military is intensifying its focus on ethics training in the wake of a series of investigations of military brass, the Pentagon's top uniformed officer said.

Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that as part of this new emphasis, the military needs to place more importance on officers' character when weighing promotions...

In addition, the Joint Staff has pushed the military services to overhaul how they prepare future leaders. Pentagon officials have been developing a new kind of performance review that will use peer and subordinate comments to provide feedback to officers.

Known as 360-degree reviews, these evaluations are controversial within the military. Legal restrictions likely will block the use of anonymous comments by subordinates in consideration of promotions. But Col. Thomas said that the reviews would help officers identify and correct behavior that could cause problems later in their careers.

The recent ethical lapses, Gen. Dempsey said, weren't directly related to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But he said the high rate of deployments of officers and the need to focus on training for the next tours of duty have resulted in the military spending less time reinforcing professional standards.

"It is not the war that has caused this," said Gen. Dempsey. "It is the pace, and our failure to understand that at that pace, we were neglecting the tools that manage us as a profession over time.""

Did Poor Communication Skills Do In Yahoo's COO?; Forbes, 1/17/14

Carmine Gallo, Forbes; Did Poor Communication Skills Do In Yahoo's COO? :

"New York Times reporters spoke to some of de Castro’s former colleagues, all of who described him as very smart. “They also said he was a poor communicator with an arrogant, abrasive manner.” One again we’re reminded of the critical role communication skills play in leadership. It’s why I write columns and books on the topic. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been asked to work with leaders who are described as smart, yet are uninspiring and unpersuasive.

Executives with poor communication skills don’t last very long while those who are committed to improving in the area outshine and, yes, often outsell their competitors. It’s the reason I stated in this earlier column that public speaking is the one skill that can boost your value by 50 percent in 2014. Good communicators also get noticed and rise through the ranks faster than average speakers. Two years ago I was invited by an executive at Coca-Cola to help improve his public speaking skills. Although he was a successful leader, he realized that being able to tell a more inspiring story and to deliver a more effective presentation would help him stand apart. Two years ago he was running a country division; today he’s running a continent for the company...

The point I’m making is that the most successful leaders I’ve met or who I’ve written about study the art of public speaking, persuasion, and presentations. They rehearse, they work on body language and vocal delivery, and they are relentless in seeking feedback on their performance. ”A person can have the greatest idea in the world, but if that person cannot convince enough other people, it doesn’t matter,” writes Gregory Berns in Iconoclast."

Interview with Cathleen P. Black, former chairwoman of Hearst Magazines; New York Times, 12/19/10

Adam Bryant, Corner Office, New York Times; Interview with Cathleen P. Black, former chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, If Opportunity Knocks, Open the Door:

"Q. If you could ask someone only two or three questions in a job interview, what would they be?

A. How will you judge your success here? And what would be the first things you would do in the first 30 days?"

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/business/19corner.html?scp=2&sq=corner%20office&st=cse