Some years ago, I was reviewing a leadership styles 360-degree assessment with a client. What he thought he demonstrated was vastly different than how his team experienced his leadership behaviors. He seemed shocked by the large gap in how he rated himself in comparison to how others did. He asked me, “What would cause this?” At the time I told him that it probably pointed to a need to grow greater self-awareness. It was a difficult conversation because this very bright, capable and accomplished executive had never had any leadership development and rarely, if ever, received feedback. It was a new, and painful experience for him. I tried to make it easier to hear, without undermining the feedback.
 
As I have continued to learn and develop, I think back on that conversation and realize that it would be somewhat different if we had it today. It’s true that if he wanted to accomplish amazing work with his team, he needed to work on becoming more self-aware. He was driving results too much and needed to hand over more work to his team and let them take on more so they could have a chance to become as accomplished as this executive. We humans mostly learn from doing and all the trials and tribulation that come with hands-on practice. We discussed this and I still stand by it.
 
But growing self-awareness alone does not help us understand the needs of others. Nurturing and learning greater curiosity, empathy and compassion are required. More ongoing conversation and feedback from others helps us grow our understanding with a greater range of people with whom we can be more skillful. Developing greater empathy allows us to better understand how we motivate, inspire, recognize and coach people who have different needs, that have a range of personality traits, different life experiences and see the world differently than we do. If this sounds soft and fuzzy, I can live with that. But make no mistake, this is about leadership effectiveness. 
 
To understand that leaders rarely accomplish anything alone, that they need others, requires learning to be less identified with the work and outcomes and more identified with truly engaging other’s best contribution. In other words, you have to want to nurture and develop human beings – to learn to coach them without doing for them. To trust them enough to allow them to struggle and make mistakes. And you need to be more curious about what makes them tick – which is often quite different than what makes you tick.

​And you have to care about other people.
 
The conversation I often have now is, does this (very difficult, frustrating at times, keep you up at night) work of leading others, make your heart sing? Do you love developing others? Do you enjoy it and feel connected to it? Or, do you love doing the work, getting stuff done and owning the accomplishment? This is truly where self-awareness comes in. Leading others is far too difficult if you don’t love it! 
 
What I know for sure is that every time a leader gets a new team member, takes on a new project, role, or organization, they will need to shift their behavior. Leadership will always be about meeting the needs of others, while still finding a way to take care of yourself. This part will never change.
 
Moira Clarke founded Leadership Consulting Partners 20 years ago to help companies advance their leadership and people systems. If you are reading this to the end, and you find value, please say so and share with others on LinkedIn and Twitter. Thank you! 
   
 

During this pandemic, everything is shifting. At this point I don’t know the long-term impacts for my clients' businesses or my own. It has already been very difficult for some clients and others are flourishing. Instead of giving yet more advice for weathering this time, I thought I would share the commitments I made to myself when I realized that this was not going to be over quickly. 
 
Like many, I miss contact. I miss seeing my friends and clients in person. I am not sure I appreciated just how important these connections are to my happiness. I am worried about a few family members and my business. After having a small consulting practice for almost 20 years, I have learned to prepare for many eventualities. But this current situation seems like no other.
 
And I am also abundantly aware, every day, of how lucky and grateful I am for the life I have. Compared to so many, my worries are few. 
 
So here is what I am committed to during this time:

• Being as kind as I can be to everyone. This has been hard at times, especially watching some of the panic buying. I do not understand it and it was frustrating to see empty shelves week after week. But then I realized that this was probably an outcome of fear and that softened my heart.
• Taking good care of myself and my family. This involves some kind of exercise, every day. It is usually just 20-30 minutes. It also involves preparing healthy meals when what I really want is more comfort food (comfort food for me is stuff that almost always involves pasta, bread, cheese and butter – all at the same time - so not the healthiest choices in excess). Time outside is a big boost and nothing is better for my mood than 20 minutes spent walking along our beautiful lakeshore.
• Practicing Mindfulness every day. I am in a two-year Mindfulness Teacher Training program that started over a year ago. It’s been one of the best learning programs I have ever done (and I have completed some outstanding ones). It’s also been very difficult at times. It feels like an “inner MBA”. But I am starting to see the benefits of daily practice to my life, my work and my relationships. I am going to keep it up.
• Being more appreciative for everything. This is something I kind of pride myself on in general. But I put it in overdrive to balance what I see going on in the world and to remind myself that there are times that this feels like a slog for everyone. 
• Being more patient and flexible with project changes. Some of my clients and their organizations are managing extra change and chaos. They have had to move or cancel some of our planned work. I am disappointed. And I know they have much bigger issues to contend with right now, so this extra flexibility is the only choice.  
• Reaching out to a few clients each week to see how they are doing, with no other agenda, and not expecting them to respond. It seems enough to let them know that I am thinking of them. 

There is nothing about any of this that is going to set the world on fire or solve the COVID-19 pandemic. But it is all stuff I can do, no matter what. And that feels pretty good. 
 
Moira Clarke founded Leadership Consulting Partners 20 years ago to help companies advance their leadership and people systems. If you are reading this to the end, and you find value, please say so and share with others on LinkedIn and Twitter. Thank you! 
   
 

Amid COVID-19 caution, if your company has decided it’s safer for those who can, to work from home (WFH), or offsite, I hope you can temporarily celebrate losing the commute. As a consultant with my own practice, I have been WFH for almost 20 years. I mostly love it but I had to learn some new habits to make it work.
 
Last year I went back on a client site for about nine months. I was curious when I started what that would be like. The commute added to the length of my day and I had to adjust to the fact that there were back-to-back meetings all day long. I mostly didn’t mind this that much. The biggest adjustment was becoming reacquainted with how unbelievably social workplaces are and how much less productive I felt. I got to experience firsthand what most of my client’s deal with every day. 
 
Corporations are, by very nature, very social entities. The social part matters a lot! You need it to work with teams, build relationships, influence and accomplish large initiatives. The interactions, formal and informal, are also often the spark for greater creativity and innovation. When you WFH, you miss all that and it has an impact. I also believe some folks struggle being productive from home because for them it is a place for their life outside of work. Even if they often work evenings and weekends, it’s not all day. 
 
Of course, there are many teams already working mostly virtually. For them the current situation will have little impact. But if your team is temporarily WFH full-time, I thought some pointers might be helpful for those leaders with a newly minted WFH team:
 

• Let your team know what you expect of them. If you expect them be available during certain hours, let them know that ahead of time. If you company has some good “WFH” ground rules, remind them of those. If you don’t, set some reasonable ground rules so there are no surprises and you don’t feel disappointed in anyone. 
• Start your day as much as possible like you start it at work. If you check in with your team on Slack or text, or set your goals for the day first thing, do that. Keeping your normal routines as much as possible, is a good idea.
• Try to make all communications that you might have in person or in a meeting, as alive and engaging as possible. Treat all meetings as if you are showing up in person and have them on Zoom, WebEx, or whatever platform your company uses. Phone meetings, especially with your team, are not as engaging for you or for them. The connection that happens during meetings where we can physically see people provides so many more cues that help us navigate messages and meaning. Don’t skimp on this.
• Add “social time” to all meetings. This happens naturally at work because some folks show up early or walk to a meeting together and catch up a bit. Try to replicate that as much as possible via your web-enabled meetings. If the WFH extends beyond a week or two, make sure you keep doing all the “affiliative” team stuff you do: celebrate birthdays, other milestones and important goals met. Though remote, at least half your team still need this.
• Work harder than usual to not use e-mail for something that you should be talking about in person. Schedule a web-enabled meeting where you can see each other. 

 
Finally, be more careful than ever about e-mail and text etiquette. Adding an extra dose of “please” and ‘thank you” goes a long way. It’s tempting to go into our shell, especially for those more introverted folks among us. Resist this urge. Your team needs your presence more than ever.
 
Moira Clarke founded Leadership Consulting Partners 20 years ago to help companies advance their leadership and people systems. If you are reading this to the end, and you find value, please say so and share with others on LinkedIn and Twitter. Thank you! 
 

I was listening to talk by Jonathan Foust (Body Centered Inquiry), for a course I am taking. In it he speaks of “non-fixing” listening. This really captured my interest as much for me as for my clients (and probably lots of other human beings). 
 
As the focus of my work is organizations and leadership teams, I have been exploring how this applies to my work. For me and so many of my clients, we were promoted because we knew how to fix or improve things. In fact, many of us have made a career of fixing things, as in business turnarounds and transformations. This is important work and I don’t want to dismiss this set of extremely valuable skills. Fixing and improving is always going to be an important role for leaders and teams. 
 
But when we are working with our teams it is important to really understand what they need and what our intention is. So often what people need from leaders is their presence, their listening and their coaching so they can solve it themselves or with their team. They may not want or need us to “fix” it for them. They may really want to figure it out themselves. If what they need from us is our listening, and through that demonstrating our care, and we try to solve it, we should pause to ask who we are really helping (or hurting).
 
If your strong intention as a leader is to help others grow and develop (and I hope it is), the less you do their job for them, the better. What they may most need from you is to listen without trying to fix. They may need you to remain open and curious. They may need help to envision what is possible, and what they might do to bring greater clarity to or fix the situation. They may need to know, through your listening and not trying to fix (whatever), that you believe and have confidence in them.
 
If someone is newly promoted, new to their role, still developing crucial skills, or lacking the requisite confidence, they may need different, more involved coaching from you. And sometimes people do need clear direction from leaders, for all sorts of reasons. 
 
What I am really trying to say is that, as a leader, you bring immense value in being fully present with others and through that, demonstrating your care and confidence. I know it can be hard! But if you want your team to truly flourish, you need to apply the right tool to the situation. It’s really true, if we see every problem as a nail, we pull out the hammer. But sometimes what is most skillful is an open, curious presence, a smile, a few thoughtful questions and a message of support.
 
If it sounds too easy, and you feel uncomfortable, pay attention. Consider if the way you want to respond is because it’s “what you like/know how to do”, or if it is motivated by what the other person really needs. For many of us, “non-fixing” listening is challenging. We like to fix everything! As I tell clients (and myself), “sit down, strap yourself in, attend to your breath and listen.” You may be surprised at what happens when you really listen without trying to fix. 

Moira Clarke founded Leadership Consulting Partners 20 years ago to help companies advance their leadership and people systems. If you are reading this to the end, and you find value, please say so and share with others on LinkedIn and Twitter. Thank you! 
 

I started my career in operations. It was a great laboratory for learning how to get things done and deliver results. Like everyone starting any new discipline, it also required constant new learning. As I became more experienced, I developed different habits of mind and mindset. This is normal. But it turns out these more “experienced” habits of mind and mindset can, if we are not careful, get in the way of upgrading our knowledge. 
 
It’s clear that clients still like to hire people who have “done the job” before. They want the candidate to already have the requisite skills and experience to quickly perform. Though I understand this, I don’t think it should be the first thing, or at least the only focus of the candidate they choose. 
 
Given the state of workplaces today, the skills I recommend that you look for in most (if not all) applicants are curiosity, learning agility and compassion, for self and others. 
 
Curiosity is the foundation needed to learn everything. If we think we already know, then we are much less likely to be curious. The lack of curiosity in our society is like an epidemic and I see it migrating to workplaces. Most of us now live in bubbles determined by our socioeconomic status (among other things). This is bad for anyone who wants to expand and grow their business and employees. Growth requires curiosity. 
 
Curiosity has a universal language and presence. We know when someone is curious or has a strong opinion because even if they don’t say anything, it shows up in their body. You can test this by thinking back on the feelings and sensations you observe in your body when you are genuinely curious. Then think about what it feels like to know and be right. The presence and mindset that most of us have when we think we know, usually serves as a big barrier to sensing what we don’t know, listening to others and being open to alternative data. What we don’t know is expanding exponentially every moment. 
 
Work is changing and technology is changing even faster. To be really skillful at something can become a roadblock to being quick to understand what we don’t know, the humbleness to recognize it, and the agility to learn the new skills fast. Knowing how to learn is a whole set of must have skills. Often the more experienced a person is, the less they remember how to learn and how uncomfortable it feels to be incompetent. This last part leads to my third, and maybe most important must-have skill: compassion for self and others.
 
If we all need to be willing to learn constantly (and we do), then we need to develop greater comfort with the emotions that accompany “not knowing”. Not knowing is hard for most competent adults. But like every skill, the more we practice being curious and learning agility, the more we can grow our comfort with the inherent ambiguity and discomfort of not knowing something. Even better, we may learn to find greater joy in learning when we start to better balance the ever-present inner critic. 
 
If you are worried that being compassionate will mean you have to lower your standards, expect less of others and that you and your team will not perform as well, search out Kristin Neff’s research, or get her wonderful book, Self-Compassion. She has studied the benefits of self-compassion and they are substantial for human beings and organizations of every type. 
 
So, while you search for a digital native or a sales leader who has the track record you need, also inquire about the candidate’s curiosity, learning agility and ability to be compassionate to themselves and others. You will find someone much more prepared for the future and maybe even next month. 
 
Moira Clarke founded Leadership Consulting Partners 19 years ago to help companies advance their leadership and people systems. If you are reading this to the end, and you find value, please say so and share with others on LinkedIn and Twitter. Thank you! 

Though I am an external consultant, I often work with clients for many years and this allows me to get to know and understand their leaders and culture. I covet this because the truth is I often miss being a part of a team. So working with clients long-term, nurtures my need to do meaningful work that creates a tangible and positive impact. This type of work, grounded in knowledge and influence, always requires greater relationship and trust whether you are an internal employee or an external consultant. 
 
After transitioning from an interim executive role (I wrote about this in my last blog post), I was struck by the elevated standards that organizations are now setting for leaders and their teams. And truthfully, I see this at most of my clients. It used to be enough to deliver outstanding results, but more than ever organizations are rigorously tracking how this gets done and the impact on their workforce. I see more genuine concern for whether employees are being offered opportunities to develop in a work environment where their leader cares about them.
 
Beyond all the engagement surveying clients do, I observe this in the myriad other ways. Especially in the conversations I have with leaders. I hear it discussed often in executive team meetings and routinely when working with client boards. There is greater awareness and effort to create working environments where employees can excel both professionally and personally.
 
But when I talk with the rank and file or review client engagement surveys, it’s clear that most organizations are still working to crack the code and have some disconnect between what they are intending and what is actually experienced by employees. Our work and employers are now more responsible than ever for delivering more of the meaning, learning, development and connection that we human beings want in our lives. This used to be the function of our religious, civic and membership organizations. But fewer of us are joining these. 
 
Companies own (at least) part of this. With technology, we are now almost always available and “on”, no matter where we are. And the metrics for engagement have changed. Work is demanding, whether directly or implied, more of our attention. So it makes sense that we are relying on work to meet more of our human needs. 
 
It’s also creating a new employment contract that goes something like this, “I commit to working way more than I should. You, employer, commit to creating a place where I can do meaningful work that I care about, where I can learn and experience positive relationships and connection, and where I know my manager cares about me as a human being.” It’s a tall order. It’s all doable. But it takes a very intentional and integral, whole systems, approach. And it takes time. There isn’t usually a quick fix or the promised “five simple steps” because each organization is unique. This work is at the core of why my organization development practice exists and I’d like to help more organizations achieve it. 
 
Moira Clarke founded Leadership Consulting Partners 19 years ago to help companies advance their leadership and people systems. If you are reading this to the end, and you find value, please say so and share with others on LinkedIn and Twitter. Thank you! 

I recently worked with a client as their interim Chief People Officer. To say it was an education, is an understatement. It’s been over 10 years since I was “embedded” with a client, even part-time. As an external consultant, I work remotely for most of the project creation and development work I do. I am in the client’s offices for program delivery, facilitation and other team and collaboration meetings. I have worked with the CEO of this company for over 11 years as he grew his career. We know each other well. I think the world of him. So, though this was not my normal “gig”, I said “yes”. I am so very glad I did.
 
The interim role gave me a chance to work with a CEO I love, an amazingly capable board Chairman and their very committed board. The board meetings felt like master classes. With their rich and varied corporate experiences, I learned so much from all the board members. I got to work with a very intelligent, passionate executive team who were also good human beings. They were a lot of fun. But if I am honest, the thing I loved the most was the chance to have a “do-over” with leading a team. 
 
I was not always proud of the shadow I cast as a leader in the past. I had my first people manager role at 27. My favorite thing about it was getting things done, delivering results and the chance to be a part of developing others. As I continued to grow my career, I did some things very well. I also made more than my share of mistakes. Though I believe I was better able to demonstrate my care for people in my last internal leadership role, it still wasn’t what I was known for. My brand was always about delivering for the business and too much about me driving the results. I was less skillful at being a leader who knew how to inspire the best from others and with whom people loved to work.
 
When I was advancing in my career, it didn’t get in my way. Thankfully, the standards for how leaders treat and engage people are way higher today and I think they should be. I believe leaders need to be equally relentless about creating value for the business and demonstrating genuine care for the people. And I know that you can’t have one without the other. 
 
After 19 years as an organization development consultant, much challenging and powerful personal development work, heaps of learning in action and tons of practice with client’s real teams and leaders, I felt that I would be better the “next time”. But if I am honest, I still had doubts.
 
The interim role gave me a chance to put all my learning to the test. I felt I knew how, but could I actually improve engagement on a team, even in an interim role?  I am happy to say  the answer is yes. We were able to measure improvement of the team’s engagement scores from when I started to when I left. I was also able to measure it in myriad other qualitative ways. What was already a very talented, smart, funny, committed human resources team when I met them, seemed more connected to their true source of power – their ability to work together to leverage their best. They started to realize the amazing value they bring to the business and became more comfortable collaborating with their partners across the business as equals. Though they and I have more development ahead, we made substantive progress.
 
I am so grateful for the chance to work with them and dearly miss them. And I know they will continue to expand the impact of the important work they do. 
 
Moira Clarke founded Leadership Consulting Partners 19 years ago to help companies advance their leadership and people systems. If you are reading this to the end, and you find value, please say so and share with others on LinkedIn and Twitter. Thank you! 

A couple years ago a board member I had worked with at another client called and asked if I would work with their CEO and his team on an executive development project. As this was aligned with the work I do and a typical request from clients, I was excited about the opportunity to work with a new company and team. I had also really liked working with this board member at his other organization. After I had conducted the needs assessment, I wrote a preliminary proposal for the work. Even though I was clear about the expected deliverables and outcomes, a few board members wanted to know if I would provide an “evaluation of the CEO”. After some back and forth, I turned the job down. Here’s why.
 
My first question when a client wants to work on executive development is to ensure they want development and not performance management. You shouldn’t hire an executive coach for someone who is not performing. Period.
 
Their CEO had worked with them for more than 7 years and by all the financial metrics, was doing a good job. The board confirmed they wanted to “develop” this executive and his team. But after writing the proposal, it became clear that what this company wanted was to help them fire their CEO. The company and CEO parted ways shortly after I declined the project. Since confidentiality is important to me, for the record they have never been a client. I know they are a good organization and do important work that I admire. But like many executive teams, the board was trying to avoid a direct conflict. As can sometimes be the case, companies want to be able to say, “the consultant recommended we do this” and willing consultants, for a fee, will help them. But I believe there is a better way to look at this and propose a more holistic way to resolve it.
 
It’s no surprise that with ever increasing technological change and automation, change is a constant for most businesses. A leader who was a great fit in a given business situation or cycle, may no longer be a fit when things change. Whether this happens 3, 5 or 10 years later, it is the reality. This also happens when a new leader comes in, assesses their team and decides that in order to execute on their strategy, they need to make changes on their team. No one needs to be at fault. It can be very frustrating for clients when an executive doesn’t step up, or grow and change at a pace commensurate with the needs of the business. But I don’t like blaming people for what I see as a normal business fit issue and I certainly don’t help clients “evaluate” someone with whom they have substantial experience (way more than I will ever have). In my mind, it is unethical. It is also not aligned with my values. I want to help organizations and their leaders get better. Sometimes businesses don’t have time for this and the executive doesn’t have interest in becoming what they need. I understand.  
 
When, for whatever reason, an executive or leader is no longer a fit for the business, the best approach is the most direct one. Start a conversation. Honestly share what you need from the role and the performance and other gaps for the individual in the role. It may be that the executive isn’t as happy in the role either. It’s better to be open about the fit issue, discuss it and decide on a transition plan. 
 
Moira Clarke founded Leadership Consulting Partners 18 years ago to help companies advance their leadership and people systems. If you are reading this to the end, and you find value, please say so and share with others on LinkedIn and Twitter. Thank you! 
   

Work has been a little chaotic lately. Some really interesting projects and a few new clients leave me feeling mostly excited, useful and happy. But there are also things happening in client systems about which I am puzzled. I am spending extra time reflecting, trying to figure out the most effective approach and interventions. The familiarity of the work doesn’t make it any less daunting but having time to reflect, does. 
 
I am noticing that clients are almost all universally trying to do too much. They have too many priorities and seem hesitant to focus on the ones that matter most. This often leaves them feeling less satisfied with the outcomes even though they are working harder, when it might actually be better to stand back from their work. Standing back, or “on the balcony” as Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linksy describe in their book Leadership On The Line (still one of my favorites), is more necessary than ever and notably absent from most of our corporate systems. “I don’t have time to pull back. Where in an 80-hour work week would that fit?”, a client asked me recently. The truth is, I am not sure where it fits in an 80-hour week. But the 80-hour week is just one symptom of a bigger problem.
 
It’s true our species is built for action, struggle and hard work. We all know that work that involves physical labor requires we take breaks, eat and rest. Work rules on job sites structure this into the day to keep workers safe.  If they don’t, they can suffer dire consequences. For my clients, who are all knowledge workers, there are no compelling safety issues that demand breaks. There is no doubt in my mind, however, that doing demanding intellectual, collaborative or creative work requires built-in breaks or pauses to stop the action and reflect. It’s beyond the problem of making mistakes, though this is a part of it because it includes mistakes in relating, communicating and most importantly, judgement. Mistakes like these are actually way more time consuming to fix than prevent. It seems simple. It’s not. We still think that doing things faster and "powering through" is the best way to get things done. It’s not. In fact the busier you are, the more important it is to pause, reflect and integrate.
 

• Pause –Take a break from the action
• Reflect – Breath, look at what is happening around you. Observe, in real time, the consequences of the work you and your team are doing and the decisions you are making. Consider where the consequences or outcomes are meeting your intentions and where they are not.
• Integrate – Use what you have observed and learned to make a slight change, iterate, course correct, fix, re-direct or recognize, celebrate and move forward.  

 
Repeat. Build it into your processes. Agile and lean practitioners know this and wire it into their daily meetings. But all leaders and their teams would benefit from it. Like any practice, you have to be consistent about using it to make it a habit. Start. Now, let’s talk about your 80-hour work week. . .
 
Moira Clarke founded Leadership Consulting Partners 18 years ago to help companies advance their leadership and people systems. If you are reading this to the end, and you find value, please say so and share with others on LinkedIn and Twitter. Thank you! 
   

Talent assessment needs to evolve in big ways. Many clients know this and are making changes but I don't think they are substantive. As many large companies, Adobe, Accenture, GE and Microsoft to name a few, are changing their performance management system in substantial ways, we need to make the same big shifts in talent assessment and succession.  
 
Complex, adaptive issues, disruption, shortening business cycle times, and the need for greater collaboration among more diverse employees means that assessing talent has become more challenging. It is no longer enough for someone to play well with their manager and direct team, though both are still an important metrics. More and more we need to ensure people manage well across more complex, matrixed organizations and influence people who may not be in their immediate sphere of influence.
 
To ensure that leaders are effective, up, down and across organizational borders (and global boundaries) talent assessment must better leverage collective intelligence. The direct boss should still have a say in who gets promoted. But select peers and superiors across the organization should also be asked to provide feedback. Sometimes I feel that the boss should have the least input because they have formal authority. There is a strong incentive for their direct team to “manage up” well.  Delivering results for the organization and boss is an important ticket to entry, but it can no longer be the only metric for promotion. It is really how leaders act when they think no one is watching or evaluating that is much more informative. In talent reviews, leaders need to share and discuss a wider array of performance metrics, including:
 

• How effective is the leader with people who don’t report to them? Are they informal leaders of leaders? In other words, do their peers respect them and listen to them? (Peers are usually  the toughest audience)
• Does their brand of leadership and style attract and grow great talent? 
• Do they develop their own people? Do they mentor people outside of their function or organization?
• How effective is their team working with other teams? Does this leader collaborate well to bring about excellent results, even if not for their own operating unit? 
• Have they demonstrated effectiveness with diverse groups of employees? Do they have positive, effective relationships with all types of people in the organization or only people with whom they have more in common? 
• Do people inside and outside their organization respect and like them? 

 
Direct managers often don’t know all (or half) of this. But their colleagues across the organization do. This collective experience provides richer data and a more holistic view of a person’s real leadership impact. Organizations should set up talent management processes to capture and leverage it. There are lots of ways to gather collective intelligence in talent assessment but however you go about it, make it transparent and communicate it. In this way, you can create a level playing field and everyone knows what is expected. The way you assess and grow talent is culture creating – so it is worth the time to upgrade your system.
 
I am very aware that most leaders covet their ability to promote their best employees. When I discuss this more collaborative talent review process, clients most often tell me that they want to retain the decision on who to promote. I understand. And I know they may be short changing organizational performance by not considering a holistic approach. I also tell them not to try this more rigorous collaborative process unless they are willing to fully engage, listen and be open to changing their opinion.  
 
Moira Clarke founded Leadership Consulting Partners 18 years ago to help companies advance their leadership and people systems. If you are reading this to the end, and you find value, please say so and share with others on LinkedIn and Twitter. Thank you!