I once had an executive coaching client who LOVED the 360 process when he came to me. 


He constantly requested them seeking others’ views of how he could grow.

Yes, 360 reviews can surface important things.

But there were certain blindspots that the 360s NEVER surfaced.

And these happened to be his biggest growth levers.

(Cue: eyebrow raise.)

They were the ways he was subtly getting in his own way that others couldn’t perceive and that the assessments didn’t catch. But I was able to help him uncover and heal those. 


This really stuck with me.

 

360 reviews (*a best practice leadership development approach) don’t illuminate the taproots of WHY anyone can struggle with teamwork, communication, mentorship, development, etc.

When someone isn’t communicating, is habitually late, or consistently domineering, it’s not typically because they just need to learn skills.

 

It’s usually because of their Shadow Power patterns—whether received, imprinted, chosen, or fed un/consciously.

So telling them they’re not great at communicating and that they need to start communicating more effectively isn’t the unlock at least 95% of the time.

 

They need to learn power literacy.


There’s work to do in their body and psyche about how they conduct power.

To learn about what power really is and how they conduct it in many forms.

To clearly see the Shadow Power (SP) patterns that operate within them in order to find the antidotes.

And inquire into the parts of them that uncomfortable fully inhabiting their gifts and Power that Serves the Whole (PSW).

 

Frankly, 360s are only as valuable as a team's ability to reliably provide accurate feedback — aka to not project their Shadow Power on others AND to know what Power that Serves the Whole can look like as a bar for potent teamwork.

They're also only as powerful as everyone's clarity on the organizational Shadow Power patterns.

Guess how common these abilities are from my experience with leaders and humans at large? Very low.

So then what's the quality of data you're working with in the 360 review process?

Example // evaluating someone's teamwork in an organization where patterns of self-violation, numbing, and judgment are normalized as how to do our best work isn’t a useful bar to assess against because it's all too easy for people to unconsciously evaluate through their normalized cultural lens.

This is why I don't ever start with 360s.

I don't find that they surface powerful data nor do they stimulate powerful cultural competency.

 

Also, the 360 process reinforces the notion that we can't surface keys to growth within ourselves.

That we MUST look outside.

Outside information can be wildly helpful in the growth process, but if we never learn how to look within to illuminate our biggest growth levers, that's a disempowering atrophied capacity.

 

Lastly, people are VASTLY more empowered and open to transforming their Shadow Power when they notice it themselves.

 

HERE'S WHAT I DO INSTEAD.

I give people the Power Assessment for Leaders.

I teach them power literacy.

I help them see their limiting beliefs about power, claim a new identity, and reconnect to their regenerative power sources through the Power Initiation for Leaders.

And I train them to have the embodied skills to identify and work with the taproots of power themselves while in community with other leaders to deshamify our whole range of power expression from Shadow Power to Power that Serves the Whole in the Regenerative Power Emobidment Accelerator.

 

These foundational trainings enhance leaders' self-awareness and wayfinding skills by leagues, so they don’t have to be so reliant on others’ feedback in order to grow.

Guess what? This doesn’t make them closed to feedback or the impact they have on others.

In fact, it makes them MORE proactive, curious, and responsible for how they show up.

And their ability to see power patterns in others goes through the roof.

At this point, people surface much better observations of each other, organizational culture, and team processes.

That's when I might start using a 360 review process.

Before then, I believe there's a much more powerful way to invest your team's time and money in pursuit of evolution into more regenerative ways of leading and working.

 

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I hope you found this helpful.
If you have any questions, reply here and I'm happy to discuss.

Want to learn the skills I describe above to catalyze your own regenerative power as a leader? Join my next Regenerative Power Embodiment Accelerator.