I’m on my second day of five in a senior management leadership programme. Since the first two days are residential, I’ve just enjoyed an average breakfast after a poor night’s sleep in a hotel.
Management courses always have the potential to leave you feeling exhausted in a different way than factual or technical training. I use the two terms carefully here. I my view, in ‘training’, you are expected to leave the event having acquired a particular set of skills. For me, a ‘course’ is a little more open ended – the outcomes are somewhat clear, but could be different for each individual.
The end of day one included receipt of 360 degree feedback from a number of volunteers who had completed a comprehensive survey about the individual – in this case, me. I believe that you need to have reached a certain level of development to receive 360 degree feedback. Whilst positive feedback is always a pleasure to receive, receiving and responding to feedback that illustrates areas where professional or personal development is necessary can be very challenging.
This isn’t the first time I have received 360 degree feedback, and I’m sure won’t be the last. The important consideration for me now is how to align my future actions and behaviour to address these areas for improvement. Specifically, how to ensure that this doesn’t simply take place on the first day or two following my course, but also for the foreseeable future – achieving long term change in my behaviour, not short term actions.
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