Write Your Own Review

Performance reviews by ambush. Leaders who treat feedback like the plague. Bosses who never ask where you want to be in one to three years. It’s time to turn that around; it’s time to take the bull by the horns. Write Your Own Review. Yes, Write Your Own Review.

Performance Reviews by Ambush

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes in my career. The good news is, I learned from those mistakes. The better news is? I’m willing to share those mistakes with you, so you won’t make them.” That’s how I start many leadership projects.

Yet, the message applies whether you are a leader, an aspiring leader, or a team member happy to be one.

The Story:

While serving as an in-house employment lawyer for a large Southern California utility, I had the good fortune of working with a variety of leaders in various departments. I was considered an up-and-comer and trusted to meet senior officers alone. One day in February, I was invited to the office of a senior officer and put my foot in my mouth. To this day, I have no recollection of what I said, but I remember clearly the reaction, and it wasn’t good. He was angry.

To say I was ushered out of his office is an understatement. I remember walking back slowly to my office, fearful of what my boss would say. I was certain the senior officer would call my boss, and I would hear about it when I returned.

Instead, my boss greeted me by saying, “Hey, a bunch of us are going out for lunch. Do you want to join us?” Phew, I thought, I dodged that bullet. There was no way my boss received the dreaded call.

Was I wrong? Ten months later, during my annual performance review, I heard all about that February meeting. It was a much-delayed chewing out. Worse yet, it impacted my overall performance rating. I was shocked, and more than that, angry.

Why hadn’t my boss said something in February? We could have discussed it; I would have learned a lesson, probably apologized to the officer, and it wouldn’t have come up ten months later, seemingly stalling my anticipated promotion.

Lessons Learned – How to Avoid Performance Reviews by Ambush:

We all make mistakes; it’s not if we make them, rather how we handle them.

These are the lessons I learned in my role as a team member:

• The “No Surprises Rule:” Rather than being fearful that the officer was going to call my boss, I should have told my boss what happened when I returned to the office. (I learned later as a boss, I wanted to know from the team member, so I could be prepared to manage it.)
• Transparency on My Part: Had I told my boss what happened, he could have advised me on the best way to manage the situation with the officer. It would have given him the opportunity to support me as an officer. The negative aftermath that lasted for ten months – unbeknownst to me – could have been diminished or eliminated.
• Write Your Own Review: Had I written my own honest review in November and sent it to my boss prior to my December review, I would have shifted the conversation from his view of me to my view of myself. Game changer.

These are the lessons I learned in my role as a Leader:

• Create a Culture of Transparency: Set the tone, lead by example, follow an adage another of those utility officers lived by: “Mistakes are okay if: #1. They were thoughtful – options were considered, and you made the wrong decision, vs. you shot from the hip. #2. You learned from the mistake. #3. You shared the mistake with others so they could learn from the mistake and not make the same one.
• Focus on Acts, Facts, Conduct, and Events: Avoid conclusions, opinions, or attributing motivation to others.
• Give Immediate Feedback: Provide the feedback as soon as possible after the “act, fact, conduct, or event,” allowing for emotions to cool down, if needed.
• Ask Team Members to Write Their Own Review: Have them list their strengths with specific examples to back them up, and the areas they need to make improvements, again providing examples. Among many other outcomes, if you two are not in sync, it means you, as a leader, have failed to give prompt, ongoing, and honest feedback to the team member.

I am eager to hear your thoughts. Email me at diana@dianapetersonmore.com. And, tune into my next two blogs on: “Write Your Own Review.” I’ll tackle Leaders who treat feedback like the plague. Then, bosses who never ask where you want to be in one to three years.