360 Leadership Assessment Plus SPECIFICS on Playing and Coaching Better

"People don't quit jobs, people quit people." - David Cottrell

Strong leaders want to become even better leaders. 360 degree leadership assessments solicit input from superiors, coworkers, team members, and others to give us a better picture of our strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. 

Why is it useful?

• We are not always honest in assessing our ability and performance.
• We don't always treat everyone the same ("kiss up, kick down")
• Others may have insights into our blindspots

How can we get a 360 assessment? 

1) Ask others for honest opinions. Anonymity might help. 

2) PBOD (Personal Board of Directors)...John Calipari meets with his PBOD periodically. 

3) Exit interviews. At the local volleyball breakup dinner Thursday, Coach Scott Celli (over 500 career wins) shared that he conducts exit interviews with each player and includes asking them what he can do better. 

4) Self-assessment. 

5) Hire a coach. Elite surgeon Atul Gawande hired a coach to oversee his technique. 

Traditionally, 360 assessments were used for development. Wikipedia notes, "organizations are increasingly using 360-degree feedback in performance evaluations and employment decisions (e.g., pay; promotions)."

Example from Wikipedia... note the variety of perspectives some aligned and some variable. 

We can create our own parameters such as:

• Game knowledge
• Teaching ability
• Communication
• Energy
• Fairness
• Decisiveness
• Trustworthiness 
• Motivational skill
• Industriousness
• Openness

BasketballImmersion informs their take on 360-Degree feedback. "Gathering information from multiple people might improve the accuracy of the feedback. Coaches sometimes receive feedback in a “top-down” manner, often from one superior only (e.g., athletic director or sport administrator), which calls into question the trustworthiness of that single evaluation. However, by gathering insights and opinions from multiple people, you should receive feedback that more accurately reflects your “true” behaviours and actions as a coach."

Lagniappe. Take the time to think about our needs. A journal (or a blog) helps us refer back to older problems needing solutions. 

Lagniappe 2. Use checklists. 

Here's a simple checklist: 

1. Take quality shots.

2. Take care of the ball (limit turnovers).

3. Contain the ball. Stop penetration. 

Lagniappe 3. Seek greatness? Get a coach.