Advice from Real Life

Has it really been two years since I have blogged a “Route Recommendation?”  While I have posted several blogs in those two years, I haven’t stayed on top of this monthly commitment to offer tid-bits of advice.  Some of this may be attributed to the depression (original story: here) but some might be because I spent the 2016-2017 engrossed as the Interim Educational Director at a local synagogue and the last 12 months nose-in to my dissertation (still in progress).  So I wanted to share two gleanings, one from each of these experiences.

• 360 REVIEWS!  During my time as the Interim Educational Director, the concept of 360 reviews came up several times.  The importance of this tool cannot be understated.  It gives the person being reviewed the opportunity to not only hear feedback from a supervisor, but from colleagues, direct reports and clients.  The employee has the ability to choose people from each category as does the supervisor.  This gives balance to the reporting as allies as well as those with concerns can weigh in on the strengths and weaknesses of the employee.  Some categories to consider in this review are: Interpersonal Skills; Problem Solving; Motivation; Efficiency and Prioritization; Teamwork; Interpersonal Communication; Time Management; Integrity, Honesty and Truthfulness; Staff Management; and Content Knowledge.  These categories offer a much broader data set than does an evaluation solely based on “goals met.”  Often times, 360 Reviews are facilitated by an outside neutral consultant.  Organizations should prioritize budget dollars to include the cost of an outside consultant to fulfill this important evaluation.

• GET A COACH!  After staring at my dissertation, largely untouched, for the five years following completion of my coursework, I finally realized that I need a different kind of support and accountability than I would get from my dissertation advisor (who has about 30 other advisees and a full teaching course load).  Hiring a dissertation coach was the best thing I could do to invest in my own success.  Sometimes coaches come to us for various reasons – executive coaching, personal life coaching, fitness coaching.  We should not be afraid to invest in success – of ourselves or our employees – by investing in the cost of a coach.