An excerpt from Results Coaching Next Steps (publish date Fall, 2016)

We have been fascinated with Performance Research and the role of leadership for the 21^st century for over 20 years now. It has been rewarding to read the research that has and continues to be done that is making us aware of critically important new thinking and behaviors. This is one study that demands a leader reflect and question, “How do I?”

In 2014, Human Capital Institute (HCI, 2014) published research on performance appraisals. HCI reported that while the objective of performance evaluations is ultimately to enhance organizational functioning, they often lead to poor quality performance, lower job satisfaction and lower organizational commitment and higher turnovers. Supervisors expressed contempt for appraisals; next to firing employees, appraisals were the most disliked task. The struggle is the same in education. Appraisals are time-consuming endeavors and leaders struggle to effectively balance their daily responsibilities with monitoring their staff. Additionally, 55% of the supervisors in the study believed they weren’t even accurate and only 39% of professionals agreed that their appraisals would improve performance. Performance appraisals are still an important function of leadership and talent management. When done in an effective way, evaluations can still fulfill their ultimate purpose of improving performance and developing employees. David Rock (2006) offered what we believe to be the new mindset: “If you want to improve performance, you must improve thinking about performance.”

A research study in Strategy + Business (Rock, D., Davis, J., & Jones, B., 2014) showed that the ability to grow talent is ranked 67^th out of 67 competencies for supervisors, despite 30-plus years of investment in training. The study reported that supervisors (managers) are the weakest at developing their employees than anything else they do. We must find ways to assess people that will reverse the destructive effects of traditional evaluation. We must use current knowledge about the human brain, have a growth mindset, and see employees eager to grow and learn in the right context and conditions.

What might happen if we view our employees as we do students: always growing and getting better? What might happen if we ditched the ratings and rankings that trigger the fight-or-flight response? A study at Kansas State University found that “the mere act of receiving a numerical rating can be perceived as negative feedback, and even people with a growth mindset don’t react well to negative feedback.” (Rock, 2014)

So, with summer approaching, here is the opportunity for reflection…

• How do I grow talent in my staff?
• As a principal, what do I specifically do to grow my Assistant Principal to replace me one day?
• How might my daily agenda be altered if my purpose was to grow talent in someone each day?
• How did influencers in my life grow my talent?

Should I become an expert in “growing the talent of others”, what would be my top 10 strategies?