December 09, 2008
Feedback, Coaching & Ownership
If I had only two things I could write about, taking in a few decades of working in UM organizations, it would be these two things. I'd write about the power of:
• Openness in work environments, enabled by honest feedback and coaching/co-mentoring
• Ownership of what you do, assisted by good process
As trends and topics have evolved over the years, I’ve inherited or been ask to help with the following progression of topics:
• performance evaluation (evolved into)
• performance management systems (which picked up)
• competency models (which now has pressures put upon it to be part of, related to)
• updated job classification and career family designations (that with competencies fan out into)
• talent management (see Bersin) and so on.
Do you see the trend here? Management, complexity, tools (grids, models, forms) are themes. So how does community, communication and leadership, including personal leadership fit in? These are things discussed in UHR as a part of the HR vision: People Thrive, Partnerships Prevail, and Performance Excels.
Regarding the topic of feedback and coaching, my current favorite reference for 360 feedback that brings up the issues and concerns in a clear way is here:
• http://humanresources.about.com/od/360feedback/a/360debate.htm
There's plenty there to chew on in an upcoming post, as UHR, MAIS, and B&F are all involved in 360 processes currently.
As for the rest of it, I’m going to take the easier route today and simply relay a few relevant quotes of what makes most sense to me out of this continuously evolving process of systems thinking. Systems thinking is the good standard, yet I do need to be reminded of the basics. Let me know if these quotes resonate.
• It is not enough to be busy, what are you busy about? --H. D. Thoreau
• At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day? --Gallup: First, Break All the Rules
• Most of the change we think we see in life is due to truths being in and out of favor. --Robert Frost
• What makes a good follower? The single most important characteristic may well be a willingness to tell the truth. In a world of growing complexity leaders are increasingly dependent on their subordinates for good information, whether the leaders want to hear it or not. Followers who tell the truth and leaders who listen to it are an unbeatable combination.--Warren Bennis
• When we really live truth, we will cease to talk about it. --E. Hubbard
• This is the true joy in life: Being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one, being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances, complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it what I can. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.-George Bernard Shaw
Let me know what you think in the comments. Thanks to you all, -Deb
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