There are two primary components of leadership which are rated in the process: task skills (organizing work, delegating, taking action when needed, setting direction for the team) and interpersonal skills (e.g., resolving conflicts, praising direct reports, mentoring them).
However, there are still some questions regarding the use of this tool. One of them is who are the most important sources of ratings? Is it the person who is being assessed, direct reports, peers, or supervisors?
Researchers at Center for Creative Leadership conducted a study and offered some answers.
What is revealed by ratings
Self-ratings of leaders of their own leadership skills tend to be poor indicator of whether their colleagues think that they are at risk of career derailment in the future. On the other hand, ratings by peers, direct reports and supervisors tend to be quite good indicators. The best predictor is peer ratings.
All rating sources (subordinate, peer, superior) matter in a 360-degree feedback report. However, it seems that extra attention should be given to peer ratings.
Self-ratings are very useful in one important aspect: leaders should focus on how they rate themselves relative to how their direct reports, peers, and supervisors rate them. This can indicate future career problems – if leaders overrate themselves compared to how others see them, there is a risk of career derailment. The risk is not high if they underrate themselves or if their self-rating is the same as the rating from others.
-jk-