What’s stopping me from getting promoted to a higher level of management?

Not so long ago, people were selected for leadership and management positions largely on the basis of their technical abilities. Now, increasingly, it is an individual’s softer skills that mark them out for success in these roles. Research from Professor Robert Hogan, found that 55% of managers were unfit for their jobs because of their inability to handle the ‘dark side’ to their personalities - they displayed behaviour which caused their staff not to trust them resulting in lower performance. Often 360 assessment flags up these development areas and provides a safe way for colleagues to give sensitive feedback.

In a recent study into the factors that create outstanding work performance, Harvard University’s Dr Daniel Goleman discovered, after analysing data from over 100 different companies, that a manager’s ability to display a high awareness of others’ needs and preferences and then powerfully influence and effectively communicate with them is twice as important as their IQ and technical skills combined.

This growing appreciation of the need for advanced influencing skills has led to a surge in demand for training methods that can develop managers’ ability to understand, involve and inspire their staff. And, of the many different soft skills training options available, more and more employers are turning to Executive Coaching which specialises in advanced behavioural change methods, in order to turbo-charge a leader’s goal-achieving, influencing and communication skills.

The combination of the 360 diagnostic, coaching and behavioural change methods, provide a solid approach to achievement that enables individuals to assess their situation, set achievable outcomes, use language to understand and inform situations and take effective action. In business, these four skills have consistently helped leaders and managers to improve their ability to control their emotions, understand and influence others, and meet compelling goals.

Case study:

Ian was a fiercely ambitious and hardworking sales and marketing manager who was renowned within his company for his frequent and seemingly unprovoked angry outbursts. Ian’s ‘little problem’ reached a crisis point for him when he was overlooked for promotion to the senior management team for the second time in two years. When he received 360 feedback he recognised his aggressive behaviours was jeopardising his career. He began a series of Coaching sessions in a bid to deal with his anger.

Psychology suggests that our emotional state is a combination of what we are thinking about and how our body is responding. By deliberately changing the images, sounds, words and feelings in our heads – or our posture, breathing and muscle tone in our bodies – we can change our feelings almost instantly.

Ian’s coach worked to teach him how to handle his feelings of anger as and when they arose. Within six months of his Coaching, having successfully transformed his relationship with his colleagues and team members by learning to manage his emotional state in the moment and concentrate on doing his job well, Ian was finally appointed to the senior management team at the third attempt.

In summary research shows that managers can develop their leadership skills as long as they know ‘what’ to change and then ‘how’ to change it. 360 feedback provides the ‘what’ and the Executive Coach with a tool box of behavioural change techniques provides the ‘how’.

To find out more about the specific 360 instrument used, have a look at these courses: