“The eye cannot see its own lashes.”
– Chinese proverb
“Superior performers intentionally seek out feedback; they want to hear how others perceive them, realizing that this is valuable information … one common mistake is focusing on people’s weaknesses and failing to note their strong points. This can be demoralizing rather than motivating.”
– Daniel Goleman, Working with Emotional Intelligence
“Human nature seems to endow everyone with the ability to size up everybody but himself.”
– Unknown
” … very few people have an accurate perception of either their strengths or their weaknesses. This is why we often comically read such facts as ’80 percent of American drivers consider themselves above average’ and ’65 percent of people surveyed believe they are better than average looking in appearance’ … the only way to get an accurate read of how you are doing as a leader is through the collective eyes of those you lead … a leader’s ability to lead is highly determined by the reactions of others to that leader. Self-perceptions make little difference.”
– Jack Zenger, Joe Folkman, Bob Sherwin, and Barbara Steel, How to Be Exceptional: Drive Leadership Success by Magnifying Your Strengths
“Strengthen me by sympathizing with my strength, not my weakness.”
– Amos Bronson Alcott, 19th century American educator, social reformer
“Most feedback accentuates the negative. During formal employee evaluations, discussions invariably focus on ‘opportunities for improvement’ even if the overall evaluation is laudatory. No wonder most executives — and their direct reports — dread them … too much emphasis on problem areas prevents companies from reaping the best from their people. After all, it’s a rare baseball player who is equally good at every position. Why should a natural third baseman labor to develop his skills as a right fielder?”
– Laura Morgan Roberts, Gretchen Spreitzer, Jane Dutton, Robert Quinn, Emily Heaphy, and Brianna Barker, “How to Play to Your Strengths,” Harvard Business Review
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Tap into the powerful Strengths-Based Leadership Development System built around Zenger Folkman’s well researched and highly acclaimed 360 feedback tool at our first Extraordinary Leader public workshops in Calgary on November 13 and Toronto on November 29 (hosted by Canadian Tire).
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