It’s no secret that I have been deeply interested in analyzing feedback data from multiple angles for years. One area of interest has been the comparison of self-assessed levels of effectiveness to the feedback received from others. It became apparent that most people do not have an accurate measure of their own effectiveness. Leaders either over- or underestimate their performance.
To illustrate this point, I examined 835,000 assessments of 59,808 leaders with the goal of determining which rater category provided feedback that most aligned with the leader’s overall effectiveness rating. Overall effectiveness included the leader’s self-rating. The graph below shows the percent of variability accounted for by each group. Note how self-responses are only about half as accurate as the other rater groups.
I then determined the areas where self-ratings were more positive than the overall effectiveness ratings. My goal was to help individuals understand where they are most likely to overestimate their abilities.
Eight Capabilities Where You May Not Be as Effective as You Think
1. Integrity and Honesty. The largest disparity in this area dealt with saying one thing and doing another. People rarely catch themselves doing something they said they would not do. If they do catch themselves, they usually rationalize the behavior based on the situation.Another item focused on being a role model and setting a good example. It is often easy to see when others are not good role models, but can be difficult to see it in ourselves. The last item focused on honoring commitments and keeping promises. Be careful about lavishing too much praise when it can’t be backed up with compensation or promotion.
2. Taking Initiative. People see themselves as taking a lot more initiative than others notice. One might think that the solution is to boast about how hard you work and what you have done. That will not work. It’s best to begin with the assumption that most of the initiative you take will not be noticed by others, and instead choose to take on those tasks for which your initiative will be inherently visible to the organization.
3. Developing Others. It is humbling for individuals to realize their development efforts are not enough. Direct reports may want more feedback, challenging assignments, training, and coaching. The item that stood out most here was, “Is truly concerned about developing others.” This begs the question, “What are most leaders really concerned about?” Delivering results, getting a promotion, being liked by others, or developing others?
4. Solving Problems. The largest overestimation of performance in this area was, “Trusted by others to use good judgement.” Leaders assume they are right when they make a decision but often do not check with others and gather their ideas. For example, Thomas Edison held 2,332 patents, but it was the work of his 14 or so engineers, machinists, and physicists known as the ‘muckers’ that brought those inventions to life. Forget about trying to be the smartest person in the room—be the best facilitator of the smart people on your team.
5. Relationship Builder. Most leaders assume that others like and trust them, but that’s not always the case. “Is trusted by all members of the work group” was frequently over-rated, as was “Balances results with a concern for others.” Leaders assume they have better relationships with others primarily because others tend to act more positively toward them due to their position. The difficult truth is that other people most likely don’t like you as much as their behavior or actions might suggest.
6. Knowledge and Expertise. It is easy for us to overestimate, and for others to underestimate, our knowledge and expertise because others don’t know what you know. It is also possible that you may overvalue your knowledge and expertise, or fail to share as much as is needed with others.
7. Collaboration. People tend to overrate how collaborative they are with other groups or organizations. This is difficult because most of our educational and work experiences have reinforced the emphasis on individual work over group results.
8. Inspiring Others. Many people believe they are more inspirational than others see. In our global data, this is both the lowest-rated, yet highest-valued competency. This is a difficult competency to master. Most people assume this is about giving an inspirational speech with lots of raw enthusiasm. In our research at Zenger Folkman, we found that leaders can be inspiring by having a clear vision, setting stretch goals, developing others, taking lots of initiative, or making emotional connections.
I hope this helps leaders realize that they may not be as effective as they assume—but the data also shows that those who are the most effective tend to underrate themselves. Humility is the secret that helps leaders improve. Leaders who know they can solicit feedback from their teams and find ways to leverage the strengths of others. Humble leaders therefore become the model for change. As others see leaders accept correction and make positive changes they are more likely to do so themselves. Keeping humility as a critical component of your leadership style will accelerate your journey in becoming an extraordinary leader.