Leadership growth, much like any experiment that matters, cannot happen without two critical ingredients: action and assessment. While action refers to the decisions and steps taken by leaders, assessment reflects the crucial process of introspection and feedback. Bringing together these two elements is the practical framework of the leadership self-evaluation matrix.

The leadership self-evaluation matrix is a robust, structured framework that aids leaders in identifying their strengths and delineating areas requiring improvement. This introspective exercise coupled with external feedback, grounds leaders’ aspirations in reality and sets the stage for comprehensive, well-rounded development.

The matrix factors in categories such as communication excellence, decision-making acumen, adaptability, business emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, among others. Leaders rate themselves on a scale for each attribute, reflecting on their unique experiences and extracting insightful lessons. This self-assessment nurtures self-awareness, a trait highly valued in effective leaders.

However, personal biases, blind spots or over-confidence can sometimes cloud self-assessment. This is where external feedback, the other half of the leadership self-evaluation matrix, comes into play. Feedback from colleagues, team members, mentors, or coaches provides an objective perspective on a leader’s capabilities. It aids in either confirming the leader’s self-evaluation or bringing forward hidden strengths or unnoticed potential areas of growth.

Beyond self-reflection and gathering feedback, leaders need to periodically revisit their self-evaluation matrix and look at the objective data in relation to their performance goals. This allows them to track their progress and make necessary adjustments in their development plan. Self-reflection deepens self-awareness; feedback improves self-management and objective metrics indicate whether or not the action you are taking is giving the results you want.

In summary, the leadership self-evaluation matrix offers the double-advantage of introspective self-evaluation and objective external feedback, thereby setting the groundwork for continuous personal and professional growth. So, embrace this matrix, for in the words of John C. Maxwell, “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”

About Author

Fay Niewiadomski

I awaken leaders to purposefully discern the best way forward, with such clarity, that they find within themselves the courage, wisdom, and compassion to do what they never dared to do before.

I’ve been privileged to work closely with C-level officers, presidents, ministers, global chairman, diplomats, board members, senior business and political leaders, and their teams to successfully navigate complex, high-stakes situations and make sound business and personal decisions resulting in profound and lasting change.

See author's posts