My Own Executive Coach
Why Should I Criticize My Own Performance?
by Barbara Reinhold

DEAR COACH:""I received an email from my new manager the other day that really threw me for a loop. She told me to come to my performance review next week with a list of my strengths and areas for improvement. What is she talking about? I've never been asked to criticize myself before. Is this some kind of plot to help me hasten my own demise? What's going on here?"
DAVE

DEAR DAVE: Welcome to the 21st century, when all of us will be asked constantly to identify not only our strengths but our areas in need of development as well. You're not being asked to jettison your own career, but failing to get with the program and refusing to do realistic self-assessment and skill development will be a problem. Here is a theory to wrap your mind around and help you prepare for your performance review: Our weaknesses are almost always the excesses of our strengths. If you want some help in figuring out where you are underdeveloped, then have a look at where you're overdeveloped. If you're a command-and-control/get-things-done person, for instance, chances are you need to work on your listening skills. And vice versa. So let me pose a list of 15 typical strengths a manager might be
hoping to find on the skills list of a fast-track employee. For each of these, circle the letter that best captures your perceived level of strength.

H= high - I definitely have this.
M= Medium - I have some of this.
L= Low - I think I need help here.

Be honest with yourself, and ask somebody you trust to check your scores, to be sure you're not kidding yourself. Then, along with the list of things you do well, take your Ms and Ls on this list to your manager for your performance review, and you'll get high scores for honest self-assessment. How do you really rate on each of the following? For each one, circle the letter that describes you best:

H M L (1) Attention to detail and follow-through
H M L (2) Analytical ability
H M L (3) Big picture, visionary ideas
H M L (4) Adaptability, flexibility
H M L (5) Relationship-building skills
H M L (6) Persuasiveness in writing
H M L (7) Persuasiveness in person
H M L (8) Risk-taking
H M L (9) Creativity/innovation
H M L (10) Optimism
H M L (11) Initiative, being a self-starter
H M L (12) Conflict-management skills
H M L (13) Appreciation of diversity
H M L (14) Tolerance to ambiguity
H M L (15) Tact/good political instincts

So how did you do?

Go over the list and choose five on which you scored M or L to take to your performance review, along with some idea for how you'd like to be developing your skills in each of those areas. In some cases, courses, conferences or reading will be useful. For others, you might want to seek the services of a coach. This list is just a generic one, so you may want to add other skills that are essential for your field or organization. The point is to take a clear and fair reading of your own strengths and weaknesses and present them as evidence of your desire to keep on getting better and better at what you do. You'll probably be shocked at how good you'll feel too, knowing that you don't need to be perfect. You just need to be improving. Good luck!
CAREER COACH

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