Sometimes, as you look at giving somebody a rating, it becomes clear that a single-dimensional rating is just not sufficient. In fact, for most humans, there’s a huge amount of value lost in that reduction in information.
So when I’m thinking about employees, I’ve often used the following tool. In addition to the standard performance ratings, when I’m looking at leaders, I factor in how this person measures up to the needs of the job and the person’s both demonstrated behavior and potential in each area.
These are not ranked in order — different jobs at different levels in different situations require a different combination of each thing. A key element is whether the person is self-aware of where they stand on each of the 8 dimensions vs. where the business needs them to be.
Hard-earned wisdom: Lack of self-awareness trumps all 8, and is a criteria for exit at the higher levels (Director and above).
The eight dimensions
- Ambiguity — comfort operating without clear inputs or clean answers
- Complexity — capacity to hold many moving parts in mind at once
- Urgency — appropriate speed-of-action for the moment
- Compassion — for the people you lead and for those affected by your decisions
- Communications — written, verbal, situational, escalation
- Judgement — calling shots correctly, especially under pressure
- Independence — knowing when to push and when to ask
- Impact — what you actually move