What Matters to You – Performance Reviews

I firmly believe that people need to have performance reviews to know how they are doing, what is working, and what needs to be worked on to continue to grow.  It is just as important that two- way communication exists, and that feedback is provided both ways. The organization benefits when this happens, as it makes for stronger individuals. 

Kids have report cards, grownups have performance reviews. 

The best reviews are formalized, have a set frequency, allow for specific categories to be addressed, and give both parties a measuring stick for success over a given time.  The biggest disservice to the individual receiving the performance review, and to the one providing the review, is to be overly critical or simply sugarcoat things.

So, with this background, I struggle to understand all concerns surrounding a particular leadership review.

Why has it become hyper-polarized? Why has it become so emotional? 

Is it important? Absolutely.  Should people participate in the process if they are able? Absolutely.  Is the world going to come to a screeching halt if there is a less than favorable review? Not a chance. 

There is a strong group of people that have been elected, and several likely leaders should a change be required.  Is there going to be sunshine and rainbow gumdrops falling from the sky if there is a largely favorable review? Highly unlikely. There will always be challenges to overcome, as there is a general election on the horizon only 11 months down the road.

What will be most meaningful for those that take part in this leadership review is to create a few categories of measurement, and within these categories give a threshold for success or failure.  Some will be weighted higher than others, depending on your personal value system. Tabulate your pass vs. fail areas and see what the result is, for this particular ballot, either a yes or a no.  As I’ve said, I’ve performed a number of these over the years, and what works for some may not work for others; when it comes to an honest review, taking the emotion out of the process seems to work best. 

I do believe that in the political world, trust is a major factor.  We as voters put an exorbitant amount of trust into elected individuals to represent our best interests for a long duration without us personally being there to check up on them.  It is imperative to make sure that you do what you can to get to know who is running, find out what they stand for (not just the party platform) and stay engaged after they are elected.  Make sure that they do the same: that they are constantly engaged, and that if there is a position change that they do indeed give valid reasons why.  Through the representative process, you may not agree with all the decisions, but you need to know that you can respect and trust that the decisions are being made in the best interest of the people.  If you don’t feel this way, throw a flag on the play.

So, when it comes to the leadership review that is currently taking place, it is important that there is an honest feedback loop, and that it is truly representative of the performance of our leadership over the last few years.  The largest disservice is to keep telling the Emperor that his new cloak is the best thing ever, while he parades in the street with barely a stitch on, or to throw stones because you may not like his choice of hat on a particular day.

I believe the best way to stay plugged into what folks are thinking is to be able to meet in person.  I am a big fan of face-to-face meetings, town halls and local events. Folks need to hear what their neighbors have to say, and to be able to see things from another’s perspective.  Over the last few years, we all have been stretched thin, pulled in different directions, and sometimes even turned on each other based on differing decisions, or on which way the narrative was blowing that week. 

I’m not asking people to forget everything, as there is a pile of ‘lessons learned’ to consider, so that we can make changes in legislation to ensure mistakes are not repeated.  I also want to highlight the good things that happened as well, so we can ensure that those continue to flourish going forward.  I’ll strive to do what I can, with the time I have left, and the resources I have at my disposal, to make our slice of God’s Country a better place; and to do that, I’ll need you to stay engaged. Please keep indicating what is a priority to you and keep on giving me my performance reviews.

Sincerely,

Shane Getson