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What 360° feedback data can tell us about the differences between male and female leaders Executive summary Gender differences are evident in a large study of 360° feedback data from managers and leaders in a wide variety of British organisations, based on Talent Innovations’ generic leadership model. We have found that, overall, 360° feedback recipients tend to be somewhat modest, giving themselves lower scores than their colleagues, and that this is particularly true of women. Conversely, females tend to give higher scores to others, particularly to other women When looking at specific competencies, we found…
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What 360° feedback data can tell us about the differences between male and female leaders
Gender differences are evident in a large study of 360° feedback data from managers and leaders in a wide variety of British organisations, based on Talent Innovations’ generic leadership model.
We have found that, overall, 360° feedback recipients tend to be somewhat modest, giving themselves lower scores than their colleagues, and that this is particularly true of women.
Conversely, females tend to give higher scores to others, particularly to other women
When looking at specific competencies, we found that women are consistently seen as better at managing and planning activities, taking personal responsibility (saying ‘sorry’) and relating & empathising with people. Men are consistently seen as being much more commercially-oriented and stronger as strategic leaders. There are also several competencies where females see women as being stronger (largely those that have a strong element of relationships with others, including the interpersonal aspects of leadership), and yet others where males see men as being stronger (largely those that do not have a strong element of relating to others, as well as more ‘challenging’
competencies such as innovation and personal impact). These therefore indicate two leadership forms – ‘male leadership’ is the intellectual planning / visionary type and the ‘female leadership’ is the more social type.
We also found that the specific areas where women saw themselves as being much weaker (relative to how their colleagues saw them) were the same areas where males generally see women as being weaker than men. This seems to indicate that women’s self-image is unduly influenced by the opinions of their male colleagues.
We feel that it is important to understand these tendencies whenever one is looking at a 360° feedback report, and feedback facilitators should interpret an individual’s set of data with these norms in mind. However, these differences in perception are not simple. They may indicate differences in the quality of relationships rather than real differences in current performance; they may indicate the cultural norms people are operating within; or indeed they may reflect the gender “filters” each of us uses when evaluating and judging others’ effectiveness at work. In addition to this the differences noted between “self” and “others” ratings serve as a useful reminder that self-only assessments may at best be missing something and at worst will systematically under-value
women’s capabilities.
We conclude that most companies will be strengthened by embracing the differences that exist between male and female leadership styles, by supporting a diverse mix of women and men in all parts of their organisations.
1 360° feedback
360° feedback, also known as 360 degree evaluation, 360 degree appraisal or multi-rater feedback, is the process of gathering feedback on employees’ performance and behaviours from ‘all around’ them: above them (their manager), below them (their direct reports), and from ‘beside’ them (from peers in their team, from peers and partners outside of their team, and sometimes from external
partners such as customers or suppliers).
Such feedback is normally gathered by asking each individual to assess how well the ‘focus’ of the feedback demonstrates each of a number of business-relevant behaviours. It is normal to also provide open-text forms in the questionnaire to allow the raters to comment on the individual’s strengths, areas in need of development and make other constructive points relevant to their current role and future career. The focus also completes this same questionnaire on themselves.
2 Inspiring Leader
Around 14,000 people have completed Talent Innovations’ off the shelf tool – the ‘Inspiring Leader’.
These people come from a variety of organisations and sectors, including many from the public and education sectors, though the majority were from the private sector. All but a handful of the feedbacks were gathered from organisations based in the UK.
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2nd October 2018
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10th April 2018
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10th April 2018
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10th April 2018
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10th April 2018
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