As featured in Harvard Business Review
FREE GUIDE FOR HR & TALENT LEADERS
Not all 360s are created equal. Choose one that actually changes how leaders lead.
Drawing on 2.1 million 360-degree assessments, Jack Zenger and Joe Folkman set out the four tests that separate a 360 that drives development from one that produces a report nobody acts on.
- The scale problem that inflates scores and gives leaders false confidence
- How long raters should need: about 20 minutes, not twice that
- Why comparing to the top 10% raises the bar more than comparing to the average does
- How to use 360 data at the organization level for succession and high-potential selection
Building Better Leaders: 360 Assessments
4 chapters · 20 pages · 10-minute read
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Organizations
Assessments
30+
Years
45
Global Partners
150K+
Participants
20M
Data Points
What's inside
The four tests every 360 should pass
Use these when you compare vendors, or when you review the 360 you already run.
Created scientifically
Does it measure what separates great leaders from average ones?
Many competency models list behaviors executives assume matter, such as punctuality. The best 360s use items that statistically separate the top 10% of leaders from the bottom 10%, and those items predict business outcomes.
Linked to profitability, customer satisfaction, turnover and intent to leave
Participant friendly
Will raters finish it, and will leaders understand the report?
Every question has to earn its place. The report should be clear to a first-time reader without a 50-page appendix, and it should keep raters anonymous so they answer candidly.
Raters finish in about 20 minutes, about half the time of typical 360s
Focused on development
Does it lead to a plan the leader will act on?
Compare leaders with the top 10%, not the average. Build plans on strengths, and fix weaknesses only where they are fatal flaws. Measure the leader’s effect on team engagement.
Leaders with a few profound strengths reach the 90th percentile in effectiveness
Organizational benefits
Does the data help you manage talent, not just individuals?
When 360 data is collected well, it shows how your whole leadership bench is performing over time and makes high-potential selection more accurate.
25% of the high-potentials organizations select don’t belong in the program
A preview from Chapter 1
Is your current 360 telling leaders they're better than they are?
A rater thinks a leader is “an okay listener.” Look at what the two common rating scales report back to the leader.
Typical agree–disagree scale
Rater picks “Agree” → leader reads “4 out of 5, I’m doing well.”
✕ False positive: “okay” reads as a strength
Zenger Folkman strength scale
Rater picks “Competent” → leader reads “I’m okay at this.
- Accurate: average scores fall by 0.75 points
"Leaders want and need the kind of feedback that can only be received through effective 360-degree assessments. When administered properly, they will accept it and use it to help become more successful."
Evaluate your next 360 with the right criteria
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