How well can you adapt in an exponentially changing world?
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In an age where even Silicon Valley disruptors struggle to keep up, it is more critical than ever for leaders to know themselves. Otherwise how can they learn and develop? Or create a dream team, one that magnifies their strengths and remedies their weaknesses? Or avoid costly blind spots? Exceptional leaders need to have a thorough understanding of the world, their industry, their company and – crucially – themselves.
However, as Benjamin Franklin wrote, “There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond and to know one's self.” Based on decades of research on leadership effectiveness and close observation of leadership in practice, we have designed a development and feedback tool called the x360 to facilitate this self-discovery.
Since its launch in 2017, some 2,000 INSEAD programme participants have used it to identify their current leadership signature – their unique way of leading – and to explore how they could further develop in their roles. As with other 360-degree tools, it allows subjects to compare their self-image with how managers, peers, subordinates and external stakeholders perceive them. Our tool’s three core dimensions have been shown to be valid across cultures and types of organisations.
[This article is republished courtesy of INSEAD Knowledge, the portal to the latest business insights and views of The Business School of the World. Copyright INSEAD 2024]