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From Vague to Valuable: A Plug-and-Play Leadership Review Template · The Science of Leading

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  Welcome back to The Science of Leading.
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  I'm Claire Monroe, here with Edwin Carrington.
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  Today we're talking directly to the people who live and breathe performance
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  cycles... HR, People Ops, talent folks.
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  Why do leadership reviews so often feel unfair,
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  inconsistent, or just... exhausting?
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  Because most of them are built on narrative
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  rather than structure.
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  You give managers a blank box that says "Write feedback," and you get
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  novels, or you get three sentences,
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  depending on the manager's style.
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  Same leader, very different story.
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  That's where fairness starts to break down.
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  Yeah,
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  I've seen that.
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  One leader gets a glowing page because their manager loves to write.
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  Another gets two vague lines: "Good year.
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  Keep it up." And comp decisions are made off that.
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  Exactly.
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  Unstructured reviews turn into personality contests.
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  Who tells the better story, who has the more persuasive manager.
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  A structured leadership evaluation forces everyone to answer the same
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  questions: What was this leader's scope?
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  What did they deliver?
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  How did they lead?
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  Let's sit on that "what" versus "how." Why is it so
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  important to review both outcomes and behaviors?
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  Because results alone
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  don't tell you if the leadership is sustainable.
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  You can hit every target and quietly burn out your team,
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  drive away top performers, or create a culture of fear.
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  On paper, the numbers look great.
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  Underneath, you're building a future turnover problem.
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  On the flip side,
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  you might have someone who's beloved and supportive,
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  but they're not delivering the outcomes the business needs.
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  Strong "how," weak "what." A good review has to hold both truths at once.
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  So
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  HR's trying to protect against... what?
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  I'm thinking bias, vague language,
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  that "what happened last month" effect.
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  You've named the big ones.
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  Vague language: "great leader," "rough year," "not strategic." None of
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  those can be acted on.
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  Bias: how likable someone is, how similar they are to the reviewer.
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  And recency bias, where the last project overshadows eleven good months
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  before it.
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  Then there's inconsistent standards.
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  One department calls someone "top talent" for the same performance another
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  department labels "average." HR can't build a fair promotion or succession
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  system on that.
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  So the fix isn't "tell managers to be objective." It's
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  give them a better template?
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  Right.
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  You design the process so it demands evidence.
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  A structured leadership template asks: What was this person actually
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  responsible for?
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  What results did the team produce?
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  Which leadership behaviors did you see?
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  Give examples.
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  That's how you clean up the inputs so your compensation and promotion
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  decisions are defensible.
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  And you can even layer in structured data on
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  top of that.
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  Things like behavior fit reports or science-based assessments from tools
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  like OAD, so you're not relying only on the manager's memory and mood.
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  Yes.
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  When you have consistent, validated data alongside a good template,
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  the review stops being, "How do I feel about Claire this year?" and becomes,
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  "Here's what Claire did, how she did it,
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  and how that lines up with the role and the evidence we have."Okay,
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  so if I'm in HR and I buy into that,
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  my next question is, "What does that structured template actually look
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  like?" Let's unpack that next.
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  Alright,
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  Edwin, let's walk through a plug-and-play leadership review template.
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  If HR wants managers to stop writing messy essays,
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  what are the core sections they should standardize?
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  I'd build it in five
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  big blocks.
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  First: role context.
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  Second: outcomes and impact.
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  Third: competencies.
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  Fourth: values and culture.
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  Fifth: the development plan and summary.
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  Let's start with role context.
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  What should be captured there?
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  Role title,
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  team or function, number of direct reports,
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  major stakeholders, any budget or geographic scope,
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  and the top priorities for the year.
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  Plus one important piece: what changed.
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  Did they take on a new team, new region,
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  new product line?
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  Without that, people get judged on last year's job,
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  not this year's reality.
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  So you anchor expectations before you judge performance.
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  Exactly.
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  Then you move to outcomes and impact.
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  That's the "what." Three to five concrete results: key projects delivered,
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  metrics moved, major milestones.
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  And you connect it to team performance: quality,
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  speed, customer impact, maybe signals like retention if relevant.
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  Can
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  you give an example of a weak comment there versus a stronger one?
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  Weak
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  would be, "Did a good job leading the product launch." Stronger: "Led
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  the Q3 product launch on schedule,
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  which improved time-to-market by two weeks and reduced post-launch defects
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  by 15 percent." Same event, but the second one tells you what actually
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  happened.
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  And then competencies is the "how" section?
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  Yes.
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  You pick the core leadership skills you care about: communication,
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  decision making, emotional intelligence,
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  delegation and time management,
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  strategic thinking.
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  For each, you ask: what did they do well,
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  what needs to improve, and what's one example.
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  This is where HR struggles,
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  right?
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  Turning "soft skills" into something observable.
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  Right,
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  so you translate them into behaviors.
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  Take communication.
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  Weak comment: "Strong communicator." Better: "Explains complex roadmap
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  changes in plain language during team meetings,
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  which reduced rework on the Q2 release."For a gap,
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  instead of "needs better communication," you write,
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  "When priorities changed in April,
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  updates were high-level and didn't clarify owners or deadlines,
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  which caused missed handoffs with Support."You're always pairing behavior,
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  impact, and context.
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  Exactly.
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  You can do the same with decision making: "Makes timely decisions in
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  ambiguous situations and explains trade-offs," or,
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  for a gap, "Delays decisions when information is incomplete,
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  which slowed the pricing rollout in June."Where do options like technical
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  skills or change leadership fit in?
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  Those become optional competency add-ons
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  based on scope.
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  If it's a hands-on engineering manager,
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  you add "technical depth" or "system design." If they're running a
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  transformation,
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  you add "change leadership." Same structure: what they did well,
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  what to improve, with examples.
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  And values and culture?
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  That's your protection
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  against "results at any cost." You ask: How does this leader contribute
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  to a healthy environment?
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  Do people feel safe raising issues?
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  Where does their style create friction?
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  Again, examples.
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  "Creates space in team meetings for quieter members to weigh in," or,
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  "Avoids direct conflict, so issues resurface between Marketing and
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  Sales."Then
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  you end with a development plan and an overall summary.
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  Yes.
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  One to three development goals,
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  why they matter, what "good" looks like,
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  concrete actions, and a milestone date.
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  For example: "Improve delegation so more decisions are made at team lead
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  level.
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  Good looks like weekly priorities set with clear owners; by 90 days,
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  at least five recurring decisions are handled without escalation."If
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  you've got structured behavioral data from something like OAD,
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  this is where you align it: "Given your tendency to hold decisions close
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  under stress, we'll practice pushing ownership down with clear guardrails."
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  It makes the plan much more tailored.
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  And the beauty for HR is: same sections,
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  same prompts, across every manager.
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  Different content, but a common spine.
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  Okay,
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  so say HR has this template ready.
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  The anxiety I hear is, "How do we roll this out without overwhelming
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  everyone?" Can we walk through a simple annual checklist?
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  Absolutely.
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  Step one is data prep.
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  HR pulls goals, key metrics, any engagement or retention data,
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  and relevant stakeholder feedback.
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  If you're using a structured assessment like OAD,
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  you have those reports handy too,
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  so leaders aren't guessing about strengths and blind spots.
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  Then you ask
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  leaders for self-reviews, right?
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  Yes.
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  You give them the same structure: wins,
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  where they fell short and why,
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  what they learned, and what support they need.
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  That way, the manager isn't breaking news in the meeting; they're building
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  on the leader's own reflection.
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  What about the meeting itself?
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  How do you keep it focused?
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  Simple agenda.
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  First, confirm the scope for the period.
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  Second, walk through outcomes and impact.
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  Third, discuss two or three key competencies with examples.
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  Fourth, agree on the development plan and milestones.
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  Fifth, summarize decisions: any comp,
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  scope, and the follow-up dates.
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  Then HR's job is to make sure it doesn't
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  die in the system afterward.
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  Exactly.
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  Within a couple of days, the manager documents the review,
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  finalizes the development goals,
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  and schedules follow-ups.
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  That's where your 30/60/90-day structure comes in.
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  Can you give a concrete
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  30/60/90 example?
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  Sure.
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  Let's say the focus is decision speed.
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  At 30 days, you check: have we defined which decisions can be made at
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  the team level and started setting decision deadlines?
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  At 60 days, you look for evidence: "Three roadmap decisions were made
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  on time with documented trade-offs." At 90 days,
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  you decide: has behavior changed enough to close the gap,
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  or do we adjust the plan?
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  You also mentioned calibration and bias mitigation.
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  How does HR make standards consistent across departments?
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  You run calibration
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  sessions.
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  Managers come in with draft reviews and,
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  crucially, two or three examples per major rating.
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  HR moderates: "If you're calling this 'outstanding communication,' what
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  are the observable behaviors?
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  How does that compare to others?" You challenge vague labels like "not
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  leadership material" until they're translated into concrete behaviors.
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  So
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  the rule is: no ratings without receipts.
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  Exactly.
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  And bias mitigation is baked into the structure: common competencies,
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  shared language, examples required.
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  Where you have something like OAD,
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  you're also counterbalancing gut feel with consistent,
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  science-based data on traits that affect leadership style.
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  That helps when executives push back with,
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  "But I just don't see them as a leader."I can hear HR leaders asking,
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  "How do I keep executives on board and not drown them in process?"You
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  frame it in business terms.
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  This isn't extra paperwork; it's risk management.
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  Structured leadership reviews reduce promotion mistakes,
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  make pay decisions defensible,
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  and give you a clear bench for succession planning.
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  You're protecting the company and the leaders.
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  And you're turning reviews
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  into real development, not just a yearly post-mortem.
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  Exactly.
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  When you tie the review to 30/60/90-day milestones,
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  you can track progress, spot who's growing into larger roles,
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  and who might struggle with more scope.
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  Over time, that shapes your succession plan: who's ready now,
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  who's ready next, and what each person needs.
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  Alright,
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  let's land this.
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  If you're listening and you're in HR or People Ops,
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  the move is: standardize the template,
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  insist on behavior-plus-impact comments,
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  run real calibration, and turn every review into a concrete development
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  plan.
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  And don't rely only on narrative.
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  If you want leadership reviews and development plans that are consistent,
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  evidence-based, and defensible,
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  add structured behavioral data into the mix.
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  That's where a tool like
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  OAD comes in.
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  If you wanna see what that looks like in practice,
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  go test OAD for free at OAD.
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  ai.
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  It gives you science-based insights into leadership traits and fit,
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  so your templates, your calibration,
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  and your development plans have a stronger foundation than gut feel.
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  It's
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  a simple step that can dramatically improve the quality of your decisions
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  about leaders.
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  Edwin, thanks as always for the perspective.
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  Always a pleasure,
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  Claire.
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  And thanks to all of you for listening to The Science of Leading.
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  Go tighten up those leadership reviews,
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  and we'll see you next time.