This post was originally published in February of 2017 on another platform:
With the new year comes yet another opportunity to think about the future. Of course we should reassess often, but January is when we tend to focus more than usual on what the coming year might hold.
At work I've been given that opportunity in a more formal way. Many of the executives at NPR have gone through what is called a 360 review. Most of those who are VP and above have already passed through it. Seems like this year it's my turn. The first part is to select a professional coach. We have done that in my case. The coach interviews the executive; done. Then the person receiving the coaching effort, me, takes a survey. It is called a Hogan Assessment and is designed to show the coach some insights into areas in the person's psyche. I've finished that portion as well. Next the coach interviews about a dozen people in the organization. These are called 360 interviews because the intention is to talk to people I interact with at different levels; think 360 degrees. Some are those who are above me in the organization, some are peers and others report to me. The specifics of what interviewees say are anonymous, but the coach is looking for patterns. These interviews are in process right now.
After all that is done, the coach draws some conclusions, shares all the information with me, except who said what, and the two of us create a plan. The plan will be designed to help me find areas where I can improve, and things to try in order to make progress on the improvement goals. We'll see how it all turns out. Clearly there is a little trepidation involved since it can be difficult at times to hear where one might need to improve. Hopefully I'm able to keep an open mind and take real action on what I learn. In gospel terms the idea of openness might be equated with being humble enough to be teachable.
One thing in particular that struck me as I was taking the personal survey was a specific line of questions mixed into the three focus areas. These questions were similar, but slightly different. One group of questions went something like this; "I don't like people who…" What followed was some behavior that was written in a negative way, though one could argue both for and against the sort of behavior described. The answers I could pick were "True" or "False". Similar, but slightly different, were questions that said something like; "I don't like people that are…" This type of question would be completed by some character trait. Again on the surface the character trait was written in a negative form, but could be argued as either negative or positive.
It wasn't the ambiguity of the value judgement that I questioned. There are certainly things people do or attitudes others carry that bother me. The issue I had was with the meat of the idea, "I don't like people…" I have found a long time ago that I can be unhappy about an attitude or action without disliking the person. In gospel terms I can hate the sin, but love the sinner. Based on this logic I marked every one of those questions as "False". I'm sure the coach will find this an interesting evaluation to make. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about it when we meet again.
I know this sounds altruistic, and I doubt my own attitude is as pure as this sounds. Despite admitting I am human in this area like everyone else, I think it's fair to say that I really feel sadness for people struggling with poor attitudes and behaviors more than I feel judgmental. That hasn't always been the case. I was quick to negatively judge in my earlier years of life. Perhaps experience has mellowed me. Perhaps I have made enough mistakes of my own over the years to encourage a change in my attitude. The scriptures teach us that God will judge us in the same way that we judge others. As my own mistakes have piled up over the years it may be that my motivation to go easier on others is as much selfish as altruistic. I don't know for sure. I think it is fair to say that my children wonder why I'm nicer to their children then I was to them. I hear grandparents and grandchildren get along so well because they share a common enemy (that's a joke… sort of). I certainly don't really think of my children in that sense (probably), though I am sure there were times when they thought of me that way.
With the new year comes yet another opportunity to think about the future. Of course we should reassess often, but January is when we tend to focus more than usual on what the coming year might hold.
At work I've been given that opportunity in a more formal way. Many of the executives at NPR have gone through what is called a 360 review. Most of those who are VP and above have already passed through it. Seems like this year it's my turn. The first part is to select a professional coach. We have done that in my case. The coach interviews the executive; done. Then the person receiving the coaching effort, me, takes a survey. It is called a Hogan Assessment and is designed to show the coach some insights into areas in the person's psyche. I've finished that portion as well. Next the coach interviews about a dozen people in the organization. These are called 360 interviews because the intention is to talk to people I interact with at different levels; think 360 degrees. Some are those who are above me in the organization, some are peers and others report to me. The specifics of what interviewees say are anonymous, but the coach is looking for patterns. These interviews are in process right now.
After all that is done, the coach draws some conclusions, shares all the information with me, except who said what, and the two of us create a plan. The plan will be designed to help me find areas where I can improve, and things to try in order to make progress on the improvement goals. We'll see how it all turns out. Clearly there is a little trepidation involved since it can be difficult at times to hear where one might need to improve. Hopefully I'm able to keep an open mind and take real action on what I learn. In gospel terms the idea of openness might be equated with being humble enough to be teachable.
One thing in particular that struck me as I was taking the personal survey was a specific line of questions mixed into the three focus areas. These questions were similar, but slightly different. One group of questions went something like this; "I don't like people who…" What followed was some behavior that was written in a negative way, though one could argue both for and against the sort of behavior described. The answers I could pick were "True" or "False". Similar, but slightly different, were questions that said something like; "I don't like people that are…" This type of question would be completed by some character trait. Again on the surface the character trait was written in a negative form, but could be argued as either negative or positive.
It wasn't the ambiguity of the value judgement that I questioned. There are certainly things people do or attitudes others carry that bother me. The issue I had was with the meat of the idea, "I don't like people…" I have found a long time ago that I can be unhappy about an attitude or action without disliking the person. In gospel terms I can hate the sin, but love the sinner. Based on this logic I marked every one of those questions as "False". I'm sure the coach will find this an interesting evaluation to make. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about it when we meet again.
I know this sounds altruistic, and I doubt my own attitude is as pure as this sounds. Despite admitting I am human in this area like everyone else, I think it's fair to say that I really feel sadness for people struggling with poor attitudes and behaviors more than I feel judgmental. That hasn't always been the case. I was quick to negatively judge in my earlier years of life. Perhaps experience has mellowed me. Perhaps I have made enough mistakes of my own over the years to encourage a change in my attitude. The scriptures teach us that God will judge us in the same way that we judge others. As my own mistakes have piled up over the years it may be that my motivation to go easier on others is as much selfish as altruistic. I don't know for sure. I think it is fair to say that my children wonder why I'm nicer to their children then I was to them. I hear grandparents and grandchildren get along so well because they share a common enemy (that's a joke… sort of). I certainly don't really think of my children in that sense (probably), though I am sure there were times when they thought of me that way.
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