The big news this week is that Yankee baseball player Alex Rodriguez admitted to using steroids. Almost everyone is shocked that this particular athlete resorted to performance enhancing drugs – even though so many others have already admitted or have been strongly accused of this behavior.

But really, I’m not.

Here’s why…

When it comes to anything competitive – whether it is baseball or the boardroom – those with the burning desire to win are always looking for anything that’ll provide any sort of an edge or an advantage.  You know, the thing that, at the margin will allow them to succeed at greater levels than those around them.

As leaders we might not be competitive in the same way as
“ARod”, thinking about how to win while everyone else loses,
but we do:

– Want to be more successful with our people
– Want less frustration and stress
– Want to help our companies succeed
– And, of course we would like to succeed – with promotions and pay raises!

The single most valuable, important and immediate performance enhancing tactic for leaders is to be learning new things!

I believe this with whole heart – you may know that from reading my writing in the past.  I devoted a whole chapter in Remarkable Leadership – Unleashing Your Leadership Potential One Skill at a Time to it.  The title of that chapter?  Remarkable Leaders are Continual Learners.

Very few leaders can clearly define what is holding them back from greater performance.  They are either too close to the problem, aren’t sure what they need to improve on most or aren’t even thinking  about it at all!

In my experience the “shot in the arm” that will get people past all three of these issues is a 360 Degree Leadership Assessment.

In case you don’t know, a 360 Assessment provides you anonymous feedback from your boss, your peers and those you lead – truly a 360 degree view of your capacity, skills, behaviors and habits.

After your feedback is gathered you receive a report. That assessment report outlines the feedback in a way structured to help you gain the maximum insight from the thoughts, feelings and experiences of your colleagues.

When you couple that assessment report with skilled coaching to both help you understand the results and more importantly to help you build an action plan for your ongoing improvement, you have the ultimate performance enhancer.

Whether you are reading this thinking about your own personal leadership development, or are thinking about this from a corporate or executive leadership perspective, you owe it to yourself to learn more here  (and click on How Can I Assess My Leadership Skills)- even if you have used Leadership Assessments in the past and want to leverage them more successfully.

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Kevin Eikenberry is a recognized world expert on leadership development and learning and is the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group. He has spent over 30 years helping organizations across North America, and leaders from around the world, on leadership, learning, teams and teamwork, communication and more.

Twice he has been named by Inc.com as one of the Top 100 Leadership and Management Experts in the World and 100 Great Leadership Speakers for Your Next Conference. The American Management Association named him a “Leaders to Watch” and he has been twice named as one of the World's Top 30 Leadership Professionals by Global Gurus. Top Sales World has named him a Top Sales & Marketing Influencer several times, and his blog has been named on many “best of” lists. LeadersHum has named him one of the 200 Biggest Voices in Leadership in 2023.

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