360 Degree Reviews

What's a 360 Degree Review?

We have written here and in our newsletters about "360 Degree Reviews" in Campus Crusade for Christ. 360s are leadership assessment tools, in which a leader has people all around him (hence the name, "360 Degree") rate him on various areas of his life and ministry. These ratings are compiled and used by the leader for his or her personal development.

What is our part in these 360s?

I took the lead in developing the forms of 360s that we are using all around the world; adapting a previous version to be more valid and working with technicians to put it on the Internet for easy administration. The worldwide system remained under my leadership until we finally transitioned to a new system, centered in the global leadership office, in late spring and early summer of 2007.

Barry Rush, of CCC's Global Leadership Development, wrote this in May, 2007:

  "One of the ways that Tom Gilson has made a huge impact is in his work designing and developing a web based 360 Feedback Review that our staff can use for their personal development.  In many countries, this is just not a normal process and can be a sensitive cultural issue.  What Tom has done is to make the 360 as easy to use as possible.  He has engaged in many many hours of work personally and in design meetings with our Leader Development teams to come up with a web based version that is powerful and easy to use and is translatable into other languages.  Tom's efforts have made a huge impact in countries like Romania, Poland, Albania, Bulgaria and Moldova.  Just a few weeks ago one of our newest Continental Directors asked me to set him up on a 360 Review and with a few clicks and gathering just a bit of information, we had this leader set up to get feedback from his staff in order to increase the effectiveness of his personal development plan.

"Tom, thanks for your faithful effort and using the gifts God has given you for His kingdom work.  Keep it up!"
 

Coaching Leaders

I've also met with many staff members to share the results of their 360s with them and work through a Personal Development Plan with them. As pictured here, for example, I met with leaders of Christian Leadership Ministry, at a conference in San Diego to coach them on their 360s.

There may be nothing more satisfying to me in ministry than sitting down with a fellow leader and exploring ways he or she can grow in ministry skills, leadership traits, or relationships with God and with others.

Okay, then, what does one of these look like?

Here is what one of our 360s looks like on the web, and what a 360 report looks like. The report requires Microsoft Excel to view. It's done in a simplified graphic format for ease of use worldwide. What we cannot show here is the 4 to 10 pages of personal comments that also accompany a 360.