Part of being a good leader involves self-evaluation and garnering feedback from your team, as well as external, objective sources. Kelly Harris Perin and Rachel Schankula are both executive coaches who help their clients fully realize their leadership potential. Both coaches saw the need for a more comprehensive evaluation tool, especially in the nonprofit and education sectors, and partnered to create the Shine360 Leadership Review.
Leadership can be lonely, as you often don’t have peers in your level to work through challenges with. Despite being phenomenal leaders, what is often lacking is the clarity and feedback on how to get better. Harris Perin and Schankula say that clients often seek them out for their review tool.
“We wanted a review that was grounded in best practices in leadership development and coaching theory, hit the right balance between meaningful depth and useful prioritization, and would lead to lasting positive change in mindsets and practice.”
Like many good inventions, the creation of the Shine360 tool came out of a need. Harris Perin and Schankula knew they wanted to practice coaching specifically with non-profit leaders, and went to research a feedback tool already in existence. Except that they found nothing that could accurately encapsulate the complex work of non-profit leaders. They developed Shine360 with the intention of providing their clients with a tool that would give them the maximum amount of feedback in an efficient manner.
Harris Perin says the other feedback tools weren’t “giving enough information on strengths. We wanted a focus on action, wanted something that really set it up, so we decided we’re going to make our own.”
“We wanted a review that was grounded in best practices in leadership development and coaching theory, hit the right balance between meaningful depth and useful prioritization, and would lead to lasting positive change in mindsets and practice. We wanted a review that would help our clients transform their leadership, whether this was their first 360-degree review experience or their tenth.”
Harris Perin and Schankula say their process is streamlined efficiently, providing efficient coaching sessions to really boil down the feedback and get a clear perspective on the meaning of the review.
The Shine360 is grounded in strengths theory, deepening the client’s understanding of where they’re strong in their work and where they have wins, helping to identify how they can have the greatest impact. The tool is also 100% individualized based on each client’s qualitative and quantitative data. But Harris Perin and Schankula stress that the findings are not a “data dump.” They identify top trends in strengths and areas of focus, and walk through this feedback with their clients in coaching sessions.
The Shine360 tool has evolved since its inception in 2014. After much research, Harris Perin and Schankula realized the need to address diversity and inclusion work, as well as wording competencies questions differently for nonprofit leaders. Much of their work is within school communities, so they have made sure to align the tool appropriately.
The Shine360 goes through three main stages, beginning with pre-review coaching. Leaders are given an opportunity to reflect on their current performance and goals they have for moving forward, draft a reviewer list, and get ready to powerfully engage with the feedback to come.
The next step, feedback synthesis, involves in-depth phone interviews administered by the coaches with the five or six most valuable reviewer perspectives listed by the client. A written survey is sent to 10 additional reviewers. The phone interviews and the written surveys provide an opportunity to collect qualitative data as well as key stories and anecdotes on the leader’s role within the organization. All of this information is included in the Shine360 report, which is compiled and delivered to the client once the feedback synthesis has been completed. The report is delivered in two chunks: first the strengths are delivered, then the potential areas for growth.
The final step, the post-review coaching, involves either a one-on-one coaching session or a group workshop to process feedback, reflect deeply on trends, and determine the best path forward. The coaches also do a 45-day and 90-day check-in to celebrate successes and brainstorm how to work through any challenges that have presented themselves.
Harris Perin and Schankula say by the end of the process, the client knows the report in and out, really internalizing the feedback and continuing the connection-making process. “It feels really true and authentic,” says Harris Perin. “Really good feedback is really rare in positions of power…Shine360 can help a leader take themselves to the next level.”
More information can be found at www.littlebitescoaching.com
