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A 360-degree Leadership Round W in the hen a business school dean was in his third year at a Midwestern uni- versity, his provost asked him to undergo a 360-degree assessment. He was pleased to learn that his raters believed he had good technical skills, deftness at promoting the business school, an excellent knowl- edge of the market, and the resilience to recover from mistakes. He wasn't quite as prepared for the candor of the write-in comments, where assessment tool helps deans determine what they're doing right, where they could improve, and how to implement changes. by Sharon Shinn people spoke up plainly about certain areas where they thought his behavior could improve. Some raters thought he was dictatorial and subject to temper tantrums. Others wanted him to take more action in some situations and project a stronger presence. "After the shock wore off, I was able to put their comments in the context of the survey data and really make sense of what I was doing that they wanted done differently," he says. With the help of a coach, the dean decided to focus on key issues such as building relationships, listening to others' perspectives, and creat- ing a more positive climate for the b-school faculty and staff. "Today it all seems obvious and simple," he adds. This Midwestern dean isn't the only top manager who has turned to a 360-degree assessment to get honest feedback about how he's performing and where he could improve. The corporate world has long relied on such assessments, in which individuals are rated on a variety of attributes by a cross-section of peers, direct reports, clients, and supervisors. What's new is that the multisource assess- ment tool is working its way into the university setting. It's becoming another method administrators can use to improve the way the b-school functions. Academic Assessment In a sense, the academic world has always engaged in forms of 360-degree assessment, says Stephen Stumpf, professor of management and Fred J. Springer Chair in Business Leadership at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. A student evaluation might be considered an assessment "from below" or "from the cus- tomer." A peer review of an article written for publication could be seen as an assessment from a peer on the organizational chart. The 360-degree tool is dif- ferent because it provides a snapshot of a dean's performance competencies as viewed by a wide range of constituents, all consulted at the same time. "Any C-suite leader—and that's what a dean is—has many different stakehold- ers who all have different demands," says Stumpf. "There may be little overlap between what faculty want from a dean, versus what students want, versus what the advisory council members or peers want. A 360 assessment gives all of the constituents a legitimate voice. In the absence of a 360 assessment, what you get is the squeaky wheel. Whoever is the most empowered or most angry is the one who speaks, and that person's input is often more negative than positive." It's not uncommon for senior-level leaders to get little feedback—until they're fired, Stumpf posits. "There are really two main reasons why deans leave before 32 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2008