Learning Leadership

Chapter 16Without Feedback You Cannot Grow

Garrison Keillor, author and host of the radio variety program A Prairie Home Companion, closes the news portion of every show with the line “Well, that's the news from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” Although it's supposed to be in Minnesota, this fictional town with its illusion of superiority could be anywhere. That's because time and time again people respond to surveys indicating that they are above average regardless of the skill and competence examined.¹ For example, more than 90 percent of university professors rate themselves above average in teaching ability, and more than two-thirds believe they are among the top 25 percent.² Nearly two-thirds of American drivers rate themselves as excellent or very good.³ Most people think they are fairer than their peers are.⁴ All of these are, of course, mathematically impossible. Moreover, studies show a fairly low correlation between people's self-evaluations and objective assessments of their work-related skills.⁵

Favorable self-perceptions may be good for self-esteem, but they aren't very useful when it comes to improving skills and abilities in teaching, driving, leading, or anything else. The reality is that no one is as good as he or she thinks or as bad as he or she may believe either. Before you can engage in serious self-improvement, you need an accurate assessment based on a set of reliable ...