Leadership360.xlsx

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1	Leadership 360 · How to Use This Tool
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3	A development tool, not a performance review tool. This is the Administrator's Guide for running a 360 Degree Leadership Feedback Assessment.
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5	WHAT'S IN HERE
6	1. What this tool is (and what it's not)
7	2. Who administers (and why it can't be the leader being assessed)
8	3. Before you launch
9	4. Confidentiality protocols
10	5. Distributing the rater survey
11	6. Compiling responses
12	7. Reading the results
13	8. Self vs. 360 comparison (optional)
14	9. The feedback session
15	10. After the debrief
16	11. What this tool isn't for
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18	1	What this tool is (and what it's not)
19		This is a 360-degree feedback survey for leadership development. It collects anonymous feedback from people who work with a leader (manager, peers, direct reports), aggregates the responses, and produces a development read across 8 leadership categories. Use it for: development planning, coaching conversations, self-awareness, and year-over-year growth tracking. Don't use it for: performance reviews, compensation decisions, hiring or promotion decisions, or anything else with consequences attached. Using it that way breaks the trust contract that makes honest feedback possible and poisons every future 360 in the organization.
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21	2	Who administers (and why it can't be the leader being assessed)
22		The administrator is a trusted, neutral third party. Never the leader being assessed. Here's why this matters: raters won't be honest if they think the person being rated will see their individual responses, identify their handwriting, or otherwise figure out who said what. The leader administering their own 360 breaks anonymity the moment the surveys come back to their desk. Good administrators are: an HR partner, an executive coach, a mentor outside the leader's reporting chain, or a peer leader from another team. They handle distribution, collection, compilation, and the debrief conversation. They never reveal who said what, not even off-the-record.
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24	3	Before you launch
25		Confirm the leader actively wants this feedback. Don't impose a 360 on someone. If they're anxious about it, slow down and address that before continuing. Set expectations with the leader: timeline (about 2 weeks for survey collection), anonymity guarantee, and what they will and won't see (a composite dashboard with category averages and aggregated comment themes; never individual responses). Select raters together with the leader. Aim for 5 to 10 people: the leader's manager, several peers, several direct reports. A balanced mix gives the fullest read. Contact each potential rater before sending the survey to confirm they're willing to participate. A rater who's been pressured into this will either skip it or fill it out assuming it's not going to be confidential, which will defeat the purpose.
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27	4	Confidentiality protocols
28		The Administrator must commit to these rules being non-negotiable. The whole exercise depends on them. • Never reveal who said what. Not in the debrief. Not in passing. Not even off the record. • The Rater Responses tab is for the administrator only. Never share the workbook with the leader. They only ever see the Composite Results (print or PDF that tab to share). • Store completed surveys securely. Locked file cabinet for paper, password-protected folder for digital. • After the debrief, consider destroying the raw surveys. Keep only the Composite Results with no names included. • If a rater writes a comment specific enough to identify them (a date, a meeting, a project), paraphrase the theme rather than sharing the comment verbatim. • If you can't honor these rules in your context, don't run the 360. Find someone else who can administer.
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30	5	Distributing the rater survey
31		Two formats are provided so you can match the rater's preference. Fill in the three placeholders (leader name, administrator name, deadline) at the top of whichever tab you use. Use the Rater Survey (Print) tab when the rater wants a paper copy. Print the tab, or use File > Export > Create PDF, and distribute via email, sealed envelope, or in-person delivery. Use the Rater Survey (Digital) tab when the rater is comfortable in Excel and you want the speed of copy-paste compilation later. Right-click the tab, choose "Move or Copy" with "Create a copy" checked, save to a new workbook, and email that file. Mix and match across raters as needed. Provide a confidential return method (sealed envelope, dedicated email address, in-person drop-off). Give raters 1 to 2 weeks to complete the survey. Send one gentle reminder mid-way through. Don't pressure stragglers. A rushed, resentful response is worse than no response.
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33	6	Compiling responses
34		Once surveys come back, switch to the Rater Responses tab. Each rater goes in a column (R1 through R10). Column order doesn't matter; the numbering is arbitrary and doesn't link to specific people anywhere in the results. For paper returns, type each rater's responses into the dropdowns of the next available R column. Transcribe optional comments verbatim into the appropriate category row at the bottom of the tab. For digital returns, open the file the rater sent back. On the Rater Survey (Digital) tab, select D9:D40 (the 32 response cells), copy, then paste into D9 of the next available R column on Rater Responses. Repeat for comments: select D46:D53 on Digital and paste into D46 of the same R column. If a rater skipped an item or wrote "no basis to rate", select "No basis to rate" from the dropdown so that item is excluded from the math. The role row is optional. Only use it if your rater pool is large enough that each role (manager, peer, direct report) has at least 3 people. Otherwise leave it blank. Tracking roles in a small pool can de-anonymize individuals.
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36	7	Reading the results
37		Switch to the Composite Results tab. The dashboard calculates automatically as you enter responses. Composite 360 score (top): scaled 0 to 300 with four tiers (Early Stage, Developing, Strong, Very Strong). Comparable to the leader's Leadership Assessment score if they've taken that one too. Category breakdown: 8 categories with average score out of 12, rater count, and qualitative read (Strong / Solid / Mixed / Weak). Scan the lowest scores first. Those are the focus areas. Top observed strengths and areas to develop are auto-pulled from the highest and lowest categories. What the raters said: comments grouped by category. Look for themes across multiple raters in the same category. A single comment is one person's view; three comments saying similar things is a pattern.
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39	8	Self vs. 360 comparison (optional)
40		If the leader has also completed the separate Leadership Assessment, switch to the Self vs. 360 Comparison tab and enter their 8 category averages in the gold cells. The tab shows the gap between self-view and team-view for each category, with three reads: • Aligned (gap within 2 points). The leader's self-view matches the team's view. Known territory. • Blind strength (360 is 2+ points higher than self). The team sees the leader as stronger than they see themselves. Often worth naming openly so the leader can lean into it. • Blind spot (self is 2+ points higher than 360). The leader rates themselves higher than the team does. Usually the most valuable finding in a 360, and the hardest conversation. Approach with curiosity, not accusation.
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42	9	The feedback session
43		Schedule 60 to 90 minutes, one-on-one, in a private space. Open by re-establishing the contract: this is a development tool, the data is anonymous, no individual rater is identified, the purpose is growth. Walk through the Composite Results dashboard together. Pause after each section. Ask: "What stands out? What surprises you? What rings true?" If using the Self vs. 360 Comparison, walk through blind spots and blind strengths. The blind spots are often the most valuable findings, and the hardest to hear. Don't soften them, but frame them as observations, not verdicts. Close by helping the leader pick one or two focus areas for the next quarter. One concrete behavior change beats a long list every time.
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45	10	After the debrief
46		Give the leader a copy of the Composite Results (print the tab or save as PDF). Never give them the Rater Responses tab. The composite is theirs to keep and reflect on. Schedule a one-year re-take of the 360 to measure growth. Put it on the calendar now. The value of a 360 multiplies when it's repeated, because growth becomes visible. If you committed to destroying raw surveys after the debrief, do that now. Send a brief thank-you to the raters confirming the process is complete. Don't share results with them. Just acknowledge the time they gave.
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48	11	What this tool isn't for
49		Listed here so it's unambiguous. Do not use 360 results for: • Performance appraisals or annual reviews • Compensation, bonus, or merit decisions • Promotion or hiring decisions • Discipline or termination • Public sharing or organizational benchmarking • Comparing one leader against another Using results in any of these contexts breaks the trust contract that makes honest feedback possible. Once raters figure out their feedback was used against someone (or could be used against them), they won't participate honestly again. You don't get a second chance to set this tone in an organization.
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51	Find more free leadership tools, templates, and resources at www.Leadership-Tools.com
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