I am teaching a leadership course for mid-managers who work for a large retail company - the name of which most of you would recognize.
Last week students in the course were challenged to get feedback from their employees about their leadership styles. One of the students used our assignment as an opportunity to share a framework that he, along with other regional managers, use when evaluating store merchandise and store practices.
I thought I would share it with you:
Stop
Improve
Continue
Create
That's it. Regional managers from around the country gather in one location quarterly to evaluate their practices. And they do it asking these four questions:
What should we STOP doing because it is not working?
What must we IMPROVE because, while the company has seen some success, our practice is not perfect?
What should we CONTINUE, because "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"? and finally...
What must we CREATE? What ideas/practices are we not currently doing, but that we want to advance?
I happen to think this framework shines and that it can be used in all sorts of settings.
Supervisors could use it to evaluate staff. What should John Doe stop doing, improve upon, continue doing, and create in order to be better at his job?
Parents could use it to have an earnest conversations about how well they are doing? What things should we stop doing with our children? What could we improve upon? What must we can continue doing? And, are there a new practices we could create?
How about feedback from you about the House of Shine. What should we stop, improve, continue, and create?
Or even as Richard and I look ahead to summer 2012. What is it about this summer that we should we stop and never do again, improve and try again, continue because it was perfect, and create for family fun next summer?
How about you? Visit us in the Comment Section and tell us how you would use it. Better yet, take an extra minute or two and actually do it. Tell us what you are planning to Stop, Improve, Continue, and Create.
Shining off until...