I’m not sure how many of you out there have been called a superhero. For those of you who haven’t, let me tell you: It definitely gets your attention. A little over a year ago I received a review from that I refer to as the “Spiderman Review.” This review was eye opening; it helped me realize that I had been living the “great power, great responsibility” mantra Spidey has become known for. The scope of the work I was doing at events and back home in Richmond was above the expectations
This month’s contribution to the Self-Review Series comes from the editor’s desk. Thanks, , for letting me jump in. Self-reviews are pointless. They take too much time. They’re redundant. Part One of this series is meant to convince you otherwise. All the same, Riki and I have recently asked a number of judges why they don’t write self-reviews, and those responses are the most common. Today, I want to posit my own theory on why self-reviews are written so rarely: Self-reviews
Self reviews are somehow simultaneously the easiest and hardest type of review. What makes them so, and how can you average those two sides out to find a happy medium? It’s common for newer judges to not even realize that writing a self review is a thing that they can do. With your first exposure to reviews likely being your L1 Advancement Review, it’s easy to get locked into the mindset that reviews are a peer-to-peer tool. But there’s a subtle hint in the review submission form; every
Communicating areas for improvement can be difficult. You want the judge you’ve been observing to improve, and you’ve got some ideas for them. Those ideas need to be communicated. But successful coaching takes more than that. If you want a judge to act on your feedback, they need to agree with what you are saying. You need them to buy in to the ideas you are presenting; otherwise they are unlikely to take any action, defeating the desired result of your coaching. This requires sculpting your
What is a review? Fundamentally, it is a collection of words. The words form sentences, and sometimes, though not always, those sentences even make paragraphs. The collection of words offers an observation. Reviews are that simple. So why don’t people write more reviews? Some misconceptions or myths about reviews have created complications. Today I want to address three of these myths. Myth #1: A review is homework. Homework is assigned at school. It’s graded. Nobody likes homework.
I was recently asked about my vision for feedback in the Judge Program and my vision for this blog, and it was surprising how little I had thought about such a fundamental thing. Let’s start with the big question: Why does feedback matter? This one is simple for me, but I don’t know if I’ve ever articulated it in a meaningful way. Feedback sustains the improvement and growth of individuals. The growth of individuals sustains the growth of the Judge Program. Thus, feedback sustains the growth