I’m a big believer in delivering feedback early, and often. So, with Henry approaching his first birthday in June, I thought it was time to start putting in place a more structured feedback loop and delivered his first official performance review. It was different than other performance reviews, since he’s currently navigating a pre-verbal communication phase. Naturally, I had to leverage my training in Situational Leadership and adapt my style to his maturity and ability. Based on his current role level and life tenure, I decided to limit my focus to a few key takeaways.
I spoke with him about two key areas I’ve identified for improvement: trying to avoid shitting on one’s own private parts, and physically abusing the family canine, Frankie. I consider both to be serious subjects, so I was disappointed when he started to giggle as I raised these.
On the other hand, I commended him on his negotiation skills. Julia is a tough boss but I’ve noticed Henry escalate situations rapidly at times of disagreement through the use of physical force and vocal expression, almost always allowing him to achieve his desired outcome. I complimented him on his strategies and may try to leverage these learnings the next time I am dealing with a challenging client.
For his professional development plan, I’m hoping for enhanced mobility skills with an annual objective of independent bipedal movement without faceplants and refined mealtime execution, with a goal of 80% food-to-mouth. I offered up a stretch goal related to personal hygiene and diaper awareness, while acknowledging that may be ambitious at this stage.
He did not participate in a 360-degree review component for this cycle, but I am expecting a constant feedback stream for the rest of my life.
Overall rating: Good boy
Hope everyone has a good April 1st tomorrow 😊