360 Feedback: How to Turn a Report Into Real Change — with Cindy Puchalski

Why Most 360s End Up in a Drawer: Cindy Puchalski on Making Feedback Stick

In this post: Executive Coach Cindy Puchalski explains why 360 feedback so often ends up in a drawer. She shares how short action plans, accountability partners, and steady coaching help leaders turn a multi-rater report into lasting change.

When Cindy Puchalski was Chief Operating Officer and Director of a fast-growing wealth management team at Morgan Stanley, her staff said she had a magic door.

People walked in stressed and full of emotion. They walked out calmer, more focused, and holding a plan. "I loved helping them in that," Puchalski said on Activating Greatness, the leadership podcast from Velocity Advisory Group. "So I've decided to do it full time."

Today she is an Executive Coach and organizational design and performance consultant, and a coach at Velocity. Much of her work starts once 360 feedback arrives through a 360 assessment, the multi-rater review in which a leader's manager, peers, and direct reports weigh in. Her view of why so many of those reviews fail is blunt. The report rarely changes anyone. What happens after the debrief does.

What Happened Behind the Magic Door

Puchalski earned a master's degree in organizational development while at Morgan Stanley, then her coaching certification from the International Coaching Federation. Asked what made the door work, she did not describe a technique.

"Listening and asking the right questions," she said. "It really boils down to that. There's not much more than that, because people go 1,000 miles a minute."

Host Alec McChesney noted how hard that is for managers who want to jump in and fix the problem. The same instinct shapes how organizations treat a 360. They hand over the answer, a thick report, and assume the leader will take it from there.

A 360 Feedback Report Is Not the Plan

McChesney said he often hears the same complaint from organizations: We did 360s, and nothing moved. A year later, the same strengths and the same weaknesses show up again.

Puchalski traces the problem to one missing step. "You can talk about it all day long, but if you don't create action steps and then have ways to help reinforce those later on, it will sit in the desk," she said.

Her process starts with a plan. She encourages leaders to go back to the people who filled out the survey and, when it helps, to recruit some of them as accountability partners. The best case is an organization that builds coaching into the 360 process, so the coach and leader can revisit the action steps at every session. "That's win-win," she said.

The raters carry responsibility too. Organizations need to encourage candid answers, she said, "because that makes all the difference." A 360 filled out to check a box produces a report that only confirms what everyone already says out loud. Candor depends on trust, which is why the psychological safety at work that Lisa Calicchio of WCG described on an earlier episode matters to every rater.

Meet the Leader Where They Are

Leaders arrive at a debrief in different states, and Puchalski adjusts to each one.

Some expected everything in the report. For them, the session becomes closer to a coaching conversation about their business, so the action steps fit what is happening on the job. Others are surprised, and those leaders spend more time working through the results. "You can't start that action step process until people are at the point that they're ready to create action steps," she said.

The plan itself stays short. McChesney asked whether a leader might leave with three items or 17. Puchalski said 17 does not typically happen. Instead, the feedback usually points to a few underlying themes, such as communication. The work is figuring out how to attack those themes in real situations, day to day.

Then there is the skeptic, the leader who assumes the report holds nothing new. Puchalski starts with a compliment. "It's not the easiest thing to be self-aware," she said. "It takes some work." From there she talks with the leader about the business and what challenges them. The conversation usually leads back to themes from the 360 on its own.

"Who do you want to be in six months? And if you want to be that person, what do you need to do to get there?"

Cindy Puchalski, Executive Coach, Velocity Advisory Group

The Six-Month Question

The real test comes months later. McChesney admitted that he can be strong for two months, then slip in the third. Puchalski turned the question back on him: "So what's getting in your way, Alec?"

She does not open by rereading the report to a leader who has slipped. That approach, she said, is "almost a chiding someone for not getting things done, and that's not really how I show up." Jason Casarella drew a similar distinction on an earlier episode, separating coaching from micromanaging.

The defense is built at the start. When she creates the plan, she asks what might get in the way and works on those obstacles before they appear. For some leaders, a picture of the future helps more than a list. "Who do you want to be in six months?" she asks. "And if you want to be that person, what do you need to do to get there?"

A Foundation, Not a Luxury

McChesney recalled from their prep conversation that Puchalski had called the 360 right for anyone with a growth mindset. On the show, she said any level can benefit if the survey is filled out intentionally and a process stands behind it. For managers, it can put them on the path to leadership.

She considers it essential. Many growing companies have no manager training in place, she said, and a 360 is easier to launch than most programs while still giving people useful knowledge about themselves right away.

For organizations that balk at the time and cost of follow-up coaching, she offers a single question: Do you want your folks to grow in a way that is meaningful? "The 360 helps do just that," she said. People rarely stop to think about how others view them, and "it can be very impactful to get that 360 there, especially the folks that uncover results that they didn't expect."

Her rapid-fire answers pointed the same way. The one thing she believes great leaders should stop doing is relying on processes that worked before instead of what the business needs now. "It can be an easy default that's not necessarily helpful to the company's growth," she said.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do 360 assessments fail?

According to Executive Coach Cindy Puchalski of Velocity Advisory Group, most 360 assessments fail because nothing happens after the debrief. "If you don't create action steps and then have ways to help reinforce those later on, it will sit in the desk," she said. Raters who treat the survey as a box to check also weaken the report.

How do you create an action plan after a 360 review?

Puchalski looks for a few underlying themes in the feedback, such as communication, rather than a long list of fixes. She then builds action steps the leader can apply in real situations, asks up front what might get in the way, and encourages leaders to share the results with their raters. Some raters can then serve as accountability partners.

Who should take a 360 assessment?

Puchalski believes any level of employee can benefit from a 360, provided raters fill it out intentionally and a process stands behind it. For managers, it can put them on the path to leadership. She considers it essential for growing companies that lack manager training, because it is easier to launch than most programs.

How do you keep 360 feedback from fading after a few months?

Puchalski avoids rereading the report to a leader who has slipped, which she said can feel like chiding. Instead, she asks what is getting in the way and what can be done differently. She also plans for obstacles from the start and asks a vision question: "Who do you want to be in six months?" Regular coaching sessions keep the action steps in view.

The Takeaway: Own It, Then Fix It

The best advice Puchalski ever received came from her first boss, who found her beating herself up over a mistake. "Everyone makes mistakes," the boss told her. "Own it and figure out how to fix it. Don't dwell on it."

That is the right posture for a 360. The report names the gaps. Fixing them takes a plan, a partner, and someone who keeps asking who you want to be in six months. Puchalski said she does this work because she loves "seeing the light bulbs go on for people." A report in a drawer never will.

Listen to the Full Episode

Hear Cindy Puchalski's full conversation with host Alec McChesney on Activating Greatness. Find it on YouTube, or listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.