From the Wall Street Journal the other day

Consulting firm Development Dimensions International Inc. (DDI) has unveiled the results of its new survey of 1,100 front-line managers that was conducted in September. Seventy-two percent of respondents said during their first year as manager, they never questioned their ability to lead others. In addition, managers were less likely to rate themselves as weak in several leadership attributes, including planning, communication, and adaptability. Front-line managers identified their chief strengths as setting work standards, planning, and organizing, according to the survey, while delegating, coaching, and gaining commitment were cited as areas that needed more work. However, no more than 15 percent of managers identified any one of those as areas of development. “It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in. People have blind spots about where they’re weak,” says Scott Erker, a senior vice president at DDI. Separately, DDI compared some managers’ self-assessments to performance in business simulations. Managers were found to consistently overrate their abilities in delegating and coaching, says Erker, and they did not display any consistent pattern of “hidden strengths.” Jeffrey Pfeffer, Stanford business professor and author of the book “Power,” says people tend not to comprehend the feedback they receive because they mishear or ignore criticism.

Good lesson here for all of us….

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