But evalutions out in the real world are typically anything but light-hearted. They usually involve a bit of uncomfortability both on the part of the evaluator and the evaluatee and are usually done in a very cold and disconnected manner. Often the conversation is dominated by the evaluator providing his/her comments on the employees' or subordinates' performance. These become especially difficult if that employee is not a very good one and the evaluation isn't very positive. None the less, evaluations are a crucial part of any good work environment and provide the leader with a great tool if done correctly; and believe me, their are definitely wrong ways of doing them.

I, myself, have been both an evaluator and an evaluatee many time throughout my military career as the Army requires annual evaluation reports on all of its leaders and as a leader I can say that I have done many evaluations also. So in this area I can definitely speak with some authority but admit that I also have much to learn if I want to apply the traits that both the bible and Jesus give. So, continuing my learning using Ray Pritchard and Bob Briners book, Leadership Lessons of Jesus, I hope to learn what it is that I need to be both a better evauator and evaluatee.

In chpt 32, Evalute, it states that effective leaders evaluate their followers because Jesus tells us that we are should use or knowledge responsibly and productively. So how else can I know if this is what I am doing with God has given us unless I'm evaluated by someone who can offer some crucial and necessary feedback. But for me, having been a part of these evaluations, regardless of my role in them, their are some certain things I need to be aware of. First, if I'm doing the evaluation on one of my Soldiers, I need to ensure that I evalute performance and not let any of my personal biases or opinions of that person weigh in on the evaluation. Second, I have to remember that evaluations aren't meant to be something negative but are meant to take a look at what this person has done and provide my feedback, not my criticism. Lastly, qualifying and quantitative (meaning having factual data to support the comment in this instance) feedback will help to keep it professional and not personal - even if some of my feedback isn't the most glorifying. So, using these guidelines, how can I, as a leader, become a better evaluator and evaluate based on the godly principles set forth in the bible? One of the most important things I can think of is to evaluate perfomance based on a specified criteria. The bible says that we will all be evaluated on judgement day and that are actions will determine our fate. In reading the teachings of Jesus and other leaders in the bible, I can actually lay out the categories that I will be evaluated on. Using these, I should be able to figure out what the important areas I need to concentrate on in my life. Here are some of those categories: love (how am I showing my love as it was shown to me), relationships (what am I doing to ensure that those I interact with know who I am and do I know those in my life), service (do I have a servants heart and are my motives in check - ie. not doing them for recognition but because I am called to do so), discipleship (am I living a life dedicated to glorifiying God and following his teachings). These are just a few areas that I can use in my life to evaluate the things I have been given by God. But in most professions our evaluations need to be more focused on performance rather than how we live our lives, it's just the nature of the world we live in. But, that doesn't mean that we can't apply some of these godly principles to help steer our evaluations. In my study in this chapter here are the things it says can help us in this process.

Honest and consistent feedback: for me, this means that this is something that I need to be constantly doing and that it is always ongoing. In the Army our counseling/evaluating process happens quarterly with an overall annual evaluation that sums up the the last year. This system, although a bit cumbersome at first, if applied correctly can be one of the most useful and motivating tools any leader will have. It also has very specific categories that are measured that the Army deems to be the most important for its leaders. They are: the Army Values (Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage), Competence, Physical Fitness & Military Bearing, Leadership, Training, and Responsibility & Accountability. The way this periodic evaluation works is like this; at the beginning of the year or rating period, I sit down with my subordinates and lay out for them what it will take to receive either an Excellent, Success or Needs Some/More Improvement rating in each category for the upcoming year. Each rating level is given quantitative items (something hard, factual and measureable) for each evaluated level of success so that it is very clear to them before they start the year off what it takes to meet any of them. Then, at the end of the next three quarter, we sit down and go over how they've done for each 3 month period and see where they are at and where they need to focus for the next quarter. At the end of the rating period, all of these counselings/evaluations are rolled up and the annul evaluation is complete.

Reward hard work: Lay out in your evaluation something to shoot for to provide that motivation and then make sure that you are looking out for that type of behavior. When it's noticed, ensure that it is known among all of your followers to see that this is the type of thing that is rewarded and considered honorable. Nothing is more disheartening than when someone's contributions are not noticed by leadership. According to the authors they also write that not only is this a discouraging factor in keeping your followers motivated but also when others get the recognition that they didn't deserve. For leaders, this is probably the single most important thing in maintaining positive performance and helping to keep the vision alive in your followers. For me, I know that if I recognize a Soldier for something that they didn't deserve, the moral level in my section goes down and my Soldiers won't feel that their contributions are worth their effort as they don't get that boost that they need to keep going.

Looks good vs. Is good: This is where you have to fight to see thru the perceptions that your followers want you to have about them. I know that, right now, I have some Soldiers who I like to categorize as Looks Good Soldiers. These are the ones who have all the right answers and always have their uniform looking good and usually say all the right things in front of the boss. But make no mistake, when it comes to putting effort into work these are usually the ones who put in the least amount of effort and are typically your biggest complainers (in front of certain people - and if its about anyone else you can be sure that one of these people is your boss). Be aware of those who work for you that seem to act too much like an informer. They won't come right out and throw someone under the bus but they can definitely drop a bomb about something you or other followers are doing by merely dropping certain comments at the most appropriate (or inappropriate) times. The easiest way to see thru this smokescreen is to look for the excuse train when it starts rolling out of the station. These people are easily spotted when a leader knows more about their job then they do and can weed thru the BS.

However you do your evaluations, the most important thing to remember is to do them. These are such an important part of maintaining your vision and keeping all of your followers in line with the end state, what ever that may be. As long as you maintain your integrity in your evaluations, these things can be some of your best resources when bringing that next person into your inner core and further developing their skills to become better leaders themselves.