20 Leadership 360 Feedback Questions by Competency
20 leadership 360 feedback questions organized by competency: vision, decision-making, people development, communication, accountability, and change.
TL;DR: Leadership 360 feedback questions should evaluate the competencies that actually predict leadership effectiveness — vision, decision-making, developing people, communication, accountability, and change leadership. The 20 questions below are organized by competency rather than rater type, so you can build a survey targeted at how someone leads, not just how they show up at work. For a general 360 covering all employees, see our 20 360 feedback questions for honest answers.
Most leadership 360 surveys fail because they recycle generic feedback questions. “Is this person a good communicator?” tells you nothing about whether someone can lead through a reorg. The questions below are written to surface evidence-based feedback on the behaviors that actually separate strong leaders from average ones.
Why Leadership 360s Are Different
Leadership 360s evaluate a different set of behaviors than general 360 feedback. A senior IC and a VP can both be strong communicators day-to-day, but only the VP needs to communicate vision through ambiguity, develop other leaders, and own organizational outcomes. Leadership 360s also lean more heavily on upward feedback, because direct reports see leadership behaviors no one else does.
Research from Sigma Profiler shows over 85% of Fortune 500 companies use multi-rater feedback as a core part of leadership development. The reason: self-perception is unreliable. Studies on self-awareness show that while 95% of people believe they’re self-aware, only 10-15% actually are. Leaders are no exception, and they have more downstream impact when they’re wrong about themselves.
Vision and Strategic Direction
Vision questions assess whether a leader sets a direction the team can rally around. Strong leaders make priorities legible — people know what matters, what doesn’t, and how today’s work connects to the bigger picture. Weak vision shows up as teams unsure of priorities, work that drifts, and individuals who can’t explain why they’re doing what they’re doing.
- Does this leader articulate a clear, compelling direction for the team or function?
- When trade-offs come up, does this leader make priorities understandable to the team?
- How effectively does this leader connect day-to-day work to broader company goals?
- How well does this leader anticipate challenges before they become problems?
Decision-Making and Judgment
Decision-making questions surface how a leader handles the calls only they can make. Speed matters, but so does reasoning — teams trust leaders whose decisions they can predict and explain, even when they disagree. The strongest leaders make decisions transparent enough that the team learns from watching them.
- When this leader makes a difficult call, how clearly do they explain the reasoning?
- How does this leader handle decisions where they don’t have complete information?
- Describe a recent decision this leader made that you respected, even if you disagreed with the outcome.
Developing People
Developing-people questions are the highest-signal in any leadership 360. Coaching is the part of leadership that’s easiest to deprioritize and hardest to fake — direct reports always know whether their manager is invested in their growth. Generic answers here usually mean the leader isn’t doing it.
- What has this leader done in the past six months that helped you grow?
- How well does this leader give feedback that actually changes how you work?
- When was the last time this leader created a stretch opportunity for someone on the team?
- Does this leader treat coaching as part of their job, or as a side task?
Communication and Transparency
Communication questions move beyond “Are they clear?” to “Are they trustworthy under pressure?” The interesting test of leadership communication is what happens during uncertainty — restructures, missed targets, ambiguous priorities. Leaders who hide bad news or get defensive when challenged lose the team’s trust quickly.
- How effectively does this leader communicate during ambiguous or uncertain times?
- Does this leader create space for dissent and pushback in meetings?
- When you bring this leader bad news, how do they respond?
Accountability and Trust
Accountability questions look at whether the leader’s commitments are reliable and whether standards apply consistently. Trust erodes fastest when leaders apply rules unevenly — tolerating from senior people what they’d correct in juniors, or escaping consequences they enforce on others. Honest answers here predict retention.
- When this leader commits to something, how often do they follow through?
- How does this leader handle situations where they were wrong or made a mistake?
- Does this leader hold the team to consistent standards regardless of seniority?
Change Leadership and Adaptability
Change-leadership questions evaluate the part of the job that’s hardest to practice in calm conditions. Leaders who can’t lead through change ship the anxiety downstream — the team feels every wobble. Strong change leaders absorb ambiguity, re-orient quickly, and give the team enough context to keep moving.
- How does this leader help the team navigate organizational change?
- When priorities shift suddenly, how does this leader respond and re-orient the team?
- What does this leader do well during periods of uncertainty, and where could they improve?
Who Should Answer Which Questions
Not every rater has line-of-sight into every competency. A peer can speak to communication and decision-making but rarely to people development. Direct reports are the only ones who can honestly evaluate coaching, transparency, and accountability. The matrix below shows which rater group has the best visibility into each competency.
| Competency | Direct Reports | Peers | Manager | Self |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vision and Strategic Direction | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Decision-Making and Judgment | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ⚬ |
| Developing People | ✔ | ⚬ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Communication and Transparency | ✔ | ✔ | ⚬ | ⚬ |
| Accountability and Trust | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ⚬ |
| Change Leadership and Adaptability | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Weight upward feedback most heavily for developing people, communication, and accountability. Weight peer feedback most heavily for decision-making and change leadership.
Acting on the Results
A leadership 360 only drives improvement when the leader takes action on it. SHRM-cited research finds 360 feedback paired with coaching produces about a 14.9% performance gain on average, while feedback delivered without follow-up produces almost nothing. Build the action step into the process, not as an afterthought.
Three things to do after results land:
- Pick two themes, not ten. Leaders who try to fix everything fix nothing. Identify the two highest-signal themes and design specific behavior changes for each.
- Share back with the team. Acknowledge what came up. Direct reports stop participating honestly when they suspect their feedback disappeared into a void.
- Re-survey at six months. A short pulse on the same competencies at six months tells you whether behavior actually shifted.
Tools like Windmill collect leadership feedback through Slack conversations rather than formal survey links, which surfaces more candid responses on competencies like communication and accountability where wording matters. For the full process — picking raters, structuring the survey, and acting on results — see our guide on how to run a 360 feedback process.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best 360 feedback questions for leaders?
The best 360 feedback questions for leaders evaluate observable leadership behaviors across competencies like vision, decision-making, people development, communication, accountability, and change leadership. Strong examples ask raters to describe specific situations rather than rate abstract traits — e.g., 'When this leader makes a difficult call, how clearly do they explain the reasoning?' rather than 'Is this leader a good decision-maker?'
How is leadership 360 feedback different from a regular 360?
Leadership 360 feedback focuses on the competencies that determine a leader's effectiveness — vision-setting, decision quality, developing people, communicating through ambiguity, and leading change. A regular 360 covers general workplace behaviors like collaboration and reliability. Leadership 360s also weight upward feedback more heavily because direct reports see leadership behaviors no one else does.
How many 360 feedback questions should a leadership review include?
Most effective leadership 360 surveys include 15-25 questions split across 5-7 leadership competencies. Fewer than 15 misses important dimensions, while more than 30 leads to survey fatigue and rushed responses. Aim for 3-4 questions per competency, with a mix of rating-scale and open-ended formats.
Should leadership 360 feedback be anonymous?
Yes. Anonymity is non-negotiable for upward feedback, where direct reports won't honestly evaluate their manager if their identity is exposed. For peer feedback, anonymity is strongly recommended. The leader being reviewed should see aggregated themes rather than individual responses, especially for sensitive topics like communication style or trust.
How often should leaders run a 360 feedback cycle?
Most organizations run leadership 360s annually as part of development planning, with lighter pulse check-ins quarterly. Running them more frequently than annually risks survey fatigue and feedback that hasn't changed since the last cycle. Pair the annual cycle with coaching or development goals — research shows 360 feedback only drives performance improvement when leaders take action on it.