Self-Assessment Questions for Leaders & Coaching Clients
Self-assessment questions are most powerful when a leader or coaching client answers the exact same prompts their peers and direct reports are answering—revealing where self-perception matches or diverges from stakeholder reality. In Evaluation Guru, coaches run self-assessments and stakeholder 360s on the same built-in 5-question 360° Performance Review template, allowing the subject to reflect in writing or record a 3-minute browser video.
- Setup time
- Under 2 minutes
- Response mode
- Written or 3-min video
- Anonymity rule
- Min 3 responses
- Respondent login
- Never required
When to use this template
When to use self-assessment questions
A structured self-assessment anchors coaching intake and performance reflection so the leader walks into their 360 debrief curious rather than defensive.
Pre-360 coaching baseline
Have your coaching client complete the 5 prompts in the 360° Performance Review template about themselves in the same week their stakeholders respond, then compare the two side by side in your session.
Quarterly or annual manager self-reflection
Give managers and fractional leaders a structured 10-minute reflection on their strengths, habits to start, and habits to stop before their leadership review.
Video self-reflection for executive presence coaching
Ask a coaching client to record a 3-minute browser video answering their self-assessment prompts so they can hear how they talk about their own impact and challenges.
Recommended campaign setup
- Who the feedback is about
- Coaching client, manager, executive, or individual contributor
- Who to invite
- The subject themselves (often paired with 5–10 stakeholders in a companion 360 round)
- Rater count & anonymity
- 1 respondent (named mode) for a standalone self-reflection, or 5+ raters (minimum 3 completed for anonymous mode) in a combined 360 round
- Recommended cadence
- At the start of a coaching engagement and at quarterly/annual review milestones
Sample Questions (10 included)
10 self-assessment questions for leaders & coaching clients
Evaluation Guru’s built-in 360° Performance Review template covers five prompts: strengths, continue doing, start doing, stop doing, and additional comments. The 10 reflective questions below are prompts to guide the respondent—coaches can add context or include them in the campaign description and personal note to help the subject go deeper under each prompt.
- 1Strengths · High-leverage impact
“Where have I delivered my highest-leverage contribution over the past 90 days, and what strengths made that possible?”
Why it works: Moves self-reflection past "I worked hard" to the specific capabilities that drove results.
- 2Strengths · Leadership presence
“When my team or clients are under pressure, what strength do I consistently bring to the room?”
Why it works: Helps leaders recognize their stabilizing habits during difficult stretches.
- 3Continue · Sustainable habits
“Which leadership or communication practices have been working well recently that I must continue protecting on my calendar?”
Why it works: Prevents high-value routines (like deep 1:1s or strategic prep) from getting crowded out.
- 4Continue · Lateral partnership
“What am I continuing to do well in how I collaborate with cross-functional peers and stakeholders?”
Why it works: Sets up a direct comparison with how peers describe collaboration in their 360 responses.
- 5Start · Courageous action
“What is one uncomfortable conversation or decision I have been delaying that I need to start addressing this month?”
Why it works: Almost every leader knows the conversation they are avoiding; asking directly surfaces it for coaching.
- 6Start · Delegation & scale
“What habit should I start practicing to delegate outcomes rather than holding onto execution details?”
Why it works: Turns a common frustration ("I have no time") into a concrete behavioral experiment.
- 7Start · Alignment
“How should I start communicating priorities and context more clearly when plans change?”
Why it works: Encourages the leader to look at communication from the recipient’s perspective.
- 8Stop · Self-awareness
“What reactive habit should I stop doing in meetings because it unintentionally shuts down debate or ownership?”
Why it works: Invites honest reflection on interrupting, problem-solving too fast, or showing impatience.
- 9Stop · Boundaries & priorities
“Where do I need to stop saying yes to low-leverage work that belongs elsewhere?”
Why it works: Clarifies what must come off the plate to make room for strategic work.
- 10Additional comments · Blind-spot hypothesis
“Where do I suspect my own view of my leadership differs most from how my peers or direct reports experience me?”
Why it works: Primes the coaching client to be curious about gaps when they read their stakeholder 360 report.
Practical Facilitation Guide
Tips for pairing self-assessments with 360 feedback
How you frame the invitation, protect respondent anonymity, and follow up before the deadline matters just as much as the questions you ask.
When Anonymous Feedback is enabled, Evaluation Guru enforces a minimum of 3 completed responses before unlocking the report, hides individual completion statuses, and shuffles written answers.
1. Run the self-assessment in a separate named campaign from the anonymous 360
In Evaluation Guru, anonymous campaigns require at least 3 completed responses and mix all answers together to protect raters. Running a 1-person named campaign for the client’s self-assessment keeps their self-view clearly separated from the anonymous stakeholder pool.
2. Have the client finish their self-assessment before reading stakeholder results
Once a leader reads what eight colleagues wrote about them, hindsight bias makes an unvarnished self-assessment impossible. Set the self-assessment deadline a day or two before the stakeholder debrief.
3. Try video for the self-assessment
When a client records a 2-minute video answering what they should start and stop doing, coaches immediately hear where the client feels energized versus stuck.
4. Look for "over-rated" and "under-rated" strengths
Self-assessments aren’t just for catching blind spots—many conscientious leaders underrate strengths that their peers rely on every day.
2-Minute Setup
How to run a self-assessment alongside a 360 in Evaluation Guru
Use the built-in 360° Performance Review format to capture a leader’s self-reflection in 2 minutes.
- 1
Create a named campaign for the leader’s self-assessment
Set the coaching client as the subject, choose the built-in 360° Performance Review template, and keep Anonymous Feedback off so the client’s self-reflection is visible immediately.
- 2
Enable Video Responses for spoken self-reflection
Leave Video Responses enabled so the client can choose between typing their answers or recording a 3-minute browser video reflection.
- 3
Send the unique link to the coaching client
Enter the client’s email address as the sole recipient on the self-assessment campaign (and launch a separate anonymous campaign for their 5–10 stakeholders).
- 4
Compare self-reflection and stakeholder report in your coaching session
Open the client’s self-assessment alongside the anonymous stakeholder report (unlocked once 3+ stakeholders finish) to explore alignment and blind spots.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Why should I run a separate campaign for the self-assessment instead of adding the client to an anonymous 360?
Anonymous campaigns strip names and shuffle all responses together once the minimum of 3 responses is reached. Creating a separate named campaign with just the client as the recipient lets you and the client see their self-assessment distinctly side by side with the anonymous stakeholder report.
Which Evaluation Guru template does this self-assessment use?
It uses the built-in 5-question 360° Performance Review template (Google-style Feedback): key strengths, continue doing, start doing, stop doing, and additional comments.
Does a named 1-person self-assessment get blocked by the minimum-3 anonymity rule?
No. The minimum-3 suppression rule only applies when Anonymous Feedback is turned on. A named campaign unlocks immediately with 1 completed response.
Can the coaching client record a video self-assessment in their browser?
Yes. When Video Responses are enabled on the campaign, the client can record up to 3 minutes directly in their desktop or mobile browser with the five prompts displayed on screen.
Internal Template Library
Related feedback templates
Leadership 360 Review Template for Executive Coaching
A leadership 360 review template gives founders, VPs, and C-suite executives a clear mirror on how their strategic direction, executive presence, and decision-making land across the organization.
Client 360 Feedback Questions for Coaches & Consultants
Running a client 360 at the beginning or midpoint of a coaching engagement gives you unfiltered perspective from the people who work with your client every day.
360 Feedback Questions for Managers (Upward, Peer & Cross-Functional)
Great manager 360s focus on how a manager sets direction, unblocks their team, and collaborates across departments—not abstract competency grids that take an hour to score.
Ready to send this feedback round?
Set up 360° Performance Review in under 2 minutes. Invite respondents with one-click links, collect written or 3-minute video answers, and share a clean report.