Yale SOM MBA Recommendation Questions

• No basis for judgment
• Reluctant to take on new tasks; waits to be told what to do; defers to others
• Willing to step in and take charge when required to do so
• Takes charge spontaneously when problem needs attention
• Volunteers for new work challenges; proactively puts in extra effort to accomplish critical or difficult tasks
• Proactively seeks high-impact projects; steps up to challenges even when things are not going well

2. Results Orientation: Focuses on and drives toward delivering on goals, objectives, and performance improvement

• No basis for judgment
• Focuses on fulfilling activities at hand; unsure how work relates to goals
• Takes actions to overcome obstacles to achieve goals
• Independently acts to exceed goals and plans for contingencies
• Documents activities and outcomes to learn from past; introduces incremental improvements to raise the effectiveness of team
• Invents new approaches with measurably better results; works to deliver best-in-class performance improvements

• No basis for judgment
• Struggles to get point across; neglects to understand audience’s input or perspective; lacks confidence and gets flustered under pressure
• Works to get point across; acknowledges feedback; reframes statements when necessary to make them clearer; speaks politely; remains composed in known circumstances
• Present views clearly and logically structures content for a broad audience; listens and responds to feedback; prepares in advance to appear confident; leaves a positive and professional impression; responds confidently in unfamiliar situations
• Uses tailored language that appeals to specific groups; restates what others have said to check for understanding; comes across as confident; responds rapidly and strongly to crisis; looked to for advice and guidance
• Structures content for senior-level meetings; maintains composure when challenged; solicits opinions and concerns, discusses them openly and adjusts communication; remains cool under pressure during conflict or crisis; channels emotion into positive action

4. Influence and Collaboration: Engages and works with people over whom one has no direct control

• No basis for judgment
• Does not seek input and perspective of others
• Accepts input from others and engages them in problem solving
• Seeks first to understand perspectives of others; takes actions to gain their support for ideas and initiatives
• Uses tailored approaches to connect with others, influence, and achieve results
• Uses tailored influence approaches to create and leverage a network of strategically chosen individuals to improve collective outcomes

People
5. Respect for Others: Acknowledges the value of others’ views and actions

• No basis for judgment
• Unwilling to acknowledge others’ points of view
• Open to considering others’ views when confronted or offered
• Invites input from others because of expressed respect for them and their views
• Praises people publicly for their good actions; ensures that others’ opinions are heard before their own
• Uses empathy and personal experience to resolve conflicts and foster mutual respect; reinforces respect with public praise when individuals solicit and use input from others

6. Team Leadership: Manages and empowers a team of formal or informal direct reports, including virtual teams

• No basis for judgment
• Struggles to delegate effectively (e.g. micromanages); does not organize activities or provide appropriate information to complete tasks
• Assigns tasks and tells people what to do; checks when they are done
• Solicits ideas and perspectives from the team; structures activities; holds members accountable
• Actively engages the team to develop plans and resolve issues through collaboration; shows the impact of individual/team contributions
• Recruits others into duties or roles based on insight into individual abilities; rewards those who exceed expectations; provides strong organizational support

7. Developing Others: Helps people develop their performance and ability over time

• No basis for judgment
• Focuses only on one’s own growth; critical of others’ efforts to develop
• Encourages people to develop; points out mistakes to help people develop and praises them for improvements
• Gives specific positive and negative behavioral feedback to support the development of others
• Provides overarching practical guiding principles and recommendations that are applicable in multiple situations to direct or focus efforts on specific areas of development
• Identifies potential in others; inspires others to develop by providing feedback, mentoring/coaching, and identifying new growth opportunities as well as supporting their effort to change

Personal Qualities
8. Trustworthiness/ Integrity: Acts consistently in line with or follows explicit values, beliefs or intentions

• No basis for judgment
• Follows the crowd; takes path of least resistance; gives in under pressure
• Acts consistently with stated intentions, values, or beliefs when it is easy to do so
• Acts spontaneously and consistently with stated intentions, values, or beliefs despite opposition
• Initiates actions based on values or beliefs even though the actions may come with reputational risk; demonstrates the values of the team or organization publicly
• Demonstrates high personal integrity even at personal cost; holds people accountable to the team or organizational values

9. Adaptability/ Resilience: Adapts to changing demands and circumstances without difficulty. Maintains calm optimism in the face of challenge, problems, or apparent failure

• No basis for judgment
• Prefers existing ways of doing things; fears failure; becomes anxious under challenging situations
• Adapts to new methods and procedures when required to do so; remains calm in unfamiliar situations until confronted with obstacle
• Champions adoption of new initiatives and processes; exhibits level-headedness in most environments including challenging ones; persists until obstacle is overcome
• Seeks out disruptions as an opportunity for improvement; remains optimistic and forward-looking in difficult situations that may result in failure
• Energized by projects with high uncertainty but potential for high reward; seeks to be the first into unknown or unfamiliar situations; welcomes learning opportunities created by failure; learns from mistakes and rebounds quickly from setbacks

10. Self Awareness: Aware of and seeks out additional input on own strengths and weaknesses

• No basis for judgment
• Lacks awareness of how he/she is perceived; denies or offers excuses when confronted
• Acknowledges fault or performance problem when confronted with concrete example or data
• Describes own key strengths and weaknesses accurately; welcomes feedback from others and discusses opportunities to change with select individuals
• Actively seeks out feedback to explicitly address desired improvement areas or build on strengths; explores reasons for problems openly, including own faults
• Seeks out challenging and potentially risky experiences to improve; identifies and engages with resources—people, processes, or content—to maximize strengths or mitigate weaknesses

Cognitive
11. Problem Solving: Frames problems, analyzes situations, identifies key issues, conducts analysis on the issues, and produces acceptable solution

• No basis for judgment
• Avoids problems; when faced with problems, sticks to what worked before, or chooses an obvious path
• Offers solutions when the risk is low; focuses on immediate, short-term implications instead of the big picture
• Looks beyond the obvious; identifies and focuses on the critical information needed to understand a problem, identifies root cause(s), and comes up with reasonable solutions
• Gathers and analyzes key information using complex methods or several layers deep; integrates perspectives from a variety of sources to arrive at unexpected but practical and effective solutions
• Applies logic to break complex problems down into manageable parts or sub-problems; solves tough and interconnected problems and can explain how the pieces are connected

12. Strategic Orientation: Thinks beyond one’s span of control and into the future to reshape the approach or scope of work

• No basis for judgment
• Focuses on completing work without understanding implications
• Understands immediate issues or implications of work or analysis
• Develops insights or recommendations within area of responsibility that have improved near-term business performance
• Develops insights or recommendations within area of responsibility that have shaped team/organization strategy and will have impact on long-term business performance
• Develops insights or recommendations beyond area of responsibility with impact on long-term business strategy and performance

Based on your professional experience, how do you rate this candidate compared to her/his peer group?

• Unable to assess
• Below Average
• Average
• Very Good (well above average)
• Excellent (top 10%)
• Outstanding (top 5%)
• The best encountered in my career

Overall, I …

• Do not recommend this applicant
• Recommend this applicant, with reservations
• Recommend this applicant
• Enthusiastically recommend this applicant