Apex Leadership · upward review
Team Builder Review
See your leadership the way your team experiences it.
An anonymous review in which the people who work most closely with a leader describe what that leader usually does, in everyday work and when the pressure is on. The result shows which leadership patterns the team actually sees, measured against the Team Builder benchmark.
In this invented example, one pattern dominates everyday work, a different one takes over under pressure, and Team Builder behaviour drops. The patterns are named and explained in the leader's debrief.
How it works
Four steps, about ten to fifteen minutes for each respondent
We set it up
Citrines adds the leaders being reviewed and shares one private link with their teams. Nobody needs an account.
The team responds
Anyone who has worked directly with the leader for at least three of the last six months can take part. They choose the leader and answer from their own observation.
A summary for leadership
The answers are combined into a summary for the organisation's leadership team, who decide what to share with each leader.
Report and debrief
Leadership receives a one-page summary, a discussion document and a personal Team Builder guide, ready for a coaching conversation that turns the findings into a 90-day plan.
What the review asks
Real situations, not abstract ratings
Each question describes a familiar moment at work, such as a missed promise, a heated disagreement or a request for extra work, and asks which of seven responses is closest to what the leader usually does. There are no right or wrong answers.
- Everyday situations, showing the leader's normal pattern
- Situations under pressure, showing what takes over when the stakes rise
- "How often" questions about trust, assertiveness and leadership impact
- Optional examples in the respondent's own words
It covers the moments that define how a leader is experienced, from setting direction and making decisions to handling conflict, mistakes and pressure from above.
What the review delivers
A clear picture, and a path to Team Builder
Primary style
The pattern the team sees most in everyday work, with the counts and percentages behind it. When two patterns are close, both are shown as a mixed profile.
Backup style under pressure
How behaviour changes when deadlines, errors and challenges hit, and whether the pattern shifts.
Team Builder benchmark
How often Team Builder behaviour is seen, in normal work and under pressure.
Topic by topic
Key topics compared between everyday work and pressure, with anything that needs attention flagged.
Frequency findings
How often the team sees behaviours such as admitting mistakes, saying when a decision will come and making it safe to bring bad news.
The team's own examples
Short, anonymous descriptions of behaviour, reviewed so that nothing identifies the person who wrote them.
90-day priorities
Practical development priorities matched to the leader's pattern, to work on with an Apex coach.
Anonymity and integrity
Honest feedback needs real protection
- No names, email addresses or employee IDs are asked for, and network addresses are not stored with answers.
- Each device can give feedback on each leader once.
- Leaders never see individual answers. Summaries go to the organisation's leadership team, who decide what to share.
- Written examples are checked, and anything that could identify someone is removed before a report is shared.
- Only Citrines administrators can open the results system.
- The review is a developmental pilot. It has not been psychometrically validated, it describes observed behaviour rather than personality, and it should not be used for appraisal, promotion or disciplinary decisions.
Questions people ask
Frequently asked questions
Will the leader know who said what?
No names are collected, and leaders never see individual answers. Results go to the organisation's leadership team as a summary, and they decide what to share with each leader. Written examples are reviewed and edited to remove anything identifying.
How long does it take?
Most people finish in about ten to fifteen minutes. Questions appear one at a time, and answers can be checked and changed before submitting.
What if I haven't seen the leader in exactly that situation?
Think about the last six months and choose the option closest to how the leader usually behaves in similar moments. There are no right or wrong answers.
Who should respond?
People who have worked directly with the leader for at least three of the last six months. Anyone else is thanked and the review ends.
Is this a performance appraisal?
No. It is a development tool, used to start an honest coaching conversation about how leadership is experienced, not to rate or rank anyone.
Bring the Team Builder Review to your leaders
Talk to us about running a review as part of the Apex Leadership Program, or on its own as a starting point.