Developing Self and Others: common mistakes and fixes
Most weak Developing Self and Others statements fail for predictable reasons: they list training instead of telling a story, claim a love of feedback without showing any, or forget that senior grades are about growing other people. Here are the mistakes and how to fix them.
Why the same mistakes keep appearing
This behaviour tempts people into two traps. It sounds easy — everyone has learned something — so writers reach for the nearest training course. And it feels personal, so writers hide the mistake or gap that would make their story convincing. The result is a statement that is both generic and strangely flawless, and assessors score it accordingly.
For example, 'I completed the customer service pathway and always look to develop myself' says nothing an assessor can score. 'After my till was short twice, I asked my supervisor to retrain me and cut my errors to zero over 34 shifts' gives them a need, an action and a measured result.
The mistakes that cost marks
These eight mistakes account for most low-scoring Developing Self and Others statements. Each comes with the fix, so check your draft against all of them before you submit.
Mistake 1: writing a training CV instead of a story
Common mistake
Listing courses, certificates and e-learning modules tells the assessor you attended things, not that you developed. Fix: pick one piece of learning and show what changed because of it — the skill applied, the problem fixed, the result measured.
Mistake 2: claiming you love feedback but showing none
Common mistake
Saying 'I welcome constructive criticism' is an assertion, and assessors score evidence. Fix: name the feedback you received, who gave it, and exactly what you did differently afterwards.
Mistake 3: developing others vanishes at HEO and above
Common mistake
Above EO the descriptor expects you to grow other people, yet many statements stay autobiographical. Fix: make a named colleague, apprentice or team the centre of your Action, and keep your own learning to a sentence or two.
Mistake 4: one-off help presented as mentoring
Common mistake
Answering a colleague's question once is kindness, not development. Fix: show structure — regular sessions, a plan, adjustments when something did not work, and an end point where they no longer needed you.
More mistakes, and how to fix them
Mistake 5: 'We' throughout the Action
Common mistake
If the team developed and you only watched, the assessor cannot score you. Fix: rewrite every Action sentence to start with 'I', and make your personal decisions and effort visible.
Mistake 6: a result with no numbers and no staying power
Common mistake
'It went well' proves nothing. Fix: count something — people trained, weeks saved, errors cut, a survey score moved — and add what lasted after you stepped back.
Mistake 7: hiding the mistake that started the story
Common mistake
Sanitised stories where you were always brilliant read as low self-awareness, a negative indicator for this behaviour. Fix: state the gap or error plainly in the Situation, then show the work you did to close it.
Mistake 8: describing development you ordered, not enabled
Common mistake
Senior statements sometimes say 'I sent the team on training'. Directing budget is not building capability. Fix: show how you diagnosed needs, created opportunities, removed barriers and followed through on outcomes.
A final check before you submit
Read your statement aloud once, looking only for evidence. Every claim — about feedback, about developing someone, about impact — should be backed by something specific that happened. If a sentence could appear in anyone's statement for any behaviour, cut it or make it concrete.
- One story, told fully — not a list of courses or people
- The feedback I acted on is named, with the change I made
- At HEO and above, another person's development drives the Action
- Every Action sentence starts with or centres on 'I'
- The Result has a number and something that lasted
- The opening admits a real gap or mistake — no perfect-hero story
Frequently asked questions
Listing training instead of telling one applied story. Assessors score what you did with learning, not what you sat through. Choose a single example where you identified a need, acted, and can measure the difference — that beats any number of certificates.
No — it is usually a strength. This behaviour rewards self-awareness, and a real gap or error makes your subsequent development credible. State the problem plainly, keep it professional rather than personal, and spend your words on what you did to close the gap.
Use informal evidence: showing a new starter a process, coaching a colleague through a system, running a short teach-back session, writing a guide the team now uses. At junior grades that is exactly what the descriptor expects. Structure and a result matter more than authority.
Yes. Most departments ask for 250 words per behaviour, and assessors stop reading at the limit — a brilliant Result in word 260 may never be seen. Count carefully, keep the Result inside the limit, and check whether the advert states a word or character limit.
Next step
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