ElleBee wrote:
I've seen recommendations from subordinates directly discouraged by some elite schools (can't remember which, but it was on the recommendation sections of some of their websites). For others, I would guess they feel the same way and not encourage them or look too favorably upon them. Why? Because it might seem like you put undue influence on a subordinate to write you a really great recommendation so anything good in the recommendation is suspect. And honestly, even if you don't see your recommendations, asking your subordinate isn't going to get you the most honest assessment of your skills since they'll probably be afraid that you might be in the position to read it someday.
Agreed. I know it's not healthy to have a reco from your subordinate. And rightly said, it's discouraged by many (if not certain) schools - pretty obvious. However, to me, it's still not convincing. End of the day, your leadership is not only judged by your manager or clients, but also from the guys whom you have been leading. They might have more insights to give than your manager 's. Your clients/managers might not interact with you on a frequent basis, however, your subordinates do (at least for me).
Further, on the contrary, if you've developed a great rapport with your managers or seniors, then they'll pretty much write what YOU want them to write. May be, in somecases, they'll just ask you to fill the questions and will post it - you'll never be able to tell. Adcoms, do have experience and *might* be able to decipher.
IMO, reco letter isn't a foolproof claim of how good a person is (just like GMAT). All said, we still have to follow the process