Newsletter – July 24 Receiving Feedback: What Leaders Should Make Sure Their Team Understands

July 24, 2017

Receiving Feedback: What Leaders Should Make Sure Their Team Understands

I have frequently written about coaching leaders concerning the right way to give people feedback, yet we talk less frequently about the ability to receive feedback.
One leader spoke to me of her concern, for example, about delivering feedback to an associate that she was worried would “crush” the employee. She had been delaying the talk because she thought such news might affect an already struggling employee’s performance. She hadn’t considered the other side of the equation:  perhaps part of the associate’s problem was her inability to receive and integrate feedback.
“How well we listen, sort, and integrate 

feedback helps drive our success.”

 

The reality is that the world is just one big feedback loop. We are constantly receiving feedback on how we are doing and how we should course correct. How well we listen, sort, and integrate this feedback helps drive our success.

That’s not to say that all criticism is valid, nor that all critics are equally skilled in whether they deliver feedback in a useful way. Yet everyone has to learn how to discern whether feedback is valuable and use the information to change their behavior in the future.

What Should You Do?  

  • As a leader, you have a responsibility to give people feedback. It’s not fair to the organization or the employee to delay letting them know how they are perceived. If you do delay, or worse yet, completely neglect to provide feedback, you may end up in a tangle when others eventually lose patience with the employee and their pertinent performance feedback has not been correctly documented.
  • Part of your coaching should involve how your associate should receive feedback, whether or not they think it’s correct. If you’ve ever tried to manage someone who was constantly blaming others, you know how challenging this can be. The psychologist Dr. Susan Heitler has a useful article on this point:  6 Ways to Take the Sting Away When You Receive Criticism
  • Realize that you may be projecting if you are reluctant to offer feedback. Just because you find something hard to hear, doesn’t necessarily mean the employee has the same issue.

 Did You Know

Our conflict resolution, leadership and other workshops offer suggestions about giving and receiving feedback.

For more information, call or write us at: 303-216-1020 or Lynne@workplacesthatwork.com

 
Be sure to read Lynne’s book “The Power of a Good Fight” –
Embracing Conflict to Drive Productivity, Creativity and Innovation. 
      
Workplaces That Work | (303) 216-1020 | lynne@workplacesthatwork.com
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