Receiving feedback: a source of immense growth

This newsletter could be 12 pages long! It’s not though. The art of feedback is something very close to my growth. I will however split it and keep it short and simple - focusing on how to get better at receiving feedback in this edition. This will take about 7 minutes to read - enjoy!

Razzmatazz without the matazz.

Introduction

My personality loves freedom: it’s an innate trait that is a blessing and a problem. On one hand, it forces me to invent my own way of doing things, allowing me to discover unique strategies of flowing through life. On the other hand, it makes me somewhat of a complicated person when it comes to being harnessed. I tend to respond too quickly when my freedoms are being limited, and I often reject healthy suggestions if they restrict me in any way.

If tone could be felt through writing, I hope that by this point you have realised that I am not fully happy with this personality trait. I am still researching how I can strike a better balance. I am in awe of my YOLO attitude sometimes, but sometimes it pushes me to do things for the sake of doing them, rather than prioritising purposeful choices. I am working on it, and I am happy to report that there’s healthy changes happening.

Travelling back in time, I am fully aware that my reactiveness to control has always been there. As a child, I wasn’t rebellious, but I did get visibly frustrated by limitations. I don’t have strict parents: but I do come from an area of the world where options were scarce. Deep down I always knew that I wanted more, so I chased more. A great push to my fire for more were feedback conversations that I had throughout my life.

The idea of offering and receiving feedback has been seen as negative for too many years. Corporations used to function on “doing things because this was the way that they were done”. Any discussions about change, especially personal ones, were seen as the preemptive step to being laid off. With our mindsets driven by perfectionism, any improvements were interpreted as a threat to the status quo. And that is simply wrong.

Giving your team members feedback is critical to helping them succeed in their jobs. Positive feedback reinforces good work. Praise and coaching advice can create genuine bonds between you and your employees. Those moments when you tell your direct report that they’ve done a good job are powerful connections that build trust and respect for you as a leader.

Corrective feedback urges the recipient to change course or adjust practices that aren’t working. Even the most experienced leaders may dread this conversation. Nobody likes to tell someone that their work is not meeting the standards, or that they need to change their attitude. But when handled well, these conversations produce real change in people’s behaviours and outcomes.

Objectives

Subject

Every activity that chases success (sports, competitions, even reality tv shows) relies on proper follow-throughs. Upon completing a practice session or a game, the teams gather and discuss what went well and what didn’t. They use this data as indicatives of what needs to change and what needs to stay in future appearances, in order to succeed. They see it not as a forever problem, but rather as a data point that needs to be investigated.

The world’s most successful athletes understand the vital importance of follow-through: Without it, they don’t make their shots or perform at the optimal level. Leaders need to take the same approach when it comes to feedback. Essentially, no task is complete, no objective is reached, and no successes can be experienced unless – and until – feedback has been given and received.

As a leader, you know that communication is the cornerstone of effective leadership. However, you must understand that communication is an ongoing process.

It’s not about occasional conversations; it’s about continuous discussions. And you must be the one to drive the dialogue. That means giving feedback regularly, in addition to being open to receiving feedback about your performance. That might seem scary, but if you want to take your leadership and your organisation to the next level, it is crucial that you create a culture of feedback.

Framework - how to receive feedback

The usual response to feedback is to teach leaders how to give feedback better – how to frame the conversation, what words to use and how to be persistent when feedback is resisted. That makes sense, and the more skilled the feedback giver is, the better.

This mentality is one fold. At the end of the day, the receiver is the one who decides what they let in, how they make sense of what they hear and whether and how they choose to change. It doesn’t matter how much authority, power or skill the giver has, if the receiver isn’t ready or able to hear the feedback, learning is blocked. In fact, damage may be done in terms of trust, engagement, or motivation.

Feedbacking however should be two fold. As we learn to be better at giving feedback, we ourselves need to become more prone to receiving feedback. I would argue that the higher the role in an organisation, the more common the draught of feedback. Leaders crave constructive conversations that can lead to their own betterment. Why would we let our busy schedules and having to meet goals hinder our own growth?

Do not block your own opportunities for growth for the sake of maintaining a false image of authority. Here are some steps you can take to ensure that you are receptive to feedback:

Finally, your leadership position puts you in a position of being the conversation starter. Leaders of leaders become less and less available as more responsibilities gather. Upper management expects their direct reports to be able to perform tasks that they delegate without issue, blind spotting opportunities for development for them.

Luckily, you can always request feedback, and plan it within your schedule, regardless of the time or project. Seek conversations with your leaders for ideas of improvement. Organise and request feedback from the people that you are leading in order to improve your leadership style to be as beneficial for them. Remain connected to all the unmeasurable opportunities of continuous learning. The world is ever changing, and so should you.

Final thoughts

Oftentimes, conducting a feedback session can be treated as an afterthought. Something that you have to do, rather than seeing all of its benefits. For both positive or constructive feedback, this ritual completes the loop of development. Whether you have just completed a project, or your team has refined their style of work, a leader needs to place feedback as a mandatory element of marking a task as complete.

The benefits of feedback ripple in every opportunity that you and your team take on, and it’s a method of growth that costs you nothing. Invest in establishing a culture of open communication in any situation.

The shape of feedback does not always have to be official and thought out. You can provide powerful words to an individual or your team at any time. Remain aware of how things are working every day and lead with consciousness in mind. Celebrate wins, nurture improvements through day by day natural feedback, and watch everyone thrive.

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Quality content

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This is it for today! Thank you for reading!