Leadership

6 ironclad feedback tips to grow as a leader

Henk Veenhuysen
by Henk Veenhuysen
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Do you want to grow as a leader? The best way to do that is to (respectfully) use your employees to do so. They are the sources of constructive criticism you need to develop further. Standing still is going backwards and you must avoid that at all costs. That’s why you organize your feedback. In this blog you will learn how to do that.

#1 Acknowledge your own mistakes

Regularly, your co-workers/colleagues have something to say about you. Sometimes even behind your back. But do they also say it when you have made another (?) major mistake. When you have completely unnecessarily antagonized someone?

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To receive good feedback, before anything else, you must acknowledge and neutralize the fear – including revenge – among your employees. Do that by naming your own mistakes, by sharing your own behavioral changes in response to those mistakes.

Tell your employees that you really need those feedback tips (even though you sometimes find it difficult) in order to benefit yourself. And recognize that it’s human to feel bad about telling someone unpleasant or negative truths. You give feedback often enough to know it’s something you need to learn.

#2 Ask for unlimited feedback!

Too often, senior managers seeking feedback encounter a wall of total or partial silence. This is then also because they ask for feedback only occasionally – for example, as part of a progress meeting.

To stand a chance of getting sincere and valuable feedback, you have to go out and ask more often. Ask, nag, beg if necessary. A good way to break the ice with reluctant team members is to ask them how you can help them achieve their goals. Get them to tell you what you can and should do differently.

#3 Examples are helpful

To avoid shortchanging both the “giver” and yourself, it is important to ask for examples. Ask the follow up question when someone articulates in abstract generalities how and where you fall short.

You take the feedback seriously, but at the same time you build in a check. Based on the examples, you can usually determine the truthfulness of the criticism given.

#4 Shop until you drop ☺

Because feedback from one employee is also just an opinion, perhaps serving its own and possibly even hidden agenda, you need to look further.

So ask many more people for feedback on the same point. You can do this yourself or with the help of a good feedback tool. The palette of opinions you get should then be kneaded and molded a bit into one conclusive story. That will be pretty close to the average truth. Most important tip: Do something with it!

#5 Do something with your feedback tips

Perhaps the most important tip for getting and continuing to get level feedback is this. Thank exuberantly, circumstantially and sincerely for the feedback and then do something with them.

Show with your behavior that the feedback actually does something for you and that you are not just going through the motions dutifully because you think it might benefit your position and career.

#6 Find at least two (outside) supporters

Despite all your sincere and frequent efforts to get useful feedback, sometimes your position can entail that people really don’t dare to give you feedback.

That your power simply gets in the way of an honestly shared observation or that you have difficulty with the feedback. In that case, find confidants and engage them. People with whom you feel comfortable, whom you trust. And no, it’s not as simple as inviting these people to reflect on your actions.

No, send these people into your organization and let them pick up and convey to you the noises, experiences and perceptions of your employees regarding your functioning. Besides the fact that these signals still contribute to your further development, it also helps spot and perhaps thwart a palace revolution in time.

So

Good luck with applying these feedback tips and be sure to practice with them as a manager.

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Lacking assertiveness or selfconfidence?

Does it inhibit you at work and want to get rid of that? That's possible with our 40 days individual coaching program. Lets meet, see if we have a 'click' and if I can help you.

> Book your free call

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