Feeding Off Feedback
Are you the type of person who would tell me if I had a poppy seed lodged in my teeth? What if you saw a woman who had a “splotch of red marker on her nose”? Would you tell her or just go about your day?
The “splotch study” was a real experiment where only four out of 212 people surveyed told their survey provider that they had a hideous smudge on their faces.
Now imagine if I brought forward a topic that was less surface-level and more substantive about the way you work. Would you have the courage to give up the feedback? The splotch study suggests, “Negative, Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.”
Just this week I gave a virtual keynote where I was asked to share what I believed was the largest fear across teams in corporations. My answer: Confrontation.
Giving feedback. Getting feedback. Asking for feedback. All can feel like a tortured exercise.
But let’s humor ourselves for a moment and say you were ready to proactively step yourself forward to receiving feedback. Marshall Goldsmith knows a thing or two about the topic. He has observed over 30,000 leaders and, in one particular read, he was preaching about the power of feedback received the right way.
This, of course, suggests that most are getting the concept of feedback wrong.
“There is a fundamental problem with all types of feedback: it focuses on the past, on what has already occurred—not on the infinite variety of opportunities that can happen in the future. As such, feedback can be limited and static instead of expansive and dynamic.”
Goldsmith went on to continue that perhaps the ideas of feedback are most maximized when it’s about “feed-forward”. This got my head nodding.
If you’re like most, you’re still toggling back and forth in hybrid work mode. This makes slowing down for the proper “feed-forward” feedback incredibly difficult.
In the thick of a complicated project at work? As you consider ways to create a psychologically safe arena for your teams to provide their true “feed-forward” feedback, take this Friday to send a quick and simple note that might include:
1. I’d like your help. The intent of this note is to learn where I might have a blind spot on this project. What am I not providing to the team right now that can help them be successful on this project moving forward?
2. What question(s) do you have for me that I have yet to address regarding my role, your role, or the teams’ role on this project?
3. If you don’t feel like putting this in writing, let’s set up a Zoom. I truly welcome ways of improving our working relationship.
Embarking on the above would separate you from 95% of leaders. One employee survey found that a mere 5% believe managers provide such feedback.
Creating that safe space for what may feel like an unsafe conversation is on you, leaders. Take it upon yourself to get some “feed-forward” feedback from the people you work with most.
