Got feedback? What’s next?
A few weeks back, I popped into your inbox with a nudge about seeking feedback from your people. I got a nudge back from my friend Laurna Munro, who specialises in psychological safety and bringing inclusion to life with teams and organisations. Laurna challenged me to think about how leaders respond to feedback when it’s given. Makes sense, right? Making it safe for people to provide feedback to their leader is one element of creating an environment where people can contribute at their best.
It’s had me thinking ever since. We know that there’s a power imbalance when you’re asking for feedback as a leader - every time one of your people gives you feedback, they are going out on a limb. They are taking a risk and testing the bounds of psychological safety. So how you respond will set the scene for how much feedback you get in the future, and how honest that feedback is.
As you progress through your leadership career, you’ll probably find that, unless you are really deliberate about seeking it, you’ll get less and less feedback. There aren’t many people who’ll go out of their way to feed back to you the impact you are having on them. You’ve gotta go seek it if you want to stay on course. If you want to improve the chances you’ll get more feedback, remember two things your people will be watching for after they’ve given it to you: response and result.
Response: When you’ve asked for, and been given, feedback, what’s your response? Do you stay curious, lean in and explore? Or do you deflect and defend? Even more destructively, I’ve seen leaders who bank difficult feedback, let the response grow interest, and then let loose with a withering counter attack at some point in the future. Turning feedback into an exploring (not interrogating) conversation helps to encourage more in the future. Get interested and explore the terrain with your people. It might be uncomfortable but you’ll discover more about yourself and them. Ask them about the impact of the thing they are giving you feedback about. Share your intent. Between you, own the current state.
Result: What action do you take once you’ve heard the feedback? If your people have gone out on that limb to share it with you, they’ll be looking to see whether the risk was worth it. It doesn’t mean you need to change course after every piece of feedback data. Instead, letting your people know that you’ve considered it, and now what you’ll do with it, acknowledges that their perspective matters. After considering the feedback, you might decide you’ll keep going with your current approach anyway. So be upfront about that and own it. I’d suggest keeping the door open as well – you might say something like “I’ve thought about the feedback you gave me and I’m actually okay with this approach and the impact it’s having so I’m going to continue. Let’s keep this conversation going though because I want to make sure how I’m going about this isn’t becoming a derailer.” Or, you might choose to change something based on the feedback. Let your people know that too. What are you going to try differently as a result? Hearing this kind of stuff from leaders helps to create an environment where learning, vulnerability and transparency are all safe.
As leaders, here’s our challenge: when someone we lead gathers their courage and gives us honest feedback – whether that’s reaffirming our actions or suggesting some ways to improve – we should think about what we’d like to be known for, the environment we want to create, and the response and result that requires of us.