All of us need feedback to be our best selves. And of course, we need a clear goal to strive towards. This article is about asking and accepting feedback; we’ll tackle setting goal setting at a later time.
Learning to accept feedback is hard; many of us are skeptical that the feedback we receive is correct or have difficulty understanding it. That being said, real feedback is invaluable; here are some ideas on how to solicit and use feedback:
- Recognize that receiving asking for and receiving feedback requires trust; and trust does not come quickly. Before asking for feedback, make sure you have a real relationship with the people you are asking. And the people you ask are willing to be honest with you and not just tell you what you want to hear.
- Ask for feedback from supervisors, peers, subordinates, and customers. We tend to interact with people at different levels differently. For maximum effectiveness, try to solicit feedback from those people who might see you from different perspectives.
- Thank people for taking the time to provide you with feedback. Even if you think the feedback is off-base or not helpful, you should thank people anyway. And find a way to let them know that you took their feedback seriously.
- Listen, write the feedback down and look for themes. Practice active listening and really pay attention to what people are telling you. Write down what people say (not while you’re sitting in front them). If you hear the same feedback from multiple sources, believe it—even if you disagree.
- Develop a plan to follow up and track your progress. Set personal goals for improvement and establish measures so you can track progress. As an example, if the feedback you receive is that you need to broaden your contacts, be specific in your plan: “meet one new person each week and invite them to coffee,” rather than, “be friendlier.”
- Follow up. Don’t expect immediate change. Give yourself a couple of months of practicing new behaviors and then go back to the people who originally provided you with the feedback to see if they can see a difference.
None of us are perfect and all of us can use improvement. By sincerely soliciting and integrating the feedback you receive, you can help push your career forward and meet your potential.