As an executive coach, I've had the privilege of working with numerous successful leaders who are constantly seeking ways to enhance their effectiveness. The road to becoming a great leader at any level is not always an easy one, but it’s one that can be navigated with clear goals, a genuine desire to improve, and seeking feedback that is both useful and meaningful.
If you can receive continual feedback from individuals, it’s going to power your ability to develop in your leadership journey. However, you may have experienced receiving feedback that is often vague, infrequent, or unrelated to specific behaviours. Increasing both the quantity and quality of feedback is crucial for leaders. It not only facilitates personal growth and improvement but also enables informed decision-making and a better understanding of the team and the surrounding environment.
To obtain the necessary feedback to enhance your leadership, there are a few steps you can take:
The first step is to build and maintain a psychologically safe environment. Sharing feedback is often socially risky, so fostering an environment where honesty is valued is essential. This requires curiosity, vulnerability, and a willingness to reward honesty. By asking open-ended questions to your team like “What potential challenges do you foresee if we pursue this course of action?", you encourage colleagues to share their perspectives.
Demonstrating vulnerability by acknowledging your own weaknesses or mistakes is a powerful way to create a sense of safety. This not only reassures team members that they don't need to be flawless to perform but also encourages them to be more forthcoming with feedback or concerns. In my experience, I have witnessed situations where team members felt uncomfortable escalating risks or challenges, which subsequently developed into issues in the future. Creating a safe environment where team members can comfortably highlight risks enables leaders to make more informed decisions and take timely actions to mitigate potential problems before they escalate.
The second step is for leaders to skilfully ask for feedback. Simply asking "Do you have any feedback?" is often insufficient to elicit a useful response. Instead, inquire about specific events, worrisome patterns, personal impact, and recommendations.
For example, you could ask "What were your impressions when I shared my strategy?" or "How did you feel when you received that email?".
The more specific your requests for feedback, the better you can understand the underlying motivations and reasons behind it.
The third step is to request both positive and negative data. Positive feedback that targets specific behaviours is valuable as it informs you about what you don't need to work on and increases your motivation to focus on the behaviours that require attention.
It's important to note that praise is not synonymous with positive feedback, as it doesn't provide enough information to understand what you're doing effectively. It merely indicates that someone is pleased with your performance.
Similarly, negative data is equally valuable when approached with positive intent. Negative feedback can often be reframed from "What are we doing wrong?" to "Where can we improve?". This shift in perspective breathes new life into the feedback process.
Team retrospectives serve as a simple yet effective method of gathering feedback from your teams. These retrospectives provide an opportunity for you and your teams to collectively gather positive and negative data, with the aim of identifying key themes, evaluating root causes, and generating solutions to enhance future performance.
Two widely used approaches to retrospectives are the ‘Start, Stop, Continue’ and ‘Rose, Thorn, Bud’ analyses. Both methods aim to answer the following questions:
• What aspects are we excelling at?
• What are the primary challenges we are facing?
• What opportunities exist for improvement?
When receiving feedback, give your undivided attention and listen attentively. Eliminate distractions and focus entirely on the person providing the feedback. If you find yourself disagreeing with certain feedback, practice self-awareness and recognise this reaction. However, refrain from offering contradictory evidence or challenging your colleagues or team members. Instead, take ownership of your reactions and acknowledge that they are about you, not the other person.
Finally, it is essential to express gratitude. Now that you have obtained new data, take time to reflect on the meaning and implications of what you have heard. Consider the areas that require your attention and create a plan of action. Great leaders are not only continuous learners but also express gratitude for the feedback they receive. Feedback plays a crucial role in this ongoing process, and although it may not always be easy to receive and learn from, embracing it will enhance your effectiveness as a leader and drive even higher performance within your teams.
In summary, becoming a great leader involves continuous improvement and actively seeking valuable and specific feedback. By building a psychologically safe environment and implementing the appropriate mechanisms to receive feedback, you can gather the necessary insights to enhance your leadership capability and elevate team performance. With an open mind, attentive listening, and gratitude, you can leverage feedback to drive personal and professional growth, leading to greater success as a leader.
