You're coaching emerging leaders on feedback sessions. How can you help them handle criticism effectively?

I encourage emerging leaders to approach criticism with an open mindset. This involves viewing feedback as an opportunity to learn rather than as a personal attack. By adopting a positive attitude toward criticism, they can more easily identify areas for improvement.

All and any feedback is a gift. Someone is taking out time and making effort to tell you how you can improve. Thank the person! Reflect and break down the feedback, convert into action items. Ignore some points if you dont agree and implement on one you do.

Coaching emerging leaders on handling criticism effectively involves guiding them to embrace feedback as a catalyst for growth. Encourage them to approach feedback with openness and curiosity, focusing on understanding insights rather than feeling defensive. Teach active listening skills to grasp perspectives fully and ask clarifying questions to ensure clarity. Emphasize the importance of separating personal feelings from professional development, encouraging them to create actionable plans based on feedback. By fostering a culture of continuous improvement and resilience, emerging leaders can leverage criticism to enhance their skills and achieve professional success.

I once thought I was a great listener... boy, was I wrong! Here's what I've learned about active listening in feedback sessions: ?? Focus entirely; don't just wait for your turn to speak ?? Resist the urge to interrupt; it's harder than it seems! ?? Pay attention to body language ?? Ask clarifying questions, it shows you're genuinely engaged ?? Paraphrase to ensure understanding, it's a game-changer

Active listening is key to effective communication and growth. Focus completely on the speaker, making eye contact and showing genuine interest. Avoid interrupting, and let them finish before responding. Nod or provide small verbal cues to show you’re engaged. Summarize or paraphrase what they’ve said to confirm understanding, using phrases like “What I’m hearing is...” or “So you’re saying...”. Ask open-ended questions to delve deeper. Show empathy by acknowledging their feelings, saying things like “I understand how you feel.” This not only helps in understanding the feedback but also builds trust and respect in the relationship.

Prompt leaders to practice active listening during feedback sessions. Encourage them to fully engage by maintaining eye contact, nodding, and avoiding interruptions while the feedback is being delivered. This respectful engagement shows that they value the perspectives being shared and helps them absorb the feedback more effectively.

Coach leaders on the importance of probing by asking clarifying questions during feedback sessions. Encourage them to seek specific examples or further explanations to fully understand the feedback. This not only shows their engagement and desire to improve but also helps diffuse any tension, making the exchange more of a constructive dialogue.

Ask yourself - do I think this feedback is true? Have I heard it before? Do I know this about myself? Also ask - do I respect the person who gave the feedback? Do I want to be more like them? These two paths of enquiry can help you work out whether or not to take action on the feedback you've received.

As a coach, guide leaders in recognizing the importance of reflection, introspection, and analysis in their decision-making processes. Encourage them to use these tools to understand and articulate the challenges they face. Facilitate discussions that help them delve into the feedback they receive, encouraging them to identify key takeaways and areas for improvement. This practice not only aids in addressing immediate challenges but also enhances their ability to make informed, thoughtful decisions in future contexts. By mastering these skills, leaders can more effectively evaluate their actions and strategies, leading to continuous personal and professional development.

As a coach, facilitate a process where emerging leaders articulate their own action plans, prompting them with questions that help them consider all necessary aspects of effective execution. Encourage them to explore the value of reviewing these plans with a mentor, using questions that lead them to discover how such guidance can refine their strategies and enhance implementation. Also, guide them to recognize the benefits of having an accountability partner by asking reflective questions about the role of support and shared responsibility in achieving their goals. This approach empowers leaders to develop insightful, actionable plans that are well-rounded and robust, fostering deep personal and professional growth.

Developing an action plan is really as simple as setting follow ups! Schedule follow-up sessions to discuss progress and address any ongoing issues. Continuous support helps reinforce positive changes and demonstrates commitment to the leader’s development. Plus, when you leaders know you are going to check in on something, it helps them to make it a priority!

Facilitate discussions with leaders to emphasize the importance of setting up periodic review meetings with feedback providers to present specific actions taken on the basis of feedback and its impacts . and discuss further to build insight on the importance of incorporating measurable performance metrics or milestones to provide tangible evidence of progress. Adopting this structured approach will build a proactive commitment to improvement in them and also strengthens their communication and trust in themselves to manage such situations,

Help them understand that (i) anybody can further improve - even Olympic gold medalists who are the best in the world, (ii) part of what everyone does at your organization is collaborate to help one another improve, and (iii) by regularly soliciting and processing feedback, they will model the behaviors we want to see in the people they lead. This also means that you should be soliciting their feedback, and if they don't come up with something, pushing them to identify one thing you can improve, then ask follow-up questions, reflect, and process. Continue to solicit their feedback regularly to model the way.

The most important thing a person can do in order to receive feedback in the most effective and conscious way is to prepare their neural networks and bodies to receive it. Taking time to get into a balanced coherent state will prepare the body and brains to be in the best state possible for receiving feedback. Spending a few minutes doing balanced breathing and activating their creativity compassion and courage is highly effective. Then be prepared with follow up questions like “what do you need me to know? Why is this important? What do you want me to do as a result?”

A critical element to impart to emerging leaders is that it is critical to take a step back and understand the context of the feedback. Before processing feedback, consider: 1) What is the feedback session in response to? Is it routine feedback or due to a situation or incident? 2) What is the objective of the feedback session- is it personal feedback, team feedback, or feedback on the company? 3) What is the communication style/background of the person delivering the feedback? Hypothetically speaking, someone delivering feedback from a neurodiverse background may be more direct in their approach and may inadvertently offend. This was not their intention, but it may offend if you do not consider this when processing the feedback.

I once thought giving feedback was a one-way street. How naive I was! ?? Sit as co-responsible parties, not on a pedestal ?? Examine if you've enabled their success fully ?? Remember, their underperformance reflects on you ?? Ask "What can I do better?" It's eye-opening ?? Grow together, it's a shared journey This approach humbled me and improved our outcomes. How do you foster this collaborative spirit in feedback sessions?