You’re a sustainability professional. How can you get feedback that helps you grow?

1 Identify your goals

Before you seek or offer feedback, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve. What are your short-term and long-term goals as a sustainability professional? What are the specific skills, competencies, and knowledge that you need to develop or enhance? How do they align with your organization's sustainability vision, strategy, and values? Having a goal-oriented mindset will help you focus your feedback on the areas that matter most to you and your stakeholders.

3 Ask for specifics

One of the most common pitfalls of feedback is vagueness. General comments like "good job" or "needs improvement" are not very helpful for your growth. You need feedback that is specific, actionable, and constructive. To get that, you need to ask the right questions. For example, you can ask for examples of what you did well or poorly, suggestions for how you can improve or replicate your results, or insights into the impact or implications of your work. You can also use frameworks or tools like SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) or STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) to structure your feedback requests.

5 Act and follow up

Feedback is only useful if you act on it. After you receive feedback, you need to reflect on it and decide how you will use it to improve your work. You may need to adjust your goals, plans, strategies, or behaviors based on the feedback. You may also need to seek additional feedback, resources, or guidance to help you implement the changes. Once you have taken action, you need to follow up with your feedback providers. Let them know how you used their feedback, what results you achieved, and what challenges you faced. Ask for their feedback again, and show them how you have improved or learned from your mistakes.

6 Give and receive

Feedback is a two-way street. As a sustainability professional, you also have a responsibility to give feedback to others who are working with or for you. Giving feedback can help you build trust, rapport, and collaboration with your colleagues, partners, and clients. It can also help you enhance your own skills, knowledge, and reputation as a sustainability leader and expert. To give effective feedback, you need to follow the same principles as receiving feedback: be clear about your goals, choose your sources, be specific, constructive, and actionable, listen and learn, and act and follow up. By giving and receiving feedback regularly and respectfully, you can create a positive feedback culture that fosters learning, improvement, and innovation in your sustainability work.