#YouAsked: How to invite feedback

Awesome to contribute to LinkedIn’s feature #youasked The question is an important one: “What steps can a leader take to ensure that every team member feels encouraged to provide input and feedback?” Here's my response: One of the easiest solutions is to simply state explicitly that this is expected and valued. Research suggests that when expectations are clear and transparent, people are more likely to contribute to the discussion. When Mellody Hobson joined Ariel Investment right after graduating from college, the CEO told her explicitly he expected her to bring her ideas forward, despite the fact that she was going to be in rooms with people who had a lot of money and likely felt entitled to speak and dominate the conversation. Hobson took the advice to heart. She is now the President and co-CEO of Ariel.

In order to ensure everyone feels encouraged to practice Radical Candor, you must lead by example. This means actively soliciting feedback from your team and asking them to criticize you. This will be difficult at first and your team may be reluctant, but it's important you be persistent. In general, I have two guidelines for how to get others to criticize you: 1. Be persistent. Convince your team you really do want to hear what they really think. Show them that your requests for criticism are genuine and that you sincerely appreciate it when they say what they think. Keep asking for criticism regularly. Try different approaches, venues, and situations. Whatever you do, don’t accept an environment where you aren’t getting the feedback you need to be successful. 2. Reward the candor. It’s not enough to appreciate critique from your team, or not to get defensive. You have to reward the candor. People need to see and feel that there is a benefit to criticizing you. Read more: https://ow.ly/lfss50wO1Kc