Accepting Feedback and Improving yourself

How many times have you heard the following statement when interacting with managers?

"I am extremely open to feedback. Please feel free to let me know my developmental areas." I am sure many of you are nodding your heads in response to my question.

Well, the real question is, How many managers "really" mean it?

Most of the managers take feedback coming from their direct supervisors (or above) very seriously. On the contrary, when candid behavorial feedback is received from peers or from direct reports, more often than not, the reactions are mixed.

Depending on the organizational culture, the response of a manager can be defensiveness or creating a judgement about the person who dared to pass on the feedback. Believe it or not, culture has a huge role to play in the way managers accept feedback and actioned upon the same.

Even in today's world, there are organizations where passing on feedback to your own supervisor is a complete "no-no" and is categorized as a "Career Limiting Move". In such organizations people cannot express themselves without the fear of jeoparding their career. Managers have limited learnings, do not unleash their potential and struggle to understand reasons for failure. Employees on the other hand, gradually learn to deal with various situations at workplace and jump at the next best opportunity.

On the flip side, the organizations where employees can express their feedback openly and can challenge the status quo, have a higher probability of employee satisfaction. Whether this translates into employee retention depends on manager's response to feedback. This is where the culture plays a larger role.

Few things managers do in great organizations while responding to feedback:

1. Do not get defensive ... this makes them approachable and employees are hesitatnt in providing feedback
2. Show patience to listen and understand ... this makes them establish a connection and understand the overall context of the feedback. They ask for examples and cross check facts for the larger picture
3. Never judge the employee ... they use the opportunity to understand how their actions, behaviors, statements are interpreted and misinterpreted in the world
4. "Be there" mentally ... they summarize and validate when feedback is provided. This provides assurance to the employee that you are really being heard.
5. Never set incorrect expectations but promise to action on feedback ... they make a concious effort to improve the situtation or themselves.

Having said all that, mature managers who have grown through ranks in such organizations are also aware of the following disclaimer:

Just because an employee gives feedback, doesn't mean their feedback is right. They see your actions but interpret them through their own perceptual screen and life experiences and hence they check with others to determine the reliability of the feedback. If only one person believes it about his/her manager, it may be just him/her, the manager might not be at fault.

So, next time when you receive a feedback from your junior or your peer, think and decide how to respond. Remember that you are directly contributing to your Organizational Culture.