Feedback Versus Judgement: Let Us Not Confuse The Two

In the last 8 months, I have been back in full time corporate work. Frankly, when I decided to begin sending my applications to huge companies I have already set my mind that I should be ready for the possibility of the usual office politics, having slave driver bosses, dealing with a mix of mature & immature colleagues, as well as not having lunch on the supposed time slot for lunch breaks (the previous years that I have been in recruiting work, I think I got to only enjoy real lunch breaks [on time] in 2-3 organizations). However, having seen how the Covid19 virus has hit almost all countries in the world badly, I also have positive and hopeful thoughts that perhaps people in the workplace --- be it in their homes or onsite offices, who might have been causes of unnecessary stress to their coworkers pre-pandemic probably have metamorphosed. "Life is short" as they say and this almost turning 3-year old pandemic surely revealed and reminded everyone that life can definitely be much shorter and can suddenly be gone in a blink of an eye.

Yesterday my former colleagues and friends who are also doing HR Ops and Recruitment work had the opportunity to reconnect and spend a good 1 or 2 hours catching up and sharing how our current jobs have been. Since we have common ex-employers and ex-bosses, it cannot be helped to compare and to some extent have a benchmark if we are now in working environments where we see possibility of long term career growth & personal development, financial recovery (some of us lost business opportunities and two lost jobs at the height of the Covid19 surge) and most importantly feel a sense of safety, harmony and peace of mind & body. As we were exchanging stories and ranting about challenges at work, one expressed how upset she was about colleagues of her whom she barely had direct contact with but apparently had reported a lot of unfavorable feedback about her to her boss. This friend of mine frankly could have chosen not to work at all as she has all the means to pay her bills and enjoy everything that she could want in life. Despite that, she is top 2-top 3 among us all whom I can say is the most diligent, most driven to work, most accomplished so far and has the strongest personality. She was upset and what she shared made me look up on how Google Search defines the words "feedback" and "judgement".

What does feedback mean? Feedback is the the transmission of evaluative or corrective information about an action, event, or process to the original or controlling source. Feedback is when someone tells you how well or badly you are doing, and how you could improve.

What does judgement mean? Judgment is?the mental ability to understand something, form an opinion and reach a decision or conclusion. A?judgment?is an opinion that you have or express after?thinking carefully about something or someone. Even though a judgement is an opinion, it is perceived as reality.?A judgment can be positive as well as negative. However, judgments are most often seen as negative as when you judge someone else as better than you, the judgment on yourself is being less than and vice versa.

When someone in the workplace provides statements like, "Oh she has such a strong personality" is this feedback or judgement? When someone you have never worked with but only spoke with about casual life topics for 30 minutes or so over a team dinner and shares "Oh she has strong personality" to a set of other colleagues whom you haven't also dealt with in the workplace, is that feedback or judgement? I for one have strong personality and I think it has more advantages than having a meek and soft personality. In this VUCA world, you can miss out a lot if you are on the other end. Or to begin with is the term "strong personality" appropriately used in the case of my friend's situation? Shouldn't it be "she is very assertive"; "she is very enthusiastic and passionate with her craft"; "she is unafraid to express herself & to speak up". I think many in the workplace misuse or overuse the word "feedback" when in reality what is being communicated is actually already a "judgement". Or perhaps, depending on the intent of providing such descriptions, then the statement can either be a feedback or mere judgement.

Sharing an article which I hope can help those who may have concerns about people with "strong personality". Might also be worthwhile to also understand how this set of human beings think & behave and why they probably choose to be how & what they are.

5 Signs You Have a Strong Personality, and What That Means (truity.com) [Credits to Truity.com]