How to Treat Feedback as a Gift

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Imagine a project review meeting and suddenly out of nowhere you hear commentary on your team. Let's further imagine that the commentary is far from pleasing...

Yes this happens a lot. If you have been there I know you are probably somewhere between cringing and ready to explode.

Feedback from your customers and stakeholders is a gift. I mean that.

One of my mentors used to say this and the lesson stayed with me. If you are hearing from others they are taking time to say something. For a moment let's pause and think about intention there. Then internalize and think of what you can do about it.

#1 Assume a positive intention - Hope and assume that the person delivering this feedback meant well. That they caught a moment and in that zephyr came this well intended comment for you.

#2 Thank them - If you didn't already do that, go back to them and thank them.

#3 Explore further - The reasons could be many. I like to unpack.

• What was the situation?
• What was the behavior seen?
• And what impact did this have to the business?
• Why did the team miss the deadline?
• Why was the team not able to detect sooner?
• What was the impact to the product, process, project and the people?
• Who else needs to consider preventive and corrective actions?

#4 Build it into your day - It could be impacting your project, your product being developed, the teams you coach or the processes you are responsible for.

Looking ahead - Make sharing and receiving feedback a part of your day. You can only grow from it.

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Happy Thursday! Your role as a leader is about the talent you are shaping. Encourage receiving and sharing feedback with your customers, teams and make it a habit. The best products, projects, people and processes were shaped through feedback.

Read my short weekly articles on how you can be more successful with your transformation. If you want to keep seeing editions of my newsletter please?Subscribe. Thank you for being a part of my learning network.

?#emotionalintelligence #transformation #feedback