Being a leader doesn’t make you immune to feedback. In fact, the quality of your leadership depends on your ability to receive and implement feedback—especially when circumstances are challenging or uncertain. To get an accurate pulse on your leadership performance, first, actively seek out negative feedback. If what you’re hearing from your colleagues is all feel-good praise and no hard-to-hear criticism, you need to work harder to get them to criticize you. To do this, come up with go-to questions you can ask your manager, your peers, and your direct reports. Avoid yes-or-no questions (“Do you have any feedback for me?”) and instead invite specific suggestions (“What’s one thing you need me to do differently?”). No matter how good your go-to question is, the other person is likely to feel uncomfortable; embrace that discomfort. Try asking your question and then remaining silent. Count to six, slowly, in your head. Very few people can endure six full seconds of silence—they’ll tell you something. Then, listen carefully. Really try to understand what they’re saying rather than focusing on how you’re going to respond. Look for the criticism. Often people will sandwich the negative thought between two positive ones. Finally, the best way to ensure you’ll continue receiving feedback is to follow up and share the actions you’ve taken based on what you heard.
This tip is adapted from “How Leaders Can Get the Feedback They Need to Grow,” by Kim Scott et al.
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