You probably remember sitting at a lecture hall at your college at the end of the semester, filling out a teacher evaluation form that you knew meant nothing. The dinosaur at the front of the room wasn’t going to change, and it didn’t matter if they did because you weren’t going to be there to benefit from the feedback you offered.
It was probably a similar feeling the first time you were asked to fill out a 360 report about your first boss. You suspected that as long as they were hitting their numbers and the people in the offices on the upper floors liked them, nothing you wrote really mattered.
But, that’s not always the case.
Because when you became the boss, you realized that your boss wanted to see direct improvement as a result of the feedback you got on those peer and subordinate reviews. The feedback might have been right on point; the challenge is that your boss had no constructive or helpful input on how you could do better.
You’ll Improve by Looking at What You’re Doing RIGHT
The key, as it turns out, is not to focus on the negative. Appreciate the negative feedback because some of it may very well be constructive. Whether provided by your work peers or not, it is crucial to have a trained coach or consultant help you disseminate the results of a 360 report. This outside input from a trusted consultant will play a crucial role in helping you interpret and enact changes based on the positive data.
Ekaterina Walter, author of “Think Like Zuck” and “The Power of Visual Storytelling” told Forbes.com:
“Leadership is a privilege, not a right, and we need to treat it as such. Leadership means encouraging people to live up to their fullest potential and find the path they love. That, and only that, will create a strong culture and sustainable levels of innovation.”
In other words, if your knee-jerk reaction is to pass the buck and blame the very people who provided the feedback, it’s best to sit with a coach and determine how you can take those areas that you scored well and emphasize your best skills to drive the team forward.
Gallup pollsters reinforce the idea of strengths-based development with their research.
Managers who were polled showed up to 18% improvement with performance, up to 23% higher employee engagement, and up to 73% lower attrition. What did these numbers translate to in real-world terms? Gallup found that when sales increased by up to 19%, and profit increased by 29% that there were up to 59% fewer safety incidents.
Your Coach or Mentor Needs Experience and a Healthy Dose of Empathy.
When it comes to figuring out who that coach should be, you’re going to need to find somebody who not only has experience and a record of positive results but somebody who you can really share your thoughts with.
“While you are not looking for a friend, you should feel comfortable enough with your coach to let your guard down and reveal some of your concerns, discomforts, and insecurities,” Dan Portes, CEO, and Chairman of Management Resource Group wrote in an article for CPIWorld.com in late 2018.
Portes also stressed that the coach must understand your strengths even more than your weaknesses since it’s easier to navigate around weakness than improve strengths. Attitude is also key, he added, stressing while you may not always agree with the coach, it’s important to respect their opinion and give it careful consideration.
While it may be human nature to focus on negative feedback, studies show the most important information is in where you scored well. Your board wants a healthier bottom line while your team needs a continuously advancing and evolving leader. Finding an expert to help you interpret the data and create a strategy for positive change has resulted in double-digit increases in both performance and profit, according to Gallup.
Conducting well-delivered feedback sessions is not only helpful for the individual being reviewed, but it is also helpful to the bottom line of company profitability and employee engagement. Leaders who are open to feedback and who focus on what they are doing well, do lead the way. Are you one of them?
If not, let’s talk. You, your employees and your customers are worth it.
Have the women leaders in your organization check out the International Women’s Leadership Academy, May 2020 two-day intensive in Philadelphia.
We are beyond excited about it and you can see more here: https://maricarmenpizarro.com/may-2020/
