Leaders give feedback to their people all the time. It’s a key skill for any leader: how to give feedback, whether positive or negative, in ways their people can hear, learn from, and grow.
But taking feedback from their people? Not always easy for leaders, for a whole host of reasons.
The formal process for leader-to-employee feedback is clearly defined as part of what leaders do. Worst case, it’s done once a year at the annual review; best case, leaders hold regular meetings with their people to check in and, yep, give feedback on how things are going with that employee’s work.
Any process for feedback in the other direction, employee-to-leader, isn’t so well defined.
There’s the somewhat-controversial 360-degree review, which can be problematic, to say the least. Setting aside questions of resources (time and cost), the reality is that any time you have anonymous feedback, you run a real risk of bias, political entanglements, and employees who use the opportunity to “get back at” a leader they believe mistreated them.
Of course leaders get feedback from their leaders – even up to and including the CEO, who responds to feedback from the company board of directors.
But while that might help them grow in some ways, it doesn’t give them insight into how their leadership approach affects the people who work for them. And that’s an important thing for every leader to learn.
It’s also one of the most challenging things any leader can learn, because it requires being willing to hear things they may not like.
The process is easy enough: given that you are (of course) having regular meetings with your people (right?), you can wrap up your meeting with one simple question:
“What could I be doing differently, as your leader, to make your job easier and more productive?”
The first time you ask that question, expect surprise and something along the lines of, “I don’t know,” or, “I can’t think of anything.” So you may need to push a little bit, to make sure they know you really mean it – you really want an answer – you really want to know.
When it becomes part of your regular routine, they’ll likely be more forthcoming. Just note, and note well: if you don’t take action when what they say isn’t what you’re currently doing, or is flat-out negative, you’ll destroy trust.
But if you do take action, if you’re clearly open to whatever they offer, you’ll gain more than just trust; you’ll gain respect.
Part of being a good leader includes soliciting feedback from your team.
The question is: can you take it?
Stuck on what to do if you get feedback you disagree with? I have a limited number of coaching clients at any time; contact me if you’re interested.