Regular, honest feedback is the key to your growth as a leader
By Jim Wiederhold
Over the years, I’ve worked with many executives who were separated from their organizations for a variety of reasons, and the number of reasons continues to grow. Today, executives are let go not just for poor job performance but personality fit, relationships, business decisions, and company politics. Having dealt with these exit stories in all categories, it’s clear that people aren’t being given feedback—and aren’t asking for it.
Often, when meeting with me to go through their exit story, a client will say, “I never saw it coming!” Then I walk them through the events and conversations of the last 60 to 90 days, and inevitably they say, “I should have seen it coming!” When I ask if they had a feedback loop, most answer that they didn’t. They could be successful in their jobs, even though they had no idea how they were actually doing. But they could be that much more successful with a good feedback loop.
Great leaders and managers know that how you see yourself and how the world sees you need to be in sync if you’re going to be the person and leader you need to be.
Undergo a formal, yearly evaluation.
On occasion I will work with an executive who will have a 360-degree evaluation done each year to evaluate where they are in the leadership Journey. This is an important source of feedback, and the absolute minimum amount of feedback you should be seeking. These evaluations should be routine and presented in a positive way as an opportunity to see growth year to year, rather than in a sporadic or negative way that causes the leader to believe the mere mention of an evaluation is a commentary on their job performance.
