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Articles
The
most powerful predictor of leadership
and organizational success:
Accurate Self-Assessment
BY STEVEN E. LURIE, Ph.D.
Accurate self-assessment is the
competency most critical to organizational success, yet very rarely
found. A "good news climate" designed to protect the
egos of senior management is more typical than an open climate
in which employees are empowered to communicate corrective feedback
upward, even to the point of challenging sacred cows.
The way individual leaders handle
corrective feedback sends a powerful message about the climate
they want in their department. If you, the leader, can deal effectively
with corrective feedback, you will always be able to assess what
is going on. If you send the message that corrective feedback
is something you don't want because it hurts your feelings and
gets you angry, your subordinates will happily comply. You will
also lose access to what's really happening in your world. Not
only will the issues not go away, you will also lose the opportunity
to improve. Short-term bliss equals long-term blind-siding.
How to handle corrective
feedback to assure you keep getting it:
- Be curious and interested in
what you are hearing. When given negative feedback, you may
very well feel attacked or criticized. Your first instinct may
be to defend, protect and justify yourself or the behavior under
attack. This only leads to an upward spiral of the attack. Instead,
try to assume a curious attitude about the feedback you are getting.
What does the person giving you negative feedback mean exactly?
What are their expectations about your behavior? Unless you demonstrate
a willingness to listen and consider the feedback, the person
giving it will not yield in their opinions about you. They will
either stop giving you feedback and give it to others, stew,
or turn up their attacks.
- Use lots of reflective listening
to make sure you understand what the criticism is and to convey
to the person giving the feedback that you have heard it. Active
listening is especially important if the person giving you feedback
is angry or hurt. Reflecting their feeling is as important as
reflecting the content of what they are saying. Take a class
in listening skills.
- Don't feel compelled to give
a quick answer, agree, or solve the problem right then and there.
But don't just roll over and agree if you don't truly agree.
You can say that you were unaware of what you are being told,
need to think about it and would like to continue the discussion
after you have had a chance to think about it.
- Don't use the discussion as
the opportunity to counter-criticize or attack the individual
giving you feedback. If there is feedback you feel you should
give to that person, do it at another time and make sure they
don't feel that this feedback is a counter-attack. Take a class
in giving feedback or assertion skills.
- Let the person know that you
appreciate their feedback even though it is hard to hear, and
assure them that you will give it careful consideration.
- Make sure you follow up if you
have promised to.
- Become fully aware of your body
language and non-verbal messages. Make sure they do not convey
hurt, anger, and/or defensiveness. Try to get some videotape
feedback so you can better understand your own body language.
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