Of all the challenges managers at all levels face, delivering constructive (and even positive) feedback is near the top of the list. There's good reason—it's a confusing topic that even the experts who study human psychology and neuroscience disagree on, despite mountains of research. Here are four ideas to help strengthen your feedback culture and effectiveness.
I’ve long believed layoffs are a lagging indicator of poor leadership engaged in misguided management practices. The CEO apologies for these misfires ring hollow. You cannot apologize your way out of a leadership failure at scale.
For individuals who choose to lead, it pays to see the signposts. Here are several significant moments in the career of everyone who leads that merit your complete engagement.
The old supervisory model and mentality are obsolete. The essence of the new role is empowerment and support. Perhaps instead of having individuals write off the opportunity to contribute to others and their organizations in unique ways, we might just build the next generation of great leaders. I've checked, and we need more of those great leaders!
In every challenging conversations workshop I run, the topic of the feedback sandwich (aka the praise sandwich) jumps up, and we spend time sharing perspectives on the use/uselessness of this tactic. Here are some reasons I believe you should say "No" to the praise sandwich in your feedback practices.
Teaming and collaboration experiences happen in all walks of our professional and personal lives. Some experiences working with others are draining, others passable, and just a few are energizing and even fun and successful. You can hope these fun, productive experiences emerge by chance. Or you can be deliberate about creating the conditions that improve the possibility of a great collaboration experience. I opt for improving our odds of bringing one of these productive, fun experiences to life. Here are four ideas to help:
Preoccupying on the past in feedback conversations generates stress. Instead, focus on leveraging experiences and outcomes to design for improved effectiveness in the future.
Journaling is one of the most powerful continuous improvement tools we can use in our working lives, yet many are unsure of how to get started. Here's some guidance and twenty journaling prompts to help:
During my coaching calls with leaders at all levels, much of our time is invested in how to engage and structure the conversations to uncover value for all parties. Here are some tips to help you pre-think and design your discussions to achieve successful outcomes for all parties.
It's Back-to-Professional Development Time and I'm sharing my current Fall, 2022 calendar. If strengthening your skills as a leader or your success as a manager is on your priority list (or is a priority for your team members), please consider one of our uniquely powerful programs that blend training and coaching.
