To improve your performance as a leader, solicit feedback

As a leader, it is important to create an environment where open communication and feedback are welcomed and encouraged. You not only need to give your team ongoing feedback, but you also need to seek it out. Asking for your team's input and allowing staff to voice their opinions about your leadership style and their experience within the organization gives you the opportunity to address their concerns. This information then enables you to build a stronger and more effective organization.

Receiving gracious feedback and taking action to make necessary improvements improves your performance as a leader. It also creates a healthy work environment where everyone can thrive.

Yet asking for and receiving feedback can be humiliating and frustrating, as it forces you to be vulnerable. You must be ready and willing to recognize that you can improve. You might even find weaknesses that you need to correct.

Being the recipient of feedback helps you be more empathetic, as it reminds you of what it's like to receive feedback from you for your team.

It is essential that you actively and openly listen to feedback from your team. As a leader, you model good communication for everyone else in the organization. Like it or not, they look to you to show them how to behave and to learn what is acceptable in your culture. Everyone is watching you for your reaction. They want to see how you react to comments, especially negative ones.

Of course, you always decide which suggestions to implement. But your willingness to listen and act on some (if not all) of these suggestions shows that you are ready to become a better leader. Your answer sends a positive message. And your commitment to self-improvement is how you will build a strong, productive, and communicative culture.

Receiving feedback from others can be embarrassing, frustrating, or even irritating. Maybe they don't have all the facts or present their comments as if they know more than you do. Regardless of their knowledge level, it's important to seek out, receive, and incorporate feedback from all levels of your organization to gain a broader perspective.

Think of the TV show “Undercover Boss,” where the leader was often shocked to learn what frontline workers thought of the organization. But if you incorporate feedback into your organization's SOPs, you won't have to hide - you'll already have an idea of ​​the problems.

As a manager, it's important to not only tolerate negative feedback, but also to ask for it and recognize its value. Feedback lets you hear your team's perspective and helps you know how to improve the organization and be a more effective leader.

To better receive and incorporate feedback from your team:

Be humble. When listening to employee feedback, get rid of your ego. Do not personalize information, even if it is unsolicited. Whether positive or negative, see it as an opportunity for you and your organization to grow and learn. Listen to understand. Listen with an inquisitive and open mind. To be present. Don't assume you know what others are going to say, but rather be interested in the feedback your employee shares with you. Even if you think you understand their point of view, ask questions. Hearing their perspective helps you connect to their real experience without your leadership filter, and it helps depersonalize the information. Please don't pretend or minimize their words or feelings. Listen to their perspective, as they may not be the only ones thinking, and you may need to hear what they are saying to make critical changes to your workplace or your attitude. Even if it stings, ask for clarification before you filter what they share with you through your leadership lens. Don't log out. Listen with the desire to understand. Don't get defensive. Being defensive will turn off the person offering feedback, making them reluctant to speak up in the future. It also sends the message that it is not safe to speak openly with you and that the organization is not open to feedback. Reverberations are rampant when you close comments because your whole team is watching your r...