Feedback: The Breakfast of Champions (and the 19 words every leader should memorize)

I hold a strong conviction: feedback is the breakfast of champions.

What’s the best way to seek out feedback?

1.  Be proactive. Don’t assume people will provide you unsolicited feedback. We must genuinely ask others for honest feedback.

2. Ask specifically: Ask generic questions and you’ll receive generic feedback (“How did I do in last week’s presentation?”) But ask specific questions, and you’ll get specific feedback (“Could you provide me with two practical ways I could have improved my introduction?”)

3. Consider asking for feed-forward instead of feedback. Asking others for past performance can be intimidating. Asking about the future puts people at ease; they’ll often open up more readily. Rather than, “How did I do facilitating my part of the staff meeting last Tuesday?” consider asking, “If I facilitated a portion of our staff meeting in a few weeks, how might I do it more effectively?”

4. When others give you honest feedback (or feed-forward) say thanks. It doesn’t mean you agree with everything they said; it means you’re grateful for their honest response. You can assess the validity of what they said later.  

What’s the best way to provide feedback to others?

Author Daniel Pink shared 19 wonderful words when it comes to giving feedback. They are so good they’re worth memorizing:

"I’m giving you these comments because I have very high expectations and I know that you can reach them."

You express high standards, while also bolstering people’s confidence.

Be skilled at seeking out and providing feedback; it’s one of the most important tools in growing as a leader – and as a human.