Self-knowledge was already postulated in Delphi in Antiquity, and is recognized today as an important dimension of emotional intelligence. When Warren Bennis asks managers how they cultivate their self-knowledge, they often reply that feedback from good sources helps them a great deal. As is known, Bennis is perhaps the greatest expert in leadership of organizations, and he knows well that the best leaders try to surround themselves with intelligent and honest people, capable of offering valuable feedback and help in decision making. Lee Iacocca even goes so far as to stimulate feedback in whom he calls something like "the opposition." And is that the feedback is, as Rick Tate says, "the breakfast of champions". Only to non-champions can a good breakfast be indigestible, that is,an enriching and correctly formulated feedback. You certainly have to take care of the formulation, for the sake of effectiveness.
A manager-leader can request and find enriching feedback from some of his collaborators, but among them there can also be panphilic critics, fearful, severe, pessimistic and even pleasers; You will have to identify your most valuable sources, searching for the truth. There may be a manager who prefers calm to the truth, but this is not the case with good leaders. Faced with a wrong or incorrect judgment, the leader could argue about it, but not against its formulator; And if the judgment is intrinsically valuable, the leader appreciates it. Receptivity to feedback is, without a doubt, a very useful quality for everyone who owns it and, of course, for managers; they need feedback as much or more than workers. It is not that we should agree to everything we are told,smart and uplifting as it may be, but, rightly or wrongly, everything can provoke interesting reflections.
Preparation-formulation
And if receptivity to feedback is as valuable as it is dangerous to lack it and lash out critically at the system, the effective formulation must also be postulated; It is not necessary, where appropriate, to appear aristarcos when formulating our disagreements about the ideas, action or performance of other people, however good the intention.
By alluding to Aristarchus, it will be understood that we are referring to that of Samothrace, the librarian of Alexandria and a severe critic of the 2nd century BC; but, in this to address the power to show a disagreement, it would also be necessary to remember the other, that of Samos, the astronomer Aristarchus who already in the 3rd century BC faced the traditional and Aristotelian geocentric conception of the world, to formulate the model heliocentric, to which, nevertheless and as is known, the time had not come (and there was still a long wait; but let us not prolong this first digression, although we could well have spoken of Galileo's forced retraction in the same respect, in the century XVI… and it is that the establishment does not always attend to reasons).
Showing a disagreement - however small it may be and even if it is served upon request - to the one who holds the power requires a certain skill (and in some cases courage). Warren Bennis himself maintains that he does not know any top manager who, deep in his heart, is not convinced that his own head is better than all the others put together; If made visible, this belief constitutes an obstacle to overcome for those who formulate bottom-up feedback in the hope that it will not become a past. It is not that, as a rule, dissensions of the consulted ones properly take place, but it does seem natural that some reservation arises and even some measured comment with corrective purpose. It seems that Ted Sorensen, John Kennedy's special adviser, once subtly disagreed with him, saying, "That sounds like the kind of idea Nixon would have."
We seem to remember - and we are now entering another digression, this one more extensive - that Sorensen had adopted Kennedy's literary style and helped him with his speeches, including the one that was never delivered at the Dallas Trade Mart, on November 22 1963. Regardless of the success of his administration in that interrupted period of presidency, John Kennedy brought a new style of leadership to political life, and he knew how to win the adherence of many people, inside and outside the United States. This memory serves us to highlight the synergistic and effective relationship of trust between that president and his closest collaborators (also O'Donnell, O'Brien, Powers, his brother Bob…), to the benefit of the decisions taken and without diminishing respect due to the responsibility of the leader. But, insisting on the feedback,let's remember another episode in the life of Kennedy. In the fall of 1961, the President invited a group of Texas media entrepreneurs to a meal at the White House; Among them, the owner of the Dallas Morning News, Ted Dealey, who, at an unexpected moment, got up and read: “… Unfortunately for America, you and your Administration are weak as young ladies…… A man on horseback is needed. to guide this nation, and many people in Texas think that you ride the Carolina trike… ” It seems that the mention of his 3-year-old daughter upset the President, but he answered Dealey accurately and calmly, with arguments. One would not be surprised that, back then, Kennedy forced himself to travel to Dallas, as he did two years later, despite numerous dissuasive advice. He was killed on Elm Street.In the fall of 1961, the President invited a group of Texas media entrepreneurs to a meal at the White House; Among them, the owner of the Dallas Morning News, Ted Dealey, who, at an unexpected moment, got up and read: “… Unfortunately for America, you and your Administration are weak as young ladies…… A man on horseback is needed. to guide this nation, and many people in Texas think that you ride the Carolina trike… ” It seems that the mention of his 3-year-old daughter upset the President, but he answered Dealey accurately and calmly, with arguments. One would not be surprised that, back then, Kennedy forced himself to travel to Dallas, as he did two years later, despite numerous dissuasive advice. He was killed on Elm Street.In the fall of 1961, the President invited a group of Texas media entrepreneurs to a meal at the White House; Among them, the owner of the Dallas Morning News, Ted Dealey, who, at an unexpected moment, got up and read: “… Unfortunately for America, you and your Administration are weak as young ladies…… A man on horseback is needed. to guide this nation, and many people in Texas think that you ride the Carolina trike… ” It seems that the mention of his 3-year-old daughter upset the President, but he answered Dealey accurately and calmly, with arguments. One would not be surprised that, back then, Kennedy forced himself to travel to Dallas, as he did two years later, despite numerous dissuasive advice. He was killed on Elm Street.the president invited a group of Texas media entrepreneurs to a dinner at the White House; Among them, the owner of the Dallas Morning News, Ted Dealey, who, at an unexpected moment, got up and read: “… Unfortunately for America, you and your Administration are weak as young ladies…… A man on horseback is needed to guide this nation, and many people in Texas think that you ride the Carolina trike… ” It seems that the mention of his 3-year-old daughter upset the President, but he answered Dealey accurately and calmly, with arguments. One would not be surprised that, back then, Kennedy forced himself to travel to Dallas, as he did two years later, despite numerous dissuasive advice. He was killed on Elm Street.the president invited a group of Texas media entrepreneurs to a dinner at the White House; Among them, the owner of the Dallas Morning News, Ted Dealey, who, at an unexpected moment, got up and read: “… Unfortunately for America, you and your Administration are weak as young ladies…… A man on horseback is needed to guide this nation, and many people in Texas think that you ride the Carolina trike… ” It seems that the mention of his 3-year-old daughter upset the President, but he answered Dealey accurately and calmly, with arguments. One would not be surprised that, back then, Kennedy forced himself to travel to Dallas, as he did two years later, despite numerous dissuasive advice. He was killed on Elm Street.Among them, the owner of the Dallas Morning News, Ted Dealey, who, at an unexpected moment, got up and read: “… Unfortunately for America, you and your Administration are weak as young ladies…… A man on horseback is needed. to guide this nation, and many people in Texas think that you ride the Carolina trike… ” It seems that the mention of his 3-year-old daughter upset the President, but he answered Dealey accurately and calmly, with arguments. One would not be surprised that, back then, Kennedy forced himself to travel to Dallas, as he did two years later, despite numerous dissuasive advice. He was killed on Elm Street.Among them, the owner of the Dallas Morning News, Ted Dealey, who, at an unexpected moment, got up and read: “… Unfortunately for America, you and your Administration are weak as young ladies…… A man on horseback is needed. to guide this nation, and many people in Texas think that you ride the Carolina trike… ” It seems that the mention of his 3-year-old daughter upset the President, but he answered Dealey accurately and calmly, with arguments. One would not be surprised that, back then, Kennedy forced himself to travel to Dallas, as he did two years later, despite numerous dissuasive advice. He was killed on Elm Street.and your Administration are weak as young ladies…… It takes a man on horseback to lead this nation, and many people in Texas think you ride Carolina's trike… ” It seems that the mention of her 3-year-old daughter upset the President, but she answered Dealey accurately and calmly, with arguments. One would not be surprised that, back then, Kennedy forced himself to travel to Dallas, as he did two years later, despite numerous dissuasive advice. He was killed on Elm Street.and your Administration are weak as young ladies…… It takes a man on horseback to lead this nation, and many people in Texas think you ride Carolina's trike… ” It seems that the mention of her 3-year-old daughter upset the President, but she answered Dealey accurately and calmly, with arguments. One would not be surprised that, back then, Kennedy forced himself to travel to Dallas, as he did two years later, despite numerous dissuasive advice. He was killed on Elm Street.as he did two years later, despite numerous dissuasive advice. He was killed on Elm Street.as he did two years later, despite numerous dissuasive advice. He was killed on Elm Street.
Kennedy, like other good leaders apart from the aforementioned Iacocca, provoked the feedback. We know that, after his first act as president -the inauguration-, he called an old friend, Bishop Hannan, with whom he had sometimes discussed the art of public speaking, and asked him: “Well, how about has the speech come out? The bishop had liked it and made it known to him, but he certainly had something to add: "Perhaps you should have spoken a little more slowly, to await the reaction of the crowd." Kennedy was well aware that the Bishop would know how to tell him everything he thought. But, after these cases brought, let's close the digression.
Some reader will say that, for better or for worse, he is not related to any president, not even, perhaps, with that of his company. But, in reality, we believe that the decalogue that we submit below for consideration would be applicable (if the reader subscribes it) even if the upward feedback was directed to the boss who has his office a few meters away. What is the reader's opinion of these commandments?
1. Make sure you have really been asked for critical judgment.
2. Limit yourself to the subject under feedback.
3. Evidence that you have the expected respect.
4. Bet on sincerity, subordinating it, if anything, to effectiveness.
5. Be clear and brief in the formulation, avoiding getting lost in the branches.
6. Highlight both the positive and the negative.
7. Express yourself by implying that reason is not attributed.
8. Provide the requested clarifications, but avoid the appearance of discussion.
9. Take the opportunity to apply all the intelligence you have.
10. Avoid feeling more important because of your opinion.
Decalogue for ascending feedback
Perhaps some people think that these recommendations suggest a somewhat exaggerated distance of dignity, for when it comes to informal feedback, directed to an immediate and accessible boss: it can be: it all depends on the characteristics of each interpersonal relationship. There will also be those who think that this is how they would like to receive feedback from their boss. We would add that the ego is, in general, more important for managers than for its collaborators; It is not, in any way, that managers are necessarily arrogant or necessarily convinced of their superiority: we believe that we are all simply influenced or conditioned by the size of the position we occupy. In companies, cultural changes are reducing the distances between hierarchical levels - it is postulated, for example,servant leadership, and the cultivation of moral authority instead of formal power - but that does not erode, but rather reinforces, the professional respect for each other.
Ingestion and digestion of feedback
We have been suggesting that we can spoil a good message if the forms used are beyond due respect and affect the recipient's natural ego. In fact, the manager-leaders (cultivators of moral authority) are less susceptible, or as such behave, because they are very sure of their ancestry over the followers; It is precisely these that make them leaders, and this circumstance frees them, in some measure, from feeling threatened by their ego. Good leaders receive and interpret the messages of their collaborators well; they read between the lines and celebrate knowing what others think, favorable or not, correct or not; they listen with authentic presence (mindfulness).
And the champions, the managers-leaders, not only eat the feedback well, they also digest it well. Modify, where appropriate, their opinions or decisions, and also reflect and enrich their mental models for the future. They soon identify their good sources and frequent them. And they don't just go to good sources; in fact, they create an organizational climate in which everyone can address them whenever they want. They are neither afraid nor do they generate fear: they are leaders and they operate in climates of trust. But let's insist on digestion: sometimes it takes time, but it is important to do it well.
Reflective thinking is certainly a healthy exercise. It would be said that, during the slowing down of our thoughts, characteristic of expert reflection, we argue with ourselves, we review our reasoning, we question our performance, we discover new connections, we become aware of our defensive routines, we observe our attitudes and perceive areas for improvement. Reflection is activated in different ways, but undoubtedly valuable feedback is one of them.
