Start a Feedback Conversation: You’ll Unleash Awareness & Catapult Your Work into A New Level o

I spend a lot of time helping leaders communicate better with the other leaders and co-workers on their teams. When coaching, I notice in 90% of these situations the leader is not having personal, high-impact conversations that lead to any change in the status quo.

You may recognize under-communication in some familiar situations:

1. Big changes in the customer environment and the leader never engaging with the employee about the nature of the changes and new ideas for how to address

2. Employee trying some brand new approaches and the leader barely following up with the employee to review and help the employee take next steps

3. Leader conducting hurried meetings to provide announcements and technical information but no real two-way conversations

4. Leader conducting quick phone check-ins with individuals but not sharing positive feedback and assistance that would build trust and prompt the employee to share problems

5. Leader barely sharing corporate info coming from upper management and employees missing the big picture and feeling in the dark

6. Leader never asking open-ended questions and never pausing long enough to really listen to the employee share their perceptions

7. Leader never asking for employees’ input on sticky situations in the business they could use help on

Leaders have good intentions They have every intention of offering help and seeking input, but allow themselves to be distracted by the outside pressure of the moment and fail to see how better, closer conversations is a super productivity enhancer!

If you recognize under-communication in yourself, humor me and try this:

1. Add a meeting with a group of people who need more direction and new approaches. Discover how much progress this leads to!

2. Have three more personal conversations with individuals you wouldn’t have talked with next week. Track your new and powerful insights that help the business!

3. Deepen your conversations by asking people to help you on key business questions you need help on. Listen without interrupting and notice how much help they are!

What did you notice after two weeks? Feel free to share how these insights helped you with your business goals.

“A concise and effective tool… It provides context, inspiration, and great actionable content.”

— Mark Holzbach, Creative and Tech Community Connector, Co-Founder, Zebra Imaging