How To Get Better At Receiving Feedback

The single best way to grow as a leader is to lead and then get feedback. It is to act and interact with your team and learn what can be improved upon through feedback. Feedback is a better teacher than books, academic journal articles, trainings, speeches, even TED Talks.

And I say this as a writer who translates research from academic journal articles while giving trainings, speeches, and TED Talks.

Feedback, and applying that feedback, makes leaders better. But there’s a problem with receiving feedback once someone is in a leadership role. The nature of feedback changes-teammates minimize unpleasant messages or don’t want to offer any constructive feedback at all. And the response to feedback can change-leaders receive feedback but may not internalize it because “they don’t see the whole picture.”

So in this article, we’ll outline four steps you can take to get better at receiving feedback in order to grow as a leader and grow as a team.

Start With Thank You

The first step in receiving feedback is to start with “Thank You.” The very first response you give when someone gives you feedback should be a response of gratitude. Don’t get defensive. Don’t offer to explain what they might not understand. And don’t even jump further into what you should change (we’ll…