6 Tips on How to Better Receive Negative Feedback

How to Better Receive Negative Feedback
A critical skill for all managers is how to give effective performance feedback.  It is the foundation for improving the performance of your team members.  But far too few leaders and managers are skilled at how to better receive negative feedback.

When we assess organizational culture, employees tell us that too many leaders ignore, distrust, or are even insulted by feedback that feels even a little bit derogatory.  They also tell us that not enough upward feedback is followed up on.  As you can imagine, this does not engender trust and commitment.

A Big Mistake
Negative reactions to negative feedback are a big mistake.  Not only are leaders modeling the wrong way to receive negative feedback, but they are missing an opportunity to have a productive conversation and, perhaps, learn something important about the way they are perceived by their team and others.

Six Tips on How to Better Receive Negative Feedback

1. Assume Good Intentions
   For now, assume the negative feedback was given with the intention of helping you to be a more successful leader. Consider it a gift.
2. Be Appreciative
   Demonstrate your appreciation by saying, “Thank you.” After all, the feedback giver cared enough to seek you out and risk your disapproval.
3. Seek Clarity
   Ask follow-up questions. Effective feedback requires more than general comments.  Ask about specific behaviors that, presumably, need improvement.  A comment that “you don’t seem to care about how hard we work” provides little to act upon.You need to understand when and in what context you exhibited behavior that seemed uncaring. And how does this behavior affect the giver of the feedback and the rest of the team?
4. Buy Time If You Need It
   If you feel blind-sided, ask for time to think the feedback over and then set a time when you can discuss things further. You may need to think through what you’ve heard and evaluate what it means for you and your team.
5. Expand the Conversation
   Try to determine if there’s something else going on. Perhaps the feedback giver feels you have slighted them in some way or they are going through a personal problem that is causing extra stress or this “uncaring attitude” is just the tip of an iceberg of more general discontent with the way you are leading the team.
6. Ask for Support
   If you have decided the feedback is warranted and that your behaviors are having a toxic effect on the team and its goals, ask for help in improving the negative behavior. Show that you take the criticism seriously and that you care deeply about bonding with the team in a positive way.  Ask for timely help in identifying examples of the negative behavior and set a time to review progress.

The Bottom Line
If you as a new manager can’t accept negative feedback in a positive way, how can you expect your team members to pay attention to the feedback you give them?  It’s all about improving performance — theirs AND yours.

To learn more about how to better receive negative feedback, download 8 Reasons Why Leaders Need 360 Feedback

by Tristam Brown: CEO

Tristam Brown is an executive business consultant and organizational development expert with more than three decades of experience helping organizations accelerate performance, build high-impact teams, and turn strategy into execution. As CEO of LSA Global, he works with leaders to get and stay aligned™ through research-backed strategy, culture, and talent solutions that produce measurable, business-critical results. See full bio.