Feedback can be a tough pill to swallow, but at Technalink we cannot stress enough how important being receptive to feedback can be. For compassionate leaders, feedback is a great help on the compassionate leadership journey, and for women in business in general, it’s a way to continue to grow and learn in an authentic way. Any good compassionate leader can become a great compassionate leader simply be being receptive to how their leadership methods are working with those around them, and the only way to glean this important information is through honest and thorough feedback.
If not for the ego, accepting feedback in an effective way would be easy. Our egos tend to get the best of us and tell us to feel hurt or defensive when receiving feedback when in truth we’re receiving important and highly valuable information. Feedback should not be something that insults or offends and should be something that is treasured and sought after by all women in business.
If you’re likely to be a bit defensive after receiving feedback, one way to get used to the idea is to analyze the feedback piece by piece, and not all as one big criticism. Taking feedback one small bit at a time, and taking time to process those bits, can help you to absorb just what others are saying in a healthy way. What you may find after taking it a small step at a time is that improvements are easier to make, and you may even begin seeing the bigger picture as to why a source may have said what they did.
You’ll also want to view each piece of feedback not as a criticism, but as an opportunity. Even the most self-aware soulful leader cannot see their leadership through another’s eyes, and this is information they may not have been privy to otherwise. Each time you receive feedback, you’re receiving an opportunity to get better and grow your leadership in a way you wouldn’t know was necessary otherwise.
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