In the Absence of Feedback, the Most Experienced People Presume the Negative
In the absence of feedback, people often presume they are doing poorly. In the words of legendary coach Pat Summit, they prefer to “fill in the blanks with a negative.”
People have a genuine need to know where they stand in the eyes of the leader. Leaders who are reluctant to praise, criticize, or comment on how people are doing sow the seeds of doubt more than they know.
Leaders who have been in the role for a long time and who work with highly tenured team members are especially susceptible to this problem. They, too, often presume people know how they are doing, receive plenty of external feedback, and no longer need the ongoing assessment of the leader to know how well or poorly they are doing.
This is a big mistake.
Even when things are going swimmingly, team members want to hear from the leader about how they see their performance. In the absence of feedback, team members often presume their work is not being valued, their ideas are not of interest, and their performance is only adequate. Imaginations run wild when information about performance is not forthcoming.
Too many leaders believe leaving experienced people alone to do their work is a reward. When people need them or want some feedback, they should be comfortable enough to ask. After considerable time, people outgrow the need for praise, validation, and criticism. This is a faulty view. No one outgrows the need for feedback, especially the encouragement, praise, and advice only leaders can give.
Think about your most experienced team members. How often do you tell them they are doing exceptional work or offer suggestions for their growth and improvement? Don’t fall into the habit of omitting these conversations. Everyone, no matter how skilled and expert, wants to hear “great work” when they deliver and “here’s an idea to try” when they don’t.
Feedback, not the absence of it, is the reward the most experienced team members most desire. No one learns without it.
An interesting article. I'm a retired police sergeant, and in that world, many of the "Old Timers," thought just the opposite. I'm performing well if the boss isn't talking to me. The younger generation officers, that was a different story. It appeared that they fed off of feedback. Maybe that was because they grew up being told how great and special they were, and in the real world of work, many leaders or managers don't have the time to give the feedback they would like to, or they weren't trained how to give feedback. An interesting perspective of the word feedback also depends on our generation. I'm at the tail end of the Baby Boomers, so feedback to me means negativity, based upon my experiences. It appears for many of the younger generations, feedback is all about positivity. I guess it comes down to the culture of your organization, on what feedback means, and its expectations.
Good morning,
I have found showing appreciation goes a long way. Gen Zers (and some Millennials) will see if it's genuine or not. If it's not, don't say it. Regarding constructive criticism, I am wary of that one. One needs to read the room (be very good at it too). Very rarely, in the overworked, and fast paced world we live in, have our SMEs not seen (even tried) what problems our managers are bringing up. If, and that's a big if, we're going to bring it up. We'd be wise to ask the SMEs questions, rather than give commands.
Thank you for your time.