Authentic Leadership
Day 4
Feedback
FEEDBACK
Thoughtless feedback creates conflicts, while thoughtful feedback contributes to conflict prevention and de-escalation. Essentially, you expand your self-awareness through feedback from others in your blind spot, just as giving others feedback on what you observe can help them become an even better version of themselves.
Carol Dweck describes in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success how people with a fixed mindset believe that their qualities are set in stone. According to Dweck, this creates a tendency to avoid challenges, give up easily, see effort as futile, and feel threatened by others' success.
Conversely, people with a growth mindset believe that their basic qualities can be developed through their own efforts. This means that individuals with a growth mindset embrace challenges, are persistent when faced with obstacles, see effort as the path to mastery, and learn from others' successes.
It is also important what we signal with our communication. Always remember to be aware of whether your body language and tone 'erase' your words.
Source: Carol Dweck
Questions can also be a form of feedback
The ability to ask questions that encourage others to reflect on their own improvement opportunities is crucial. Your questions can open up thoughts and feelings in others. It is relevant to consider whether you should ask linear or circular questions.
Source: Karl Tomm
Always be mindful that your body language and tone support the intention behind your questions.
Source: Albert Mehrabian
How you formulate your questions is important. Remember to maintain an appreciative perspective in your questions.
FEEDBACK & JOHARI’S WINDOW
Johari’s Window was developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham and is used as a communication tool.
The open window is the knowledge that is known both to yourself and to others.
For example: I am a trained waiter.
The blind window is the knowledge that is unknown to yourself but known to others.
For example: I say "um" a lot when I am nervous.
The hidden window is the knowledge that you have but which is not known to others.
For example: You don’t drink alcohol because you’re embarrassed about doing something foolish.
The unknown window contains the knowledge that you are not aware of and that others do not know either.
This is hard to provide an example for, but imagine that you always get a stomach ache when the chef in the kitchen creates high flames. Your colleagues cannot see that you have a stomach ache, and you do not know that this stomach ache is because you are afraid of the fire.
Feedback can be used to expand your blind window, so you become more aware of yourself.
How do you give and receive feedback? What emotions does it evoke in you?
FEEDBACK & FLOW
A happy employee is in a state of flow, and it is your responsibility as a leader to hold feedback sessions with your employees so that you always have your "finger on the pulse" and know what it takes for them to be in flow. The model below shows how, in general, to be in flow, tasks must have a "suitable balance" between skills and complexity.
