- Resisting the Urge to Provide Unsolicited Expertise
- Handling Explicit Requests for Expertise
- Sharing the “Minimum Viable” Amount of Expertise
- We All Have Blind Spots
- Applying a Coaching Mindset to Teaching
- Creating a Self-Serve Knowledge-Sharing Environment
- Guidelines for Sharing Feedback and Expertise
- Additional Considerations for Sharing Feedback and Expertise
- Receiving Feedback as a Coach
- Chapter Summary
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Receiving Feedback as a Coach
One way to improve people’s receptiveness to feedback is to model that receptiveness. Modeling this behavior can be difficult when feedback is poorly delivered. Although some feedback may be poorly communicated and feel wrong, hurtful, or ill-intentioned, there may still be valuable information in it that you can use.
The first step to getting value from feedback is receiving it. You don’t have to agree with feedback to acknowledge it. For instance, rather than saying “That doesn’t make any sense to me,” you could try saying something like “I hear what you are saying” and consider what truth there may be to it. If you feel your emotions becoming unmanageable, you could say something like “That’s a lot for me to absorb. Let me think about what you said and follow up with you later.” You don’t have to respond right away.
When feedback is poorly delivered, see if you can apply the guidance in this chapter to compensate. Think about what’s missing in the delivery and see if you can supply it. For instance, say someone starts to deliver feedback in front of others that you’d rather receive in private. They aren’t asking for permission, and they aren’t delivering it in a safe environment. Consider interrupting them with “If you don’t mind, I’d be happy to hear your thoughts, but let’s do it after this.” Or perhaps someone criticizes you, but they don’t provide any specific information. You can acknowledge that they aren’t satisfied and ask for some specifics.