Addressing Feedback
It is common in leadership (or parenting) to hear feedback about the people you lead. If we address everything we hear we will create paranoia for those entrusted to our care. If we never address the things we hear we are abdicating our responsibility and robbing those we lead of valuable learning opportunities. So how do we know what we should address v what we should let pass.
In an attempt to make subjective decision making a little more objective try this. Score the feedback from 1-10 in the categories of reliability of the source, the frequency of the feedback (or number of sources), the significance of the concern that was shared. If the total adds up to 20 or more you must address.
Reliability of the Source
If the person giving you the feedback is a colleague who has a negative to thing about everything the score is low. If it is a person who you know well and they rarely have a critical thought the score is high. If it is someone who is an expert in the topic of their concern the score is high, if they have high character but they don’t know much about the topic at hand it lowers the score.
Frequency or Number of Sources
If the subject is similar even if not exactly the same as things you have heard from other sources the score goes up. If this is the 5th time you have heard the same thing the score is high. If this is the first time you have heard anything like this and it seems out of character for what you know of that person then the score is low.
Significance of the Concern
If the topic has the potential to sink the ship you score it high. If it is a minor infraction you score it low.
*If the concern is putting others in danger in any way it doesn’t matter what the first two scores are you must address immediately.
Let’s try it out;
Scenario:A board member shares with you that one of the staff members in your organization has been posting inappropriately on social media. (This is not a real example but is not hard to imagine).
Example 1:
The board member has high character but also has something negative to say about most everyone and in particular has had a hard time with this person for years. Score 5
Although this is the first time you have heard from this board member you have had others that have mentioned their social media use in the past in humorous ways but you had a feeling they were serious. Score 8
You take a look at the content they were concerned about and although it wasn’t awful it still didn’t represent this person or your organization well. Score 7
Total: 20. You choose to address the concern at your next scheduled meeting.
Example 2:
The board member has high character and has been a huge advocate and cheerleader for your team. They have displayed great wisdom in many situations you have been involved with together. Score 10
The concern the board member brings up is out of character from what you know of your team member and you have not heard anything similar in the past but the board member shares that she has had this concern but never brought it up. Score 4
You look for the content they were concerned about and it has already been taken down. Based on what the board member shared it would be pretty concerning if it was up at all. Score 9
Total: 23. You choose to call the staff member immediately to hear their version of what happened and handle from there.
Example 3:
The board member has been a thorn in your side and on multiple occasions has proven to be emotional and not shown great wisdom. Score 4
The concern the board member brings up is out of character from what you know of your team member and you have not heard anything similar in the past. Score 2
You take a look at the content they were concerned about and discover it was simply a matter of preference that someone could disagree with but wasn’t antithetical in anyway to your organization. Score 3
Total Score: 9. You choose not to address but keep it filed away in your memory in case a pattern develops.
This will never be totally objective but the categories help give us a grid on deciding how we respond to feedback we are hearing about others.
