I definitely don’t have the stomach to be a boxing champion.
I’m not talking about my amazing abs of steel (stop laughing and keep reading). I’m talking about the diet some athletes insist on for breakfast. RAW EGGS. Evidently, eggs lose a lot of their nutritional value when cooked. Setting aside the obvious health risks, I just don’t think I could do it. Putting a cold, slimy, egg down my throat would probably make me gag, perhaps throw up. I’m just a little wimpy that way.
Unfortunately, many leaders feel the same about a critical ingredient for a thriving organization and growing leader: FEEDBACK.
“Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” Ken Blanchard
Like raw eggs, feedback can be tough to swallow. However, for those who wish to truly make a difference in their world, it MUST become a part of the leader’s diet.
Why Feedback is Tough to Swallow
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but here are a few reasons why we prefer our eggs cooked rather than raw (i.e., why we don’t like feedback.)
People Can Be Rude
You know what I mean. Sometimes people will give you feedback and by the time they are done you feel like a squashed bug. Who wants that?
People Don’t Get It
Many times, when people share feedback they don’t have the bigger picture in mind. This can sometimes make their input seem irrelevant. What’s the point?
People Won’t Tell The Truth
We know there are things we are doing that could use some adjusting, but we don’t know what they are (they aren’t called ‘blind spots’ for nothing). The problem is, nobody wants to tell us either. They know that raw eggs are yucky and really don’t want to be the ones feeding them to you!
We Don’t Want People To Think About It
We don’t want to ask people to focus on the negatives. It seems like we will just get them into the habit of criticizing us – in fact, we might sort of be ‘authorizing’ them to do so. Who wants yet another self-proclaimed critic?
It’s Emotional
It can be very draining to receive feedback. Even when the feedback is helpful, it usually requires some self-evaluation, internal arguments, and eventually a commitment to do things different – which also means more work. Ugh.
The Truth Can Hurt
It may be that “the truth will set you free”, but it doesn’t mean it’s easy. Often it’s painful and difficult to walk through the valley between ‘truth’ and ‘free’.
We Are Too Overwhelmed
Feedback usually results in more work. Since we already have stacks of ‘things to do’ on our desk, there doesn’t seem much of a point to add to the stack.
We Think We Are Doing Great
Sometimes we don’t look for feedback because we are ‘blind’ to our need for it. So we fail to seriously look for feedback. Why do I need people to tell me what I already know?
We Know We Are Doing Good
Jim Collins, in his book, “Good to Great” reminds us that the reason we have ‘good’ hospitals, governments, businesses and churches is simply because we’re comfortable with ‘good enough’ and won’t pursue ‘great’. Because we are doing a ‘good’ job, there’s really no reason to rock the boat and try to do something great. Sometimes, we’re OK with “good” and are not interested in pursuing “great”.
Why We Need Feedback
No wonder we don’t pursue feedback very often! Again, referring to Jim Collin’s book, Good to Great, gaining and properly responding to feedback will pave the road for us to “Confront the Brutal Facts – Yet Never Lose Faith” (ch. 4).
If ‘Knowledge Empowers Leaders to make Wise Choices‘ then it’s critical we crack the egg, pinch our nose and swallow big. Until we are ‘in the know’ about every aspect of our leadership, we can’t effectively plan to improve and become the best version of ourselves. For example, if I were your tennis coach and I noticed that you swing the tennis racket wrong, you would probably never improve until I shared that feedback (truth) with you. That then empowers you to make a change.
SO WHY DO WE NEED FEEDBACK? Answer – so we can be EMPOWERED to pursue meaningful, long lasting change.
