How to Receive Feedback? Say Thank You

What’s the most helpful feedback you’ve ever received? Ever given? Ever requested? How was it delivered? How did you respond?  How did it help you? How did it help you help others?

Working in an organization with colleagues and leaders you trust allows you to be vulnerable. Vulnerability is essential for receiving and leveraging feedback.  At Y Scouts we leverage our “covert” process to first identify the mission, purpose, and values most important to the candidate. Working in alignment with the mission and values you believe in is critical to making sure you are in an environment that allows you to be your authentic self; essential in being open to feedback to be (and become) the best leader you can be.

We hold Quarterly GRIT sessions (Grow Relentlessly and Inspire Teamwork) with our own team to build skills, connect with one another and move forward to reach our business goals.  In our most recent session, we collaborated on a module around feedback, in all of its forms. Through role plays, we practiced three different feedback scenarios:

• Asking for feedback
• Receiving feedback
• Giving feedback

And we discovered that Feedback is a Gift.

Asking for, giving, and receiving feedback are skills to build and strengthen.  The World Cup athletes may be gifted in their sport, but they don’t win the championship without practice and discipline.  The same holds true for employees and performance management.

Organizations and leaders should help their employees exercise the “feedback muscle.” And if your organization isn’t providing that experience, it’s up to you to get that practice yourself. Learn how to ask for feedback, how to receive it, and how to leverage it to improve.

As you would with any gift: offer feedback with care for the individual to whom you’re giving it and greet every opportunity to receive feedback with gratitude.

—Tasha Hock, Leadership Search Director at Y Scouts

Tasha loves connecting people and organizations to work that matters. As a Leadership Search Director at Y Scouts, Tasha leads the Finance, Accounting, Legal, Operations, Non-profit and Social Impact practices. Gifs are one of her love languages.

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Y Scouts is a purpose-aligned, performance-proven leadership search and development firm focused on transforming how people and organizations connect to work that matters. When you’re ready to hire a new leader, Contact Y Scouts. If you are looking for your next leadership role within a purpose-driven, performance-focused organization, please join the Y Scouts Leadership Community.