31 Oct 05 @ 5:59 pm
The Power of Upward Feedback
I drove to the Toledo airport Friday evening amidst a flurry of NPR commentary about Scooter Libby’s indictment and Harriet Mier’s stepping down (gotta love All Things Considered). At the end of the segment, Bob Siegel made an interesting point…and one that many of us make almost every day: One of the most out of touch people in any organization (if not the most) is the person at the top.
It struck me in a way that’s never struck me before. Regardless of your political affiliation…the President of the United States is likely the most out of touch person in the country. (No snickering, please, from our fair readers who do not agree with our current President’s politics. Try to think about Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton and see if that helps.)
I don’t know about you, but that scares me.
If we’re to truly advise leaders and become the coveted “Trusted Advisor“, we have to be willing to tell the advisee what they need to hear, not what we want them to hear, and we have to be willing to take risks to do that based on what we value. You can provide the feedback in a way that is less focused on you as the giver and more focused on facts–whether those facts are other employee perceptions or hard data.
Alan posted a couple of years ago about a research study in the journal Management Communication Quarterly where the researchers found
A key finding from the research: that employees appear to be significantly less likely to express concern or discontent to managers, supervisors, or coworkers when the topic that aroused their discontent involved concern over unethical practices or things that may be endangering employees or customers.
The researchers prescribe a “layered” approach to feedback–one where you provide employees with multiple ways to provide feedback and thus, encourage openness. (You can find the full post here…) This layered approach is inherent in many of your annual “campaign plans” and infrastructure design.
If you don’t already have various feedback mechanisms built into your approach, what are some of the processes that can help you?
* Next-day executive feedback after communication events
* Communication council and pulse processes
* Online Q&A tools
* Email boxes
* Brown bags, town halls, and other small group executive visibility events where employees can answer questions
* Skip-level meetings
Implementing some of these processes may seem overwhelming, but think of the power of the information you’ll have and how it will position you as a trusted source for your leader.
The most often ignored, and the most important, practice is a standing meeting with the leader you’re advising–a one-on-one. There is no way you can deliver some of the feedback / information you’ll receive if you don’t have a relationship with them. Start by building a relationship with them. Meet with them regularly and provide them with good counsel–it won’t be so hard to deliver the hard feedback once you’re there.
Some past posts on feedback:
* Theory Point: Feedback Is A Gift
* Coaching Points: Overcoming The Fear OIf Feedback
* From The Journals: Is Your Upward Communication Process Missing The Most Important Content?
posted in category(s): Tools in Practice
