Originally posted 09-08-2010. Reposted 12-08-2011.
—————————————————————————
But all of you, leaders and followers alike, are to be down to earth with each other, for—
“God has had it with the proud,
But takes delight in just plain people.”
~1 Peter 5:5 (MSG)
Organizations need avenues for honest, humble feedback. One of those avenues is the hiring process. New hires must know that it is a practice in your organization to provide immediate, honest feedback. During the interview give the potential hire some honest, blunt (not cruel) feedback and see how he/she responds. If the response is folded arms, skepticism, glares, or even panic, this person shouldn’t be hired. Why? Because they aren’t humble enough to receive feedback.
Another avenue is what I call the “post event review”. Soon after an individual or team conducts a presentation, project, or meeting take 5 to 10 minutes to review the event with that person or team. Talk about what went well, then talk very honestly about what could be better, but never use this as an opportunity to bully.
These first two avenues will lead to an organization that destroys the morale of its team members unless accompanied by a third avenue: the avenue where bosses receive the same kind of feedback from their teams. 360 degree surveys are a great way to get feedback, but making it a regular practice to ask for immediate, honest feedback is much better. The catch here is that leaders must openly hear criticism and NEVER become defensive. If you become defensive when someone you lead is giving you feedback, then you have immediately caused a breakdown of the system. Those in leadership positions set the tone for cruelty/kindness, honesty/BS, fear/safety. Leaders must be secure enough to receive this kind of feedback and change their own behaviors accordingly.
Here’s the bottom line: because of insecurity and pride people don’t want to offer or receive feedback. So because of insecurity and pride our organizations stagnate. Top-down and bottom-up (universal) immediate, honest feedback is kryptonite to insecurity and pride. Immediate, honest feedback is the builder of humility, but only if the leaders of an organization allow it to be.
I wonder about giving feedback in a job interview. Interviewing can be pretty nerve-wracking. Does a person’s response to feedback then accurately predict their openness to feedback in general?
Great question Will. The answer is “I don’t know”. We can’t ever truly know what a person’s future behaviors will be. We can only know what their past behaviors are. Since hiring someone is always a risk, it is up to the employer to minimize the risk as much as possible. Giving the feedback test during an interview demonstrates a person’s behavior. Whether or not that behavior is typical can’t be known for sure, but it’s at least an indicator.
The bottom line for me is this: if I’m interviewing two candidates, one who willingly receives feedback and one who doesn’t, I’ll take the one who’s open to feedback every time. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s less of a risk.