The Gift You Love to Hate: Feedback

I was contemplating the other day, why we, as humans, face the prospect of feedback with such anxiety and trepidation. You know, when your boss comes to you and says “can we talk”? Or when you start feeling anxious going into your annual performance review meeting.

The research supports it: people generally do not like receiving feedback, particularly if it is constructive or challenging in any way.

Frankly speaking, when I got into this work of helping to develop leaders, it became clear to me that feedback was something I was going to have to “get tough” with. Feedback was everywhere, around every corner. In our business, you get an evaluation after every delivery – those numbers are the most tangible and immediate feedback you are going to get.