Here's how you can navigate the common challenges of receiving feedback as an executive.

Breathe. While feedback is critical to your growth as a leader, it can trigger a fight or flight reaction even in highly experienced leaders. If you are giving or receiving feedback across difference (generation, gender identity, culture, race), this can heighten your stress response. A minute of mindful breathing before and after a feedback session can help move you towards “slow thinking”—which makes makes the conversation more productive and (bonus) reduces our bias response.

Receiving Feedback is a gift, well, it should be. However, often the language can be perceived offensive, as a critique, simply negative. So ok the one hand it’s key how feedback is given. It needs to be delivered so it can be processed positively and seen as an added value. At the same time, we have to learn how to listen to the “unvarnished truth”. Whether true or just perception, it’s good to hear critical feedback. We don’t have to accept everything on the outset. But often there is a nugget we can learn from. Keep an open mind. Filter out those negative vibes, focus on those words which can help you improve. Not many people will be open to share their views. Ignore those who mean no good. But cherish those who are sincere

Try and seperate your personality from your performance. When you leave the work environment and spend time with your family, none of them care about what you did during the working day. They care about you because of who you are. That’s the measure of your personality and character. If you can detach your personality from your performance, you’ll find it easier to seek, accept and act on challenging but valuable criticism that helps you to improve without seeing it as an attack on your personality.

Its essential to develop an open dialogue between the person giving feedback and the recipient. Differences of opinion should be handled in a professional manner. Both parties should be comfortable and able to focus on actively listening, engaging, reflecting and developing action points for future development.

It might be tempting to want to just react right away when you get feedback. But doing self-reflection first is important. Don't just fire back a response or start changing things up. Take a step back and really think about what the feedback means and where it's coming from. Is this the first time you're hearing it, or a pattern? Does it clash with how you see yourself? Being thoughtful helps you separate the noise from what's really essential. Then you can figure out if and how you need to adjust your approach mindfully.

Reflection is one of the greatest tools we can add to our arsenal When we take time to reflect, we can understand things from the perspective of other people and understand how to be more effective or why we are not being effective Without reflection, we do not take that time to allow our neural pathways to connect and to make sense of things that may not be making sense to us at the time Anytime we are making any type of decision reflection is key, but especially when we are trying to improve our effectiveness

Make sure the "reflecting deeply" about receiving feedback - you are doing so on paper or verbally with someone else. When we only "think" about our reflection - we most likely will focus on the areas that we either disagree with (coming up with reasons why we are right) or where we agree with them (what is wrong with me?). But reflecting on all of the different angles and using a questioning tool - is this true? what part of this is true? what other perspective could I take? what is the best thing? what is the worst thing? etc. can really flush out some alternative thinking.

Also mirroring back to them what they originally said -- and asking "is this right?" So that the person feels heard and that you can know you are both discussing the same thing...

I my opinion seeking clarity in feedback is really important. It shows you’re willing to understand and get better. Asking clear questions helps figure out exactly what needs work, which helps you grow and improve.

On receiving any feedback- positive or negative: May I ask a couple of clarifying questions? Can you help me understand …? What was the most/least helpful part of ….. How did that impact you? Thank you so much - that will help me to grow and be of more value.

Absolutely, seeking clarity is crucial when receiving feedback, especially if it's vague or confusing. It shows that you're committed to understanding and improving, which is key in any professional or personal development journey. Asking specific questions helps both sides gain a clearer understanding of the matters at hand and facilitates constructive dialogue. This approach fosters open communication and continuous improvement. Throw ego out of the window!

The biggest mistake newer executives make is not using discernment when it comes to feedback. Who is the feedback coming from? Is it someone with authority over your success? Once you can get clear on that, next is understanding how it helps you become a more effective leader and how it benefits the organization as a whole. A broader perspective helps when the feedback is particularly tough.

Not all feedback will be equally valuable or applicable to your specific role and circumstances. Carefully consider the person providing the feedback and potential biases or external factors that may influence their perspective. Feedback intended to be genuinely constructive should carry more weight than comments that seem driven by personal motives. At the same time, don't simply dismiss feedback that contradicts your current way of thinking. Remain open-minded, but use your seasoned judgment to decide what recommendation aligns with your experience and organizational goals, versus what may be misguided or inappropriate to implement.

Feedback helps us see blind spots and improve. It's not always easy to hear, but it's necessary for personal and professional development. Balance views, listen with an open mind, and seek to understand. Use feedback to refine your skills, leadership, and decision-making.

The biggest problem with individual feedback is that it often loses the collective dimension. Much of an executive's work and results depend on the joint performance of his networks, collaborators, or superiors, including the board of directors. For this reason, it is necessary to complement the perceptions with an analysis at the executive team level that integrates a cultural perspective so that planning, coordination, or analysis practices can also be critically observed. I have seen, on several occasions, that a narrowly individual point of view in relation to executive performance or talent can generate distortions or even injustices, over- or under-appreciating individual attributes.

You also want to consider your own values when weighing up what to do with feedback. Also, think about your goals. Would a change based on this feedback help you get closer to your goals? That can be useful as a course-correction.

All feedback isn't valid nor valuable. Is it coming from someone you would go to if you had a huge obstacle to get over? Is the feedback coming from a place of love, or hurt? Take any feedback you get, with the context of who that person is, and where they are coming from. If you are not sure, ask questions to get down to the bottom of it, purely for your own knowledge. This allows you to be more informed, and know whether this is valuable advice for you to take on, or not, or take with a pinch of salt.

To me, taking action on the generated feedback is crucial because the whole purpose of feedback process is to stop recurrence of certain behavior, attitude and (work) approach. The right follow through on the feedback process is well served by way of "action planning" about the corrective measures that should be taken. This brings proper closure to feedback by building new perspectives to the situations in context, be it in terms of thinking creatively, addressing biases (if any), seeing the big picture and/ or understanding the interconnectedness of relevant elements.

Absolutely! Taking action based on feedback is crucial for personal and professional growth. It's not just about acknowledging the feedback but also about actively working on areas that need improvement. Creating a plan shows your commitment to self-improvement and signals to your team that you take their feedback seriously. By implementing changes, you not only enhance your own effectiveness but also contribute to a culture of continuous improvement within the team. Well articulated!

Many people listen to feedback and then do nothing with it. Feedback can be a gift. You now know what to leverage and what to minimize. Taking action can be as simple as setting a goal and implementing one change or new habit.

After receiving feedback, it's crucial to reflect on its validity and relevance before identifying key areas for improvement. Setting clear goals and developing a detailed action plan are essential steps in addressing the feedback effectively. Seeking support, implementing changes, and monitoring progress are vital components of the process. Regularly seeking feedback allows for course corrections and ensures alignment with objectives. By following this structured approach, individuals can proactively address feedback, driving continuous improvement and personal growth.

Coaching is equal to "Action". This is one of the most important phases of the coaching process. We take coaching to travel from a point "A" (current situation) to a point "B" (desired situation). The action plan must be well-established with specific dates and concrete action in order to be able to follow it.

As part of this step, there is an opportunity to establish an ongoing channel of communication about how you are doing with this skill and others. This accomplishes a couple goals: 1) keeping you visible with those in positions of influence in your career growth, and 2) showing that you are resilient and leaning in to take on this challenge, as well as others in the future. In other words, it communicates that you are investing, and are investable.

I do not agree with the principle of communicating back to a feedback. A feedback needs to be processed . It takes time. Saying “thank you” sincerely is the best reaction, along with “I need a bit of time to process this, but if you agree I would like to discuss this again over with you in the forth coming days.”

Durch den Feedback-Kreislauf werden wesentliche Ziele erreicht: Für den Empfänger: Er kann das Erhaltene reflektieren, konkrete Maßnahmen ableiten und Veränderungen umsetzen, um kontinuierlich zu wachsen und sich zu verbessern. Dies fördert eine Kultur des persönlichen Wachstums und der Professionalität. Für Feedbackgeber: Indem der Empfänger das Feedback zurückspielt, zeigt er Wertschätzung und schafft eine Verbindung, die auf gegenseitigem Respekt basiert. Dies motiviert, weiterhin konstruktive Impulse zu geben. Für das Team: Jedes Teammitglied sieht, dass Feedback ernst genommen wird. Dadurch wird eine Kultur geschaffen, in der konstruktive Rückmeldungen geschätzt werden und eine angstfreie Kommunikation gefördert wird.

Unfortunately, we often see that C-level and Senior leaders do not communicate business decisions with the team they lead. Employees are uninformed and without any guidance... To avoid this, Senior Leaders and the Communications Department (if there is one) need to centralise communications and share newsletters with information snacks with the rest of the organisation to get everyone on the same page and be effective in executing processes and projects.

If you have reached a point in your career where you're tired of feedback and you are a senior executive, ask for it in written form, anonymously typed and printed out and placed in your in-tray, because after all, you are old-school. Then, any feedback you don't like, retype it into word processing software (because that is its proper name, and you do miss WordPerfect), save the file and look at the file size. Then ask IT to go into the printer log file and look for files of exactly the same KB size. That will tell you who printed that file, and therefore who is the author of the feedback. And who you need to fire. Set up a "career-changing conversation" with them about "alignment" and "one team". Your work is done.

Be open to the coaching process, but don’t over adjust. It’s difficult when you receive feedback about areas for improvement. Even with 360 feedback It’s easy to ignore the things that you were doing well and to focus squarely on the areas for improvement. When we do that, we actually stop doing the things that have been effective for us and we over adjust. It’s important that we utilize the areas of strength to support our areas for improvement. If we do this, then the feedback process can be an opportunity to grow while Strengthening what is already positive for us as leaders.

The paramount step in receivig feedback as an executive is asking for it in the first place. While one-on-one conversations, anonymous surveys, 360-degree reviews, regular check-ins with teams, and structured feedback sessions are all great ways to go about getting feedback, how about asking for feedback without actually asking for it? Executives can indirectly solicit feedback by actively listening during meetings, observing team dynamics, and reviewing project outcomes, allowing for valuable insights to emerge organically.

Feedback is how you "grease the wheels" in any organization. Here are 3 leaders that didn't accept feedback: Carly Fiorina – Hewlett-Packard: She led HP from 1999 to 2005, pushing the controversial Compaq merger despite significant opposition. The resulting financial instability led to her ouster in 2005. Kenneth Lay – Enron: As the CEO of Enron, he overlooked numerous warnings about corrupt accounting practices. His management failures precipitated Enron's collapse in 2001, leading to criminal charges. Richard Fuld – Lehman Brothers: He led Lehman Brothers into its 2008 bankruptcy by ignoring the risks of subprime mortgages. His failure to heed warnings contributed significantly to the firm's downfall and the global financial crisis.

Employees may fear retaliation or negative repercussions for providing critical feedback to executives. Creating a safe and supportive feedback environment where honesty is encouraged and confidentiality is respected can mitigate this fear.