Feedback: July 2009 Archives

"It is not advisable, James, to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener." from Atlas Shrugged.

Some of the best feedback in an organization that I have seen is of the fearless variety - open dialogue where both the sender and receiver walk away respected and fulfilled; feedback of this type can be both positive and negative, and always timely.

Too often, however, there can be the propensity within and outside an organization for their to be unsolicited feedback in the form of complaining, whining and nitpicking.  This type of feedback is often driven by mood, negativity, and never seems to focus on the bigger issues of developing people to be the best they can be.

To focus yourself on giving a better effort in your feedback...

When someone or someplace has wronged you, make no mention of it to anyone. When someone has done right by you, mention it to everyone. Because you see, when it's wrong, there's no point in giving publicity to those who disappoint you, and when it's right, it's the publicity that turns the little heroes in this world into the icons they are destined to be.

Working with those who aren't performing in ways that focus on rewards vs punishment can make the difference between losing someone who may be just having a bad day and developing someone into the kind of person you want to be in your presence for many times to come.


"When the last thing you want to do is deal with any humans, the best thing to do is to deal with many humans."  Robert James Braathe, 2009


I've found that the worst thing one can do during difficult times is to shut down completely from everyone else and everything else.   I find that I work my best when perhaps my mind is elsewhere.  It forces me to really focus on how I am channelling that frustration, despair, or agitation into something productive.

If you shut down and keep to yourself, very often this draws more attention to yourself than you really need.   By going out of your way to work and intermingle with others (especially when you may not be at your best) can turn the worst of situations and moods into something worthwhile.

I had an employee tell me that she always like to be around me when something really bad happenned to me or at work because inevitably I'd rise like a phoenix from the ashes.   This was because I always look at the opportunity in times of difficulty rather than focusing on the difficulty itself.


One of my more memorable interviewing moments was when I interviewed to work at a resort.  My boss was a colleague to the manager at this resort, so I was able to get feedback after the interview.

I went into the interview confident and prepared.  I brought with me a portfolio of comment cards and projects I worked on, and was excited for the opportunity to meet with the property's managers.   Little did I know at the time that I was probably "too prepared" for the interview.

Since this was a lateral move from one property to another, I thought it would be a cinch that I'd be hired.  I had the experience, the drive, and the personality, but unfortunately it may have come across as overconfidence in the interview.

A couple days later, I asked my boss what she had heard from the property.  She told me that they were going in a different direction because they felt I was "too polished".   Taken aback, I asked her what she thought they meant by this, to which she replied "Well, to be honest, sometimes people feel threatened by anyone who comes in who might be smarter than they are, and they won't hire you for that reason."  

It made me feel better about the situations, and made me realize that maybe sometimes being "too prepared" in an interview may not be such a bad thing.
After my "Independence Day", I was flown in for an interview with a company seeking a manager with experience.  I had found out about the job through a recruiting company and had high expectations.  My thoughts were that "if they were flying me in, then they must be interested in me."

I spent an entire day interviewing, and when I flew home I was confident that the position was mine.   Weeks went by, and I finally put a call out to the recruiting company.  They asked me if I had heard anything directly from the company, and I replied no.  The recruiting company got back to me and said that the company thought I was more interested in moving to Boston than I was in working for their company.

Lesson learned - just because someone seems excited to hire you doesn't mean you shouldn't show equal or more excitement in return.

In the end, this worked out for the best, because my next experiences in Boston set up the framework for beginning my consulting career years later.


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