Giving and Receiving Feedback: The Leadership Challenge

1. Giving and Receiving Feedback:The Leadership Challenge A Brown Bag Lunch Presentation Prepared for USIS, Grove City, PA Presented by: Dr. Barbara Vittitoe and Dr. Jim Wolford-Ulrich 22 July 2008

2. Today’s Presentation • Introduction and purpose • Leadership basics • Feedback – basic concepts • Feedback as part of a leader’s practice • Giving feedback – the leadership challenge • Receiving feedback – the leadership challenge • Implications – relevance to today • Q & A Giving & Receiving Feedback 2

3. Introduction & Purpose • Who we are • What we hope to accomplish: • Present an overview of an important organizational skill • Illustrate differences between leadership training and education • Give an online learning ‘sampler’ Giving & Receiving Feedback 3

4. Leadership Basics Giving & Receiving Feedback 4

5. What Leadership Isn’t • Leadership is often confused with • Power • Authority • Management • Administration • Control • Supervision Giving & Receiving Feedback 5

6. The Shifting Leadership Paradigm • New Paradigm • Initiate change • Empowerment • Collaboration • Diversity • Purpose-driven • Team • Old paradigm • Stability • Control • Competition • Uniformity • Heroic • Individual Giving & Receiving Feedback 6

7. “Leadership is an influence relationship among leaders and followers who intend real changes and outcomes that reflect their shared purposes.” Rost, 1993, p. 102. Giving & Receiving Feedback 7

8. Leadership: Common Themes Core leadership ingredients: • assumption of personal responsibility • ability to articulate a preferred future (vision) • emotional intelligence, including • intra-personal knowledge (self-awareness) and • interpersonal influence (other-awareness) • tendency to act or decide with conviction Boyatzis, 1997, p. 464. 8

9. Leadership: Five Components The leadership process is both interactive and dynamic. Context Follower Process Leader Outcomes Giving & Receiving Feedback 9

10. Basic concepts Feedback Giving & Receiving Feedback 10

11. Feedback . . . • Is information: • “Any difference that makes a difference” (Bateson) • Surrounds us, bombards us … • In the environment • In the marketplace • In society • In organizations • Is necessary for adaptation and survival • Feedback is an invitation to adapt, to grow • Suppressing feedback leads to entropy and death Giving & Receiving Feedback 11

12. The Johari Window Known to You Unknown to You Known to Others Arena Blind Spot Facade Unknown Unknown to Others Giving & Receiving Feedback 12

13. Effects of Giving & Receiving Feedback Arena Blind Spot Facade Unknown • Greater openness • Increased trust • Fewer surprises • Less game playing Blind Spot Arena Facade Unknown Giving & Receiving Feedback 13

14. The leadership challenge Giving Feedback Giving & Receiving Feedback 14

15. Giving Feedback • Is a choice we make • Giving feedback sometimes takes courage • Requires that we be observant • It’s easy to notice things we don’t like • It’s also a valuable skill to recognize what we value and pass our appreciation along to others • It takes concentrated effort and imagination to identify what we do want (when it is absent) and to engage others in dialogue about how to achieve outcomes we collectively desire Giving & Receiving Feedback 15

16. The Art of Giving Feedback • Assumptions • We care about our own, our team’s and our company’s performance • We take responsibility for effective communication • We respect others’ need for autonomy, intrinsic motivation, and self-direction • A skill that we continually hone • Tailor the approach to the particular person • Act appropriately given the situation • Keep the ‘big picture’ in mind • Encourage open, mutual feedback Giving & Receiving Feedback 16

17. The leadership challenge Receiving Feedback Giving & Receiving Feedback 17

18. Framing Feedback We Receive • Feedback plays an essential role in leading ourselves to grow and make changes in our behavior • Attitude Matters • Feedback can be a gift, regardless of the source • We are not our behavior. Be kind to yourself! • Guard against two natural tendencies: • to rate our performance more highly than others do • to blame others or circumstances when we fail Giving & Receiving Feedback 18

19. Mining Feedback for Gold • Turning Feedback into Change • Understand the organizational norms on giving and receiving feedback • Design ways to get the feedback you need • Create a feedback-rich climate “Feedback is the breakfast of champions” -- Ken Blanchard Giving & Receiving Feedback 19

20. Relevance to today’s organizations Implications Giving & Receiving Feedback 20

21. Today’s Global Context • Organizations: larger, flatter, more complex • Leadership is needed at all levels – not just the top • Leaders and followers who are sensing what is happening in their part of the organization / world and sharing that information with others • A company’s reputation is fragile • Employees need to speak out quickly whenever they see poor quality or service • Retaining talent is critical • Abundant, open and balanced feedback supports a positive, performance-based culture Giving & Receiving Feedback 21

22. We appreciate your feedback! Your Questions? Giving & Receiving Feedback 22

23. http://www.inflectionpoints.com/usis For Further Learning: Giving & Receiving Feedback 23

24. References Boyatzis, R. E. (1997). Management: A sociological introduction [Review of the book Management: A sociological introduction]. Human Relations, 50(4), 461-466. Luft, J. (1969). Johari Window. An experience in self-disclosure and feedback. In J. W. Pfeiffer & J. E. Jones (Eds.) A handbook of structured experience for human relations training. San Diego, CA: University Associates. Rost, J. C. (1993). Leadership for the twenty-first century. Westport, CT: Praeger. Vittitoe, B. J. & Wolford-Ulrich, J. (2006). Defining leadership [Narrated PowerPoint presentation]. Pittsburgh, PA: Duquesne University, School of Leadership & Professional Advancement. Giving & Receiving Feedback 24