Page 185 - Roy W. Rice - CEO Material How to Be a Leader in Any Organization-McGraw-Hill (2009)

166 • CEO Material: How to Be a Leader in Any Organization

At the least, ask human resources, “What do people think of my
behavior?” “Can you come to my meetings and watch me operate?” Then
ask for a debriefing. Ask the rater (e.g., boss, colleague, or mentor) to talk
to your team, if they will, for more reactions.
Then work on changing based on the feedback, and in nine months
do it all again.
If you work in a politically charged culture, you need to be cautious
of interpretation because if someone giving feedback is loyal to a peer
you have an issue with, for example, you can get skewed or false data.
Refrain from having your raters defend their comments, but do get
clarification. “Tell me what you want to tell me.” “Would you give me an
example of when you’ve seen me do that?” “What would you like to see
that will cause you to change your mind?” “Thank you.” (Don’t be look-
ing for compliments in this exchange, by the way.)
With a pass-the-salt tone of voice and relaxed expression on your
face, say, “Don’t hold back. It doesn’t help me.” (Don’t let your nostrils
quiver and your lips tighten when you say this.)
Mull it over. Accept that a little self-doubt will slip in. If your
response to feedback is “I don’t agree,” you won’t learn from it. Don’t cry.
I know of a woman who literally lost both her contact lenses in a crying
jag in her boss’s office.
Don’t grouse about feedback afterwards with friends over lunch or
drinks or bad mouth or mimic the deliverer of the news.
Do not let it affect your health. If you want to, when it’s over, do
what I’ve heard one billionaire real estate/media mogul did. Draw the
face of the person who gave you the feedback on a tennis ball, and then—
play ball! (It probably would be better to put your own bad behavior on
the ball and hit that around instead.)
Your objective is to find out what holds you back and do something
about it. People way down in the organization, not just the chiefs around
you, can provide very accurate descriptions of how you’re perceived. You
won’t get this information without asking and without observing how
people behave around you, treat you, and open up to you. Don’t guess or
assume something is off; ask, “How can I make this better?”
You also get feedback every day and in every way from your cus-
tomers if your sales are weak, from employees if performance is slipping,