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report what they think of you. When you turn in work, confirm they
received it and ask if it met their needs. After you give a presenta-
tion, ask audience members in private if they felt their time was well
spent. Follow up after you propose an idea to check whether your co-
workers and senior managers approve of it.
Fish for feedback using these methods:
Try indirect queries: If you’re on good terms with someone, you
can come right out and ask, “Can you give me your honest feed-
back?” But few people will respond with complete, forthright
answers. It’s sometimes better to give yourself feedback and see how
they react. Example: “I see two areas I need to improve—listening
and negotiating contracts. Would you agree?”
Establish a baseline: Once you get to know how someone talks, you
can read between the lines when they give you feedback. When some-
one who prefers words such as “good” or “OK” calls your work
“superb,” such an uncharacteristically strong endorsement is revealing.
Depersonalize: Rather than ask point-blank for feedback, speak in
general terms. Example: “What do you think of people who insist on
turning in defect-free work even if it takes them longer?” That’s bet-
ter than saying, “Am I a perfectionist who does good but slow work?”

“Success is all about feedback, feedback, and feedback.
You can’t run mechanical systems without it, and you
can’t run organizations without it either.”
—Barbara Reinhold

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