Career Empowerment Playbook

BECOME A PERSON WHO CRAVES FEEDBACK
One of the most powerful ways to improve is to get
feedback. Think of anything that you do well now. If
you are like most people, you were not born with that
skill, but you got better by making mistakes, getting
ideas/advice/coaching when you were stuck, and
continuing to practice. Make it clear to the people
around you that you want to keep learning, growing,
and improving. Let them know that they can support
you by helping you to see opportunities to improve.
HOW TO ASK FOR FEEDBACK:
• Solution generating: “I’m trying to improve my
abilities. Do you have ideas for how I might
go about that?/Where I might practice that?/Who I
might look to as a role model for that?”
• Broad: “From what you’ve seen working closely with
me, what skill or trait could I improve that would
have the most significant impacts on the quality of
my work?”
• Specific: “I’m working on my abilities. Could
you do me a favor and watch for things I could do
better in our meeting next week?”
START GIVING THOUGHTFUL FEEDBACK
The best style for giving feedback is the style that resonates
for the recipient. Are they direct? Do they need a
little padding? Do they want feedback at certain times,
but not at others? The best way to find out is to ask.
Remember, not all feedback is constructive. A healthy
feedback relationship acknowledges what they are
doing well as well as what they can do better.
TYPES OF FEEDBACK:
• Broad: “I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance
of feedback and it occurred to me that I
don’t know your style very well. How/when do you
like to receive feedback?”
• Specific: “Is there anything that you are particularly
trying to improve that I should focus my feedback
on?”
• Realtime: “Are you open to feedback right now?”
Timing matters and sometimes people aren’t in the
right headspace for feedback. If someone isn’t
open to feedback in the moment, they will almost
always circle back and ask for the feedback later.
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