Ouch! Feedback Helps.

The older I get, the more I realize that there are things in this world that I am good at and things that I have no business ever trying again. We all have strengths and weaknesses and if you are like me, you wish you had less weaknesses and stronger strengths. I am constantly trying to grow in my strengths. The idea of being a better leader, strategist, teacher, connector, etc. is very exciting to me. The part that trips me up, though, is how to get better. It’s not just more practice, or more experience. It’s more than reading books and studying others to learn new tactics.

I’ve found that the key is in exposure.

I have to have some people in my life that will shoot straight with me. I need the honest truth about where and how I need to improve. I like to get a pat on the back and to be told that I’m doing great. We all need encouragement and affirmation. However, I’m not going to grow through affirmation-- I’m going to grow through people that aren’t impressed with me, that don’t think I’ve hung the moon. People who will give me open and honest feedback. Neal, you come across too rough, you need to say it different next time. Neal, when you do this, regardless of your intentions, it is perceived this way. Neal, you’ve got to slow down. Neal, you lost sight of the big picture on this one.

There are things in my life, in my strengths and personality that I am blind to. When someone else, coming from a friendship of mutual respect, speaks candidly and honestly with me, I can learn. It stings a little, but it’s when they expose my blind spots that I can truly grow.