Feedback is breakfast for champions

Receiving negative feedback can be quite painful. However, if we reflect carefully, it can enable us to improve our lives and careers.

Feedback can be painful because it hurts our egos. Most of us see ourselves in the best light. In our minds, we are the most important people in the world. We are disciplined, focused, moral, beautiful, etc. So when someone points out a flaw in our character, we often take offense.

Feedback is good for us and allows us to course correct before we make costly mistakes. For example, many cars will warn you if you don’t wear your seatbelt. This is good feedback, and it is in your best interest to listen and act. Without feedback, we can’t know if we are on the right path or not. In the workplace, feedback is essential. It could be wise counsel from an experienced colleague. It could also be formal feedback through the appraisal process. It is generally wise to listen and act on feedback from your bosses because not doing so is a career-limiting move.

Feedback is also a form of validated learning. For instance, if you develop new products or services, you need to test potential markets and see how they respond. This feedback is then used as a form of validated learning to improve your offering. It is generally prudent to carefully listen to customers’ concerns and feedback. Not doing so is a recipe for business collapse.

However, we need to differentiate between feedback and criticism. Feedback comes from a good place and is meant to help us improve. Criticism, on the other hand, is meant to put us down and comes from a selfish and envious point of view. Feedback should be embraced, while criticism should generally be ignored or avoided.

Since feedback is crucial to our development, we should actively seek it out. There are several online tools we can use to gauge how we are doing in different aspects of life. Business owners should establish a process to collect and analyze feedback from their customers regularly. Married people should routinely ask their partners how they are fairing. Politicians are well advised to routinely check in with their constituents. Workplaces can develop mechanisms for 360-degree reviews at all levels.

Feedback can be painful, but it also allows us to self-reflect and grow. We can’t become the people we were meant to be without accurate feedback from the people who care about us.