HBR On Leadership: How to Give Your Team the Feedback They Actually Need

Podcast Information

• Title: HBR On Leadership
• Host/Author: Harvard Business Review
• Episode: How to Give Your Team the Feedback They Actually Need
• Release Date: February 5, 2025
• Description: Leadership isn’t a trait; it’s a set of skills. HBR On Leadership provides insights and inspiration from top leadership practitioners and experts to help you manage teams and motivate individuals effectively.

Introduction

In the episode titled "How to Give Your Team the Feedback They Actually Need," hosted by Alison Beard, Harvard Business Review delves into reimagining feedback mechanisms within organizations. The conversation features Marcus Buckingham, Head of Research at the ADP Research Institute and co-author of Nine Lies About Work and The Feedback Fallacy, alongside Ashley Goodall, former Senior Vice President of Leadership and Team Intelligence at Cisco Systems and co-author of the same works. Together, they challenge the conventional wisdom surrounding performance reviews and provide a strengths-based approach to employee development.

The Problem with Traditional Feedback

Alison Beard opens the discussion by acknowledging the conventional role of feedback in leadership and employee development. She states, “Feedback it's something good leaders provide to their employees and solicit from others so everyone can improve” (00:21). However, Buckingham and Goodall argue that the current feedback systems are flawed.

Alison Beard highlights the common skepticism towards traditional feedback:

"Constructive criticism actually prevents people from reaching their full potential." (01:34)

They assert that the prevalent focus on correcting weaknesses fails to foster true excellence, often stifling employee growth rather than promoting it.

The Strengths-Based Approach

Buckingham emphasizes the importance of leveraging employees' strengths instead of merely addressing their weaknesses. He explains:

"If you want to help create excellent performance, focus on what's going well and how to turn that up." (04:10)

This approach shifts the paradigm from a deficit-focused model to one that builds upon what employees already excel at, thereby driving superior performance.

Ashley Goodall adds nuance to this by delineating between fixing mistakes and fostering excellence:

"We tend to use our mistake fixing tools to be our excellence building tools. And then we're sort of surprised when it turns out they don't work that way." (04:10)

Rethinking Weaknesses and Development

When challenged about addressing weaknesses, Buckingham clarifies that transforming weaknesses into strengths is ineffective:

"The best leaders seem to understand that each human is unique and that the way in which they grow isn't to turn weaknesses into strengths. That's not what you see when you see performance in the world." (05:02)

He further differentiates strengths and weaknesses based on personal energy dynamics:

"A strength is an activity that strengthens you, and a weakness is an activity that weakens you." (10:02)

This perspective redefines strengths not just as areas of proficiency but as activities that invigorate the individual, while weaknesses are those that drain them, regardless of competence.

Critique of Current Performance Systems

Buckingham and Goodall critique existing performance review systems, including 360-degree feedback and rating grids, highlighting their inherent flaws. Buckingham points out the unreliability of human raters:

"More than 60% of the variance in my rating of you or Ashley is a function of me. And you add more ratings points, data points, because it's systematic error, you get more error, not less." (17:50)

He underscores the systemic issues where performance data often fail to accurately measure true performance, leading to misguided decisions regarding promotions and compensation.

Goodall echoes this sentiment, advocating for performance systems that reflect personal experiences rather than arbitrary ratings:

"We need to vector our measurement tools, flip our measurement tools if you like, so that, for example, if you were on my team, instead of answering the question, are you a top performer? Which asks me to rate you, I would answer the question, do I always go to you for excellent work?" (19:53)

Practical Steps for Managers

Buckingham and Goodall offer actionable strategies for managers to enhance team engagement and productivity without relying on traditional feedback systems.

1. Love It, Loathe It Exercise: Buckingham suggests giving employees a blank sheet divided into two columns labeled "Loved it" and "Loathed it." Employees track their weekly activities under each category to identify what energizes them and what drains them. This exercise fosters self-awareness and opens avenues for meaningful conversations about roles and tasks.

   "Use the raw material of a regular week at work. Anytime you find yourself leaning into something, anytime you find yourself procrastinating or trying to hand it off to the new person or whatever, scribble it down." (21:18)

2. Regular Brief Conversations: Implementing short, weekly check-ins focused on near-term work helps maintain continuous engagement and address issues promptly.

   "Just talk to your people every week about near term work. 10, 15 minutes every week." (22:24)

3. Starting Conversations with Praise: Goodall emphasizes the importance of beginning performance discussions with positive feedback, shifting the narrative from a "fix-it" mindset to a "build-up" approach.

   "The beginning of a performance conversation is two words. Good job. The beauty is what comes after that." (23:47)

Insights and Conclusions

Buckingham and Goodall advocate for a fundamental shift in how organizations approach feedback and performance management. By prioritizing strengths and fostering environments where employees can flourish in their areas of passion, leaders can cultivate more engaged, productive, and satisfied teams.

Key Takeaways:

• Focus on Strengths: Develop and amplify what employees are naturally good at and enjoy.
• Redefine Weaknesses: Understand that weaknesses are activities that drain rather than areas to be fixed.
• Question Performance Data: Recognize the limitations and potential biases in traditional performance metrics.
• Implement Practical Tools: Utilize exercises like "Love It, Loathe It" and promote regular, positive-focused conversations.

As Alison Beard aptly summarizes the discussion, the future of effective leadership lies in reimagining feedback systems to prioritize what truly drives employee performance and satisfaction.

Notable Quotes:

• Alison Beard:

  "Constructive criticism actually prevents people from reaching their full potential." (01:34)

• Marcus Buckingham:

  "A strength is an activity that strengthens you, and a weakness is an activity that weakens you." (10:02) "More than 60% of the variance in my rating of you or Ashley is a function of me." (17:50)

• Ashley Goodall:

  "The only thing you can ever say to a human being is do it your way. But here's where your way was working." (06:01) "Good job is the moment where you go, now then, what was in your head to your conversation earlier." (22:24)

This episode of HBR On Leadership offers a transformative perspective on feedback, urging leaders to move beyond outdated practices and embrace a strengths-based approach that genuinely enhances team performance and individual growth.