Quote of the Month
“Compassionate leaders honor the complexity of human relationships, nurture authenticity and create common grounds for blooming great ideas of individuals.”
~Amit Ray
Being a leader in your own life means setting yourself up for success with diligence and preparation. As the year draws to a close, many of you are getting ready for year-end reviews. This is an opportunity to give effective feedback while demonstrating values of inclusivity and belonging.
Give Compassionate Feedback While Still Being Constructive
Take a moment to remember a time you were treated with empathy and kindness in a nerve-wracking situation, like a year-end review. Compassionate directness achieves the necessary goal without sacrificing the core values of inclusion and mattering.
Arianna Huffington coined the term for her company, Thrive Global.
“Compassionate directness is about empowering employees to speak up, give feedback, disagree and surface problems in real time. But it has to be done with compassion, empathy and understanding. It’s what allows us to course-correct, improve and meet challenges while also building teams that collaborate and care for one another.”
Tips for Giving Performance Reviews With Heart
Before you begin – I encourage you to stop.
Think about how you want this employee to feel and what you want this employee to know at the end of the review.
Offer what Geoffrey Cohen in his book, Belonging, calls, “wise criticism” which involves making clear that your feedback comes from a commitment to high standards and a belief that your employee can meet them. These tips hold you to a high standard, so you can positively develop others.
- Are you prepared? Come to the meeting well-fed, focused, and with a glass of water.
- Put your phone away. Not just on silent or turned face down, but away in a drawer. Out of sight, out of mind.
- Regularly check for understanding of the points discussed
- Listen as much as you speak.
- Remind your employee of their strengths and the impact they have – essentially conveying that they matter.
- Challenge yourself. Set a high bar. You can do it.
Let me know what you think of these suggestions or offer me one of your own.
In Case You Missed It
My book is now an audiobook! Download it on Audible, Apple, Audiobooks, and Google Play.
If you enjoyed the book, tell me or leave a review.
Notes of Inspiration
This article piqued my interest and is an important read. “The Essential Skills for Being Human” in the New York Times.
“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but to reveal to him his own.” – Benjamin Disraeli
Connect with Cheryl
|
|
|
Feel welcome to send me an email with feedback and suggestions for future topics.
