From the Center for Creative Leadership

Feedback can be uncomfortable to give, but with the right technique it can go more smoothly. Avoid these 10 common blunders when giving feedback to others, taken from the Center for Creative Leadership’s guidebook Feedback That Works.


Mistake #1: The feedback judges individuals, not actions Putting feedback in judgmental terms puts people on the defensive. And you’ve sent the message that you know what is right or wrong.

Mistake #2: The feedback is too vague. Steer clear of generalized, cliche’ catch phrases. If you want to really encourage someone to repeat productive behavior, you have to let them know what they did so they can keep doing it.

Mistake #3: The feedback speaks for others. Stick with the information that you know. Dragging a third party’s name into the mix only confuses the recipient, who then wonders why others are talking about them behind their back.

Mistake #4: Negative feedback gets sandwiched between positive messages. It may seem like a good idea to unburden the blow of negative comments with positive ones, but the recipient is smart enough to read between the lines, too.

Mistake #5: The feedback is exaggerated with generalities. Avoid those two little words, “always” and “never.” It puts people on the defensive because there is usually that one time…

Mistake #6: The feedback psychoanalyzes the motives behind behavior. It could be a divorce, resentment over a co-worker’s advancement, or burnout, but whatever you think you know about someone’s intents and motives is probably dead wrong.

Mistake #7: The feedback goes on too long. Know when to stop. People need time to process the information they have received.

Mistake #8: The feedback contains an implied threat. Telling someone their job is in jeopardy doesn’t reinforce good behavior or illustrate bad behavior. It only creates animosity.

Mistake #9: The feedback uses inappropriate humor. You might use sarcasm as a substitute for feedback, especially if you are uncomfortable giving it in the first place. Keep the snide comments to yourself.

Mistake #10: The feedback is a question, not a statement. Phrasing feedback as a question is too indirect to be effective. And it may even be interpreted as sarcastic. Really?

Learning from your mistakes is important. Have you encountered any of these common mistakes during your career?

http://insights.ccl.org/multimedia/video/10-common-mistakes-in-giving-feedback/?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Leading%20Effectively%20-%20September%2015%202015%20(1)

Leadership BS? Whoa!! Got my attention. Excellent interview this morning on KSKA - "Here and Now", featuring Stanford Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer. How important is it for a leader to be inspirational? More important that facts, evidence, or ideas? 

Here's one segment from that interview.....

......"If you are a leader seeking to actually change a workplace’s conditions so as to improve employee engagement, satisfaction, or productivity, or if you are an individual seeking to chart a course to a more successful career, inspiration is not what you need. What you need are facts, evidence, and ideas. Cheering may be helpful at sporting events, but not so much in the nitty-gritty job of fixing workplaces and careers. This chapter lays out the many reasons why inspiration is not only a poor basis from which to attempt serious organizational change but also useless for figuring out how to have more personal success inside work organizations." 

Once again, NPR and KSKA delivers!!! Thank you!!!

http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/09/15/jeffrey-pfeffer-leadership-bs

Minds work best when turned on!!! 

Whoa!!! Where are we headed in this country when expressions such as..... “America is the land of opportunity” and “I believe the most qualified person should get the job", are deemed offensive by some students? Fine to feel offended, but not file to file a protest against a professor that is challenging your sensitivities Engage and have an enlighten discussion on why you are offended.

I've been teaching as an adjunct instructor at Alaska Pacific University for nearly 20 years. I've offended some students with comments I've made over the years, but not to this extent. Occasionally my progressive side leaks out to the extent some students take offense with a particular view. The difference is I've used those times for energized discussion and engagement.

I don't shy away from having deep and meaningful dialogue with my students. The #1 goal I have for my students is that will hopefully leave the class better thinkers. Becoming more aware of the belief systems that limit and narrow our thinking can be a huge undertaking. So, being challenged as an instructor (really, a facilitator) is welcomed. However, being willing to be challenged should be equally welcomed. To avoid confronting one's beliefs constricts and limits your capacity to grow intellectually. It also limits your awareness of other, and possibly, valid views and beliefs.

Stimulating article. One of the authors, Jonathan Haidt, is a favorite. His book, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, is one I've used in some of my classes.

Here's an overview of his book....."Why can’t our political leaders work together as threats loom and problems mount? Why do people so readily assume the worst about the motives of their fellow citizens? In The Righteous Mind, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the origins of our divisions and points the way forward to mutual understanding.

His starting point is moral intuition—the nearly instantaneous perceptions we all have about other people and the things they do. These intuitions feel like self-evident truths, making us righteously certain that those who see things differently are wrong. Haidt shows us how these intuitions differ across cultures, including the cultures of the political left and right. He blends his own research findings with those of anthropologists, historians, and other psychologists to draw a map of the moral domain, and he explains why conservatives can navigate that map more skillfully than can liberals. He then examines the origins of morality, overturning the view that evolution made us fundamentally selfish creatures. But rather than arguing that we are innately altruistic, he makes a more subtle claim—that we are fundamentally groupish.

It is our groupishness, he explains, that leads to our greatest joys, our religious divisions, and our political affiliations. In a stunning final chapter on ideology and civility, Haidt shows what each side is right about, and why we need the insights of liberals, conservatives, and libertarians to flourish as a nation."


Bill Moyers interview with Haidt.
http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=bill+moyers+jonathan+haidt&FORM=VIRE2#view=detail&mid=96F365C070DAFDD8225296F365C070DAFDD82252


College students are increasingly demanding protection from words and ideas they don’t like. Here’s why that’s disastrous for education.

THEATLANTIC.COM|BY GREG LUKIANOFF AND JONATHAN HAIDT

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/399356/