Giving Feedback ? Pause and Reflect first!

In our daily life we often come across behavior in others we do not like or approve of. Next time we wish to give them a constructive feedback, let us stop and reflect how to do it better:

  1. Ask ourselves whether we are giving the feedback mainly because we feel diminished by other person’s behavior. Let’s give feedback only when it is truly for others and not about us or our needs.
  2. Stop and think how we would feel if the same feedback was given to us. Let’s first convey what we value about the other person, before we add what we wish was different.
  3. Ask ourselves whether we consider our opinion as facts, instead of preferences or interpretation of a situation? Let’s try giving feedback with a sense of curiosity and humble exploration and make it a dialogue.

“I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.” – Charles Schwab