1. Building Leadership Capacity Receiving Constructive Feedback
Slide Intent
Cover slide
Receiving Constructive Feedback
New Reality Leadership
Copyright New Reality Leadership, LLC
October 2018

2. 1. Opening Exercise
Think of a person you gave feedback to that was resistant to the feedback. Write down several behaviors you noticed from that person during the feedback.
Slide Intent
To get participants thinking about the behaviors displayed when a person resists feedback.
Key Messages
Give each participant post-it notes or other paper.
Ask them to write down a few negative behaviors observed when they gave constructive feedback to someone or observed someone else giving feedback that was resisted.
Go around room and ask each person for one behavior. Chart responses. Go around room a second time if needed.
Ask, “What do you think the impact on the work team is when leaders display these behaviors?”
Facilitation Notes
Goal is to get participants thinking about the behaviors and negative impact they have seen in the past so they can translate that to their leadership to strengthen their openness to feedback. Leaders that resist feedback inhibit their growth but also stifle the engagement, growth, and execution of their teams. Leaders and those that coach leaders must realize the importance of this mindset and emphasize growth in this area.

3. Objectives Discover the value of constructive feedback
Shift your mindset on how you react to feedback
Learn several steps to maximize the feedback given to you
Slide Intent
Present objectives.
Key Messages
Agenda lists actions you will take. Objectives discuss what you will accomplish by the end of the session by completing the agenda items.
The objectives are reviewed at the end of the session in just a slightly different format so the participants can assess if these objectives were accomplished.
Facilitation Notes
It is a good facilitation practice to review the objectives at the beginning and end of a session so participants know what to focus on through the session. Notice the slight difference in wording from this slide to the last objective slide.

4. Agenda Opening Story The Assessment Steps to Maximize Feedback
Feedback and Reputation
The Competency Connection
Closing and Next Steps
Slide Intent
Present the Agenda.
Key Messages
Share the agenda. Post this on the wall as well either by making a poster from this slide or making a chart to hang.
Facilitation Notes
By posting the agenda, you can refer to it as you work through the session. Participants like to know where they are in the overall session.

5. Ultimate Role of the Leader: Maximizing Performance by being open to Constructive Feedback
Manager role
Receiving Constructive Feedback
Full Potential
Potential
Gap
Current Performance
Slide Intent
Provide a pictorial view of closing the performance gap, or….better said, maximizing the performance of the employee. This is an animated slide.
Key Discussion Points
This chart is core to the entire leadership process and will be reviewed in most modules.
We all have some level of performance and that may fall short of our real potential.
A goal of employees is to identify anything that may inhibit them from performing to their potential.
Leaders can impact performance by the way they receive constructive feedback. This module will highlight ways to improve this skill.
Facilitation Notes
It is helpful to have some of the core charts hung permanently and referred to often. All content is geared to help leaders close this performance gap.

6. Accelerate Development
Companies that just let development happen will risk staying competitive.
Development
Organizations must accelerate the development of employees vs. just letting them learn at a leisurely pace.
Shifting the mindset
Development
Time
Time
Traditional Development
It is important to make development happen. All employees should have a development plan.
Slide Intent
Emphasize the focus on Rate of Development.
Key Messages
Organizations often just let development happen.
This picture emphasizes that the key competitive advantage of an organization is not just maximizing performance….but the rate at which a company can do this.
Being open to feedback allows employees to bring ideas and creativity to the workplace. If leaders are resistant to feedback or ideas, the team may stay in a dependent mode and their growth may be lower.
Facilitation Notes
Resisting feedback may cause slower development in your team.

7. 2. The Assessment Review or complete your assessment
Fill in the review questions
Share several learnings with partner
Slide Intent
Review the assessments done prior to the session so they begin to sense strengths and focus areas.
Key Messages
Ask participants to review or complete their assessment for a couple minutes and highlight their strengths and opportunities.
Ask them to also review the prework reading if it was assigned.
Break class into pairs and have them discuss their results briefly. (5 minutes)
Ask group for any learnings from their discussion. Participants do not have to divulge uncomfortable areas.
Facilitation Notes
The purpose is for them to reflect more inwardly. By completing the rest of this module, they will have steps to apply that will address their focus areas.

8. 3. Steps to Maximize Feedback
Context
It is helpful to know steps to follow that help maximize your receptivity to constructive feedback
To Do
Review the assigned step(s) to determine the importance of the step
How
Work in groups of 3 and discuss the step(s). Assign one person to share back your learnings with the rest of the group.
Slide Intent
Provide exercise instructions. This exercise lists actions the leaders can apply to maximize feedback from others.
Key Messages
Share the exercise instructions with the group.
Suggest groups of 3.
Depending on class size, assign one or more of the steps to each group. There are 10 steps. (If 12 people there would be 4 groups so each group would get 2 or 3 steps)
Ask the participants to discuss the assigned steps and elaborate on why this step is important to successfully maximize feedback.
Have each group enlighten the others for their assigned steps and facilitate any additional discussion and learnings from the group.
Facilitation Notes
The participants most likely can provide as much as the facilitator would present. This method engages them and acknowledges what they bring to the session.
10 minutes

9. Your Focus
From the discussion so far and the assessment, what are you doing well and what are a couple improvement opportunities?
Slide Intent
Review the assessments done prior to the session so they begin to sense strengths and focus areas.
Key Messages
Ask participants to review or complete their assessment for a couple minutes and highlight their strengths and opportunities.
Ask them to also review the prework reading if it was assigned.
Break class into pairs and have them discuss their results briefly. (5 minutes)
Ask group for any learnings from their discussion. Participants do not have to divulge uncomfortable areas.
Facilitation Notes
The purpose is for them to reflect more inwardly. By completing the rest of this module, they will have steps to apply that will address their focus areas.

10. 4. Feedback and Reputation
“I have my style and people will need to get used to it. I have been successful in the past and will continue to be successful now”
Actual quote from a senior leader
Discuss the implications of this statement, which is made by some leaders
Slide Intent
Discuss information on reputation.
Key Messages
This is an optional slide that might get participants thinking about how resistance to feedback impacts their reputation overall.
Show slide and have an open discussion from the group. Can chart responses or just talk for this slide.
If you have heard other quotes like this from leaders, feel free to insert in place of this one.
Facilitation Notes
Some leaders just do not care what others think as long as they are getting the right attention from their leader. While we all have particular traits we bring to leadership roles, leaders must ask if any of those traits are significantly inhibiting the employees or organization from operating at peak performance. If the answer is yes, the leader must be held accountable for changing those traits. When a person signs up to be a leader, they are signing up to enable their teams to work at their maximum capacity. The leader can not focus only on their career but must think organizationally.
10 minutes

11. Reputation Discussion
Context
How does this Receiving Feedback impact your reputation?
Read the story of Mary in participant guide and discuss.
Key thoughts
Positive reputations take time to build
Positive reputations can be damaged quickly
A reputation is what others perceive of you…whether accurate or not
Openness, communication, listening and feedback all help you see how others view you
The goal is to view yourself as others view you. Then, take actions on what you think is most important
Slide Intent
Solicit insights for leaders on how receiving feedback impacts a reputation.
Key Messages
Show slide. Ask participants to read the story of Mary in the participant guide.
Discuss their insights.
Show second part of slide and solicit any additional comments from the group.
Facilitation Notes
You can add more discussion to this section if you prefer. The key is for leaders to know that people view them in certain ways whether they see it or not. Just because a leader thinks he is good in an area means nothing if everyone else thinks differently and is impacted negatively in some way. Just because we think the Earth is flat does not make it flat.
10 minutes

12. What do you see? Slide Intent
Fun way to show how people can view the same picture in two ways.
Key Messages
Ask group to write down what they see. Most will say an older lady. Some may say a young woman. See if you can see both views and then read the description below.
There are two views to this picture. One view shows the older lady looking to the left and slight toward us. The second view shows a younger woman looking to the left but away from us. The older ladies left eye (right one as you look at it) becomes the young woman’s left ear. The older ladies nose becomes the young woman’s chin as viewed from her left side. The older ladies mouth becomes a necklace for the young woman.
For leaders, reputation is what others perceive vs. what might actually be reality.
Facilitation Notes
There may be other illustrations or illusions you can find on line

13. 5. The Competency Connection
By building this competency, how do you also strengthen these competencies?
Communication
Empowers workforce
Engages employees for their knowledge
Fosters creativity and innovation
Builds solid teams
Interacts well with employees
Manages conflicts
Characteristics: Humility and Trust
Slide Intent
Connecting this skill to leadership competencies.
Key Messages
In our initial modules, we discussed competencies of successful leaders. Among the list was receiving constructive feedback.
Have an open discussion by asking the question on the slide to the participants. This discussion will help them connect the need to apply this skill well if they want to accomplish the above shifts in the organization.
Facilitation Notes
It is important that these mindsets are clear for the group and organization. These concepts were presented in the previous modules and it is important that all leaders are striving for the same outcomes. Some possible connections:
Communication – allows employees freedom to share suggestions with leader with more open dialog
Empowers workforce – Employees feel like part of the team vs. subordinates. Employee may have ideas that they are afraid to suggest
Engages employees for their knowledge – Leader is asking for and listening to input
Fosters creativity and innovation – Resistant leaders stifle discussions and innovative ideas. If employee ideas were dismissed earlier, they may not suggest others later
Builds solid teams – creates a barrier between employees and manager. Employees tend to only interact with the leader when necessary
Interacts well with employees – Employees will avoid the leader if they are resistant
Manages conflicts - creates conflicts that are not easily addressed
Characteristic: Humility – Pride is typically the root of being resistant
Trust – employees will trust managers who are open to learning and growing

14. 6. Closing and Next Steps To review (See next slides)
Supplemental materials and application ideas
Review workbook ideas. What can you apply now to help?
Discuss types of feedback
Do you have a formal 180 or 360 degree feedback process?
Have you completed one of these? Could this tool help?
How well did we meet the objectives?
List a key learning from this session
Slide Intent
Highlight possible feedback processes and tools.
Key Messages
There are informal and formal ways to get feedback.
Your organization may have some feedback tools already in use.
Discuss what is available and any recommendations for your leaders. We suggest that 360 tools be used about every 3 years as a guide. Dialogs with the manager should be on going. Some organizations have specific tools they use to help align the manager and employee view on selected areas.
Facilitation Notes
As an addition, you could challenge people to use this question when soliciting informal feedback.
If there was one area you would like to see changed, what would it be?
The leader should allow a couple days between asking the question and getting together with the person or team to hear responses.

15. Types of Feedback Informal discussions 180 degree feedback
Feedback from your manager
360 degree feedback
Feedback from peers, direct reports, leaders, and others such as customers or client
Specific professional coaching
Mentor/coach having specific knowledge in an area or one who can guide your development process in general
Slide Intent
Highlight possible feedback processes and tools.
Key Messages
There are informal and formal ways to get feedback.
Your organization may have some feedback tools already in use.
Discuss what is available and any recommendations for your leaders. We suggest that 360 tools be used about every 3 years as a guide. Dialogs with the manager should be on going. Some organizations have specific tools they use to help align the manager and employee view on selected areas.
Facilitation Notes
As an addition, you could challenge people to use this question when soliciting informal feedback.
If there was one area you would like to see changed, what would it be?
The leader should allow a couple days between asking the question and getting together with the person or team to hear responses.

16. Objectives Revisited
How will these areas be improved as you are open to constructive feedback:
Your personal leadership?
Engagement of your reports or team?
Business performance of your area?
Describe any shifts in your mindset after completing this module?
What steps will you apply to maximize the feedback given to you?
Slide Intent
Review objectives to see if they were met.
Key Messages
These objectives were outlined at the start of the module.
They are worded as questions in this slide.
Ask each question to see if these objectives were accomplished.
If not, see what follow up might be needed.
Facilitation Notes
It is a good facilitation practice to review the objectives at the beginning and end of a session so participants know what to focus on through the session.
Most of the learning actually takes place after the session through application. Ensure there is an emphasis on how they will apply the skill. Ideally, there should be a follow up session to have them share their experiences.

17. Key Learnings and Application
What is one insight you gained during this session that will help you in your leadership?
List an action you will take to improve your ability to receive Constructive Feedback
How does being open to constructive feedback help you shift more toward Tier 3 characteristics?
Slide Intent
Review of the module by asking for a key learning from the participants
Key Messages
Ask each participant for one key learning from this module.
Value of this exercise is for all participants to see how other leaders are applying the skill or knowledge, which often helps them see possible ways to apply the skill as well.
Connect back to a key principle of this process. Leaders must shift towards working in Tier 3 characteristics. Their leader role is to help shift their organization there as well. Ensure the participants see the connection between openly receiving constructive feedback and how that helps shift the employee….and organization.
Facilitation Notes
Add tier chart

18. Being open, really open

19. How do we see ourselves?