Accepting Constructive Feedback
Effective global leaders create an atmosphere that welcomes constructive feedback by avoiding defensive reactions, such as responding to feedback with negative and destructive comments about the other person, speaking over the person giving the feedback, and defending and justifying actions and behaviors rather than listening to and accepting the feedback as valuable. These unproductive reactions to feedback cre- ate an atmosphere of cynicism and apathy, undermining any possibility of change.
Global leaders will need to provide recognition and support for people who have the courage to tell the hard truth before issues become disasters. Asking for input, and then “shooting the messenger” who delivers the bad news is worse than not asking at all.
Effective global leaders are not defensive when receiving feedback, because they value what is being said. They focus on the value of other people’s opinions, fight the urge to prove them wrong, and simply accept their opinions as their perceptions of re- ality. The effective global leader of the future understands that being defensive bars him or her from hearing and understanding new ideas and suggestions, which will most likely lead to missed opportunities for change.
Effective leaders are able to listen to others without making judgments too quickly. They can listen to one side of the story completely without a reac- tion (good or bad), until the whole situation is presented. Then, once they understand all of the perspectives, they can formulate the best response.4
Leaders who can listen to, accept, process, and learn from feedback will have a tremendous competitive advantage, because they will make fewer mistakes and miss fewer opportunities than those leaders who do not value others’ opinions.