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Becoming more approachable all stems from how we respond when others are speaking with us. So far, we have discussed when other individuals share good ideas and bad ideas, and how we can suggest ideas, encourage elaboration with body language, and avoid the abrupt "Why." All of these practices contribute towards becoming more approachable. Today, we will dive deeper into responding to criticism in order to further increase our approachability.
While I was working in ecommerce, I was giving one of the executives feedback on their people management practices, which solely focused on business results and neglected employee morale. This executive turned around and said, "The problem is not my people management capabilities. The problem is that the team is lazy." The result of my feedback - no changes in this particular executive's behavior. By not considering my feedback, I was given the impression that this executive does not want to change nor receive constructive criticism.
When speaking with another executive at one my past roles, I criticized upper management for not providing feedback frequently enough. In this case, the executive acknowledged the feedback and then began to discuss their thought process for the current feedback. In the end, we both decided that the current feedback frequency made sense. Even though the end result was the same in both cases, my feedback was not implemented, in this latter case, the executive took the time to acknowledge and discuss my feedback. These additional steps drive the working environment to become more collaborative because all members know that any criticisms they raise will be genuinely considered.
Acknowledge Criticism
As the second example showed, when receiving criticism, we need to acknowledge criticism. This is done by saying, "Thank you for the feedback" and then repeating our understanding of the criticism in our own words to demonstrate our understanding.
Discuss Implications
After we have acknowledged the criticism, we can begin discussing the implications. This means discussing the context of the feedback and the rationale behind the previous method and the proposed method from the feedback. Based on this discussion, we should be able to determine if the previous method is better or if changes need to be made.
Make Improvements (if appropriate)
If we have decided that changes need to be made, we need to genuinely make the improvements. By listening to the feedback and genuinely implementing pieces that would improve the business, we are further reinforcing the notion that when our team members give us criticisms, we will listen and we will make changes.
Closing Remarks
As managers, we need to cherish any criticism we receive. If a team member has mustered up the courage to tell us, it certainly deserves our attention. If we continue cherishing criticism by acknowledging it, discussing the implications, and making any necessary improvements, we will continue building an environment that is more collaborative and be perceived as more approachable. This environment will then become self sustaining, because a more collaborative environment leads to more criticism, and more criticism leads to more discussions about improvement.
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