Here’s what I learned about giving feedback from watching the Olympics

Wow, France, what an incredible 2024 Paris Olympic Games you put on. You captivated the world’s population as we backed our countries with pride, were in awe of the performances that the athletes produced, and were amazed by the incredible sites of your beautiful country.

We got to see the best of humanity, but also the worst. Athletes and teams who achieved their dreams were applauded and cheered from every corner of the world, those who didn’t shine were either forgotten or ridiculed. As a human race some people forget that the athletes are human beings too. They all have emotions, they all have their insecurities and they all have a heart. The same is with our employees, friends and families.

The impact of feedback

Great success and great failure can have a huge impact on a human being, whether it’s at the Olympics, in the workplace, or in other aspects. The way the media and keyboard warriors have attacked Raygun, the Australian breakdancer, is appalling. Although she may not have performed at the standard expected at the Olympics, she gave everything and is a human being. Imagine what the behaviour by the media and public is having on her mental health.

While we witnessed the amazing humility, grace and appreciation by a majority of the athletes who won gold medals, there were some who changed as the world supercharged their ego. Success can go to “people’s heads” and their behaviour changes. What can we learn from this as leaders and people in the workplace?

We need to balance applauding people’s successes and growth with providing effective feedback on how they can grow. If you focus on only praising people, it will go to their heads, and they will become complacent, individualistic, or even arrogant. If we focus only on identifying areas they aren’t doing so well and need to improve over time, you will wear down their confidence, resilience, and mental health.

Olympic athletes and teams live in a world with a tight feedback culture and feedback that is normalised. In the desire to bring out the best in an individual or team, an environment is created where the coach, support staff, and the athletes have the psychological safety and permission to give and receive feedback on a daily basis. In some environments, athletes receive feedback and provide feedback every minute, hour, day, and week.

It is very different from the corporate world, where feedback is often sporadic or limited to quarterly or yearly performance reviews. How can we create a shift in companies where a culture of feedback is normalised? Where people are able to separate the person from the problem, and honest conversations happen promptly and quickly?

Giving and receiving honest feedback

First, what is an honest conversation? Honest conversations occur when you say what you mean, mean what you say and everything that needs to be said is said. They include both opportunities to grow as well as sharing what they did well. We need to balance giving people confidence through positive reinforcement and recognition, while sharing areas to improve. How we share growth feedback is critical. Using the words “You” and “Why” as sentence starters make the feedback a personal attack. Instead start with “I feel…”, ‘Have you noticed…”, or “What I have observed is…”

You can start to normalise a culture of feedback and honest conversations by starting with a “one minute debrief” at the end of a meeting. Each meeting a different team member is selected to provide a one minute debrief at the end of the meeting where they share a Gem and an Opportunity. A Gem is something the group did well and an Opportunity is one area that the group can improve next time. Another way as a leader is to ask an individual or the team “How can I do better for you?” or “What can I improve that will enable the team to perform better?” By being vulnerable and showing that leaders are open to feedback, greater permission is provided to the employees.

As leaders, we need to balance developing our employees self-worth and the collective worth of our team. We need to create an ECO-system not an EGO-system. It requires the leader to show deep care with the intention “what’s holding you back and how can I help?” Take the time to ensure you are providing positive reinforcement and opportunities on a regular basis so employees can grow and teams can perform at their best. Are you ready to create a culture of feedback and honest conversations?

Want more? Get the latest coronavirus news and updates straight to your inbox! Follow Kochie’s Business Builders on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.