I used to hate getting feedback. Performance reviews, observations, and peer work sessions in professional learning communities all made my stomach turn. I’m not perfect and I’m aware of it; being told about my imperfections felt just awful. But then I learned to look at feedback differently - I learned what feedback is and isn’t, I learned when it has value and when it doesn’t, and I learned how to use feedback to my advantage, to propel myself forward towards my goals; I learned to love getting feedback. I’ve had a lot of mentors in my many professional lives and I’ve had even more supervisors and managers, but the majority of those who gave me important feedback throughout my professional endeavors didn’t even consider how I felt about their feedback and if it was helpful. So, once I figured that out for myself, I have become a bit of a feedback evangelist. The following is my guide for learning to love feedback.
The first step...