Leaders, Start Asking for Feedback

Leadership skills refer to competencies that inspire others, help them to realize their potential, and guide them through obstacles standing in the way of an organization's shared goals. Existing leaders should expect employee feedback in return, and this looping manner of positive and negative feedback is essential for two-way continuous performance management. Leadership skills are soft, abstract personal qualities rather than concrete, technical knowledge, and are important for organizations to realize a vision, promote excellence, and overcome challenges. Constructive feedback for junior employees can empower them to take on more responsibilities, which distributes leadership power through all levels of the organization. Leadership is a key leadership skill and trait that requires the leader to understand the needs of their juniors, empathize with them, build relationships, take initiative, exhibit an authority, demonstrate trustworthiness, and take responsibility for their team's shortcomings.

Five leadership examples are provided to help identify the most important details to consider when evaluating a leader's suitability as a leader. These examples include: Do I understand the need of those I supervise or work with, am I empathetic, do I build strong relationships with the team, do we take initiative? Is I authoritative yet relatable, How am I trustworthy, and how do I take responsible for failures? When seeking feedback, it is important to be sure that you're as thorough as possible and to use the five feedback to anchor your performance development conversation. Hands-on vs. hands-off leadership may be preferred by some people, while hands-offs leadership may prefer hand-off approaches.

Leaders should prioritize their employees and create a workplace culture based on trust. Conflict can arise in team settings and leaders should be able to resolve it with their ability to provide constructive feedback. Research has shown that senior leaders tend to have a positive perception of upward feedback and are willing to consider it objectively. Leaders should also be willing to give feedback if the feedback is not helpful, as it can lead to frustrated leaders who may stop asking for feedback.