How To Get Honest Feedback When You're The Boss

Successful leaders are always looking for ways to improve. But the problem is that people don’t usually tell you the truth when you ask for feedback, for a variety of reasons. They might be scared of your reaction, or they don’t want to hurt your feelings, they think they're being nice. The higher up you go in an organization, the worse the no-feedback problem becomes.

I learned from David Meister that instead of asking, “What do you think of me and the job I’m doing?” you should ask:

“What are other people saying about me and the job I’m doing?”

This "other people" approach makes is safer for someone to share their thoughts.

Another method I’ve found very effective is to ask someone to quantify your performance, which then sets them up to reveal how you can improve in the future:

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate my performance as a team leader in the last 90 days?”

Listen carefully to their answer, then ask, “What would it have taken for me to have gotten a 10?“

Of course, you can always make your question more specific to get targeted feedback:

• "On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate my level of communication in the last month?"
• "On a scale of 1 to 10, how good have I been doing showing appreciation to our team members?"

The key of course is in the follow-up, "What would it have taken for me to get a 10?"

And if you’re really courageous and want to improve your life, try these questions:

• “On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate me in the last week as a spouse? [listen] What would it take for me to be a 10?”
• “On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate me in the last week as a parent? [listen] What would it take for me to be a 10?“

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Kevin Kruse is a New York Times bestselling author who writes a column on Wholehearted Leadership for Forbes. Kevin is the founder of several multimillion dollar companies that have won Inc 500 and Best Place to Work awards.His latest book, Employee Engagement 2.0, provides a step-by-step plan that turns task-managers into true leaders who unlock the discretionary effort of their teams.

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