Leadership Training: How to Ask Your Team for Feedback When You're the Manager

Managers and supervisors who really want to do a great job frequently bring up in my Leadership Development Training seminars the best way to get feedback from their team.

While leaders care about being their best and bringing the best out in others, it's not always easy for managers and supervisors to get useful information from teams about how to give the team what they need.

As you develop leadership skills, one fact to keep in mind is your company's "corporate culture."

Think of the company's corporate culture as, in part, the "family dynamic" or your organization. It also refers to all of the unwritten rules about behaviors and expectations.

Here's an example of a coaching client of mine who was hired to be a manager in a county public service department. Although she sincerely wanted to work on leadership development, she felt frustrated with what to do next. She had made the mistake of many well-meaning, but misguided managers. She paid no attention to the mood of her team, nor their attitude towards her. She didn't think to consider the context in which she was hired.

She only knew that she wanted to develop her leadership skills, and so she went right to her team to tell her what she could do better.

Unfortunately for her, this manager, who we'll call Maria, decided to solicit feedback in a team meeting when all 17 of her employees were present.

We have several flaws with Maria's approach. Not only did she disregard her team's attitude towards her, she failed to consider the context in which she was hired, and she asked for feedback right in front of everyone, with no privacy.

Maria totally missed the point that her team didn't even personally like her. This likely came from the circumstances surrounding her hiring.

Maria came into her new leadership position as an outsider. She didn't think to notice that the lady she replaced as manager had been there 18 years as manager, and seven years as a team member before that.

She didn't see that her team had been there a minimum of 5 years each and that three of them had applied for her position.

In blunt terms, several of Maria's team members felt that they could be doing a much better job than she, and when Maria invited comments and critiques in a public forum, several of her team members were brutal in their response. Rather than feeling she'd gained valuable information in bringing her leadership skills up several notches, Maria left the meeting feeling personally attacked.

How to develop leadership skills? Great question. And the answer is essential for rapid leadership development. When you want feedback from your team about how you're doing, don't literally ask: "How am I doing?" That's a personal question and invites a personal attack. Instead, keep your question on what the point really is, and that is, what can you do for your team?

Shift your focus when you want to develop as a leader. Think of your leadership role as a support position.

Just as Atlas, from Greek mythology held up the earth and sky, you as a manager, hold up the team by giving them the support they need. So, instead of making your question be: "How am I doing?". You can ask instead, "What do you need from me to do your job more effectively, productively, and profitably?" "Do you need training? Resources? Supplies? Let me know and I'll see what I can do to make it happen."

Great leaders develop exponentially when they realize their role is one of support. So let your questions for feedback be centered on how you can get your team what they need to be at their personal best.