How feedback changed my life

Ongoing regular feedback changed my life. Here’s how.

For Trainers feedback comes with the territory

As a Trainer, I’ve received feedback more often than most. But what I’ve learned applies to anyone looking to improve.

How much feedback has that been?

Almost every week, a group of smart Customer professionals somewhere in the world evaluates my training work and shares their feedback.

Using an average of (1) workshop session per week x an average of 15 folks per workshop x 40 training weeks a year x 24 years of training works out to be –

About 600 personal feedback reports per year

So if I’m not getting better at what I do, I’m just not listening.

In the moment feedback can hurt

I remember my first time on stage as a keynote speaker was a disaster. It was in Manila with hundreds of people in the audience.

Why a disaster?

I hadn’t yet distinguished the difference between delivering a training course and speaking on stage.

And I remember one comment in particular to this day.

The Attendee wrote – “It felt like I was attending a training program.”

That failure really hurt and I let it hurt. For easily a week or so it was all I could think about.

How much I had let the Client down, myself down, my Team down – you can imagine.

After a week of hurt, I started to think about what I could have done differently. Moving from being hurt to something more constructive.

Because failure, as you learn in life, is rarely fatal.

And the next time I was invited to speak on stage, I allowed myself to be more personal and even emotional. And it worked much better.

Because I had figured out that people in the audience were there to be inspired.

Not learn how to pass a certification exam.

Growth mindset? Let’s look at that

Anybody you ask is going to say, “Oh yes, I’m into learning and growing. I have a growth mindset.”

I mean who isn’t going to say or believe that about themselves? It’s like asking someone if they care about Customers.

But a growth mindset isn’t just collecting LinkedIn course badges or taking pictures of the books you read.

It involves actively seeking out and listening to regular ongoing feedback from the people that you serve.

Whether that’s your Bosses, your Colleagues, your Clients, your Patients, your Students, your Guests and on and on.

And taking that feedback on board. Even when it hurts.

Perhaps especially when it hurts.

And here’s a lesson

You do get better at processing feedback. I call it the feedback muscle.

The more often you receive and process feedback the better you get at receiving and processing that feedback.

As compared to just getting defensive. Or even dismissing it.

https://www.omnitouchinternational.com/dont-make-a-bad-decision-in-the-name-of-a-good-outcome/

In my imagination, feedback looks like a waterfall

Every human being out there has perceptions. So there’s a never ending waterfall of perception available to you.

For the people you serve, how often do you put on your swim suit and wade directly into that waterfall?

Where the perceptions and feedback of the people you serve literally splash down on your head and all around you?

Trainers have to wade into that waterfall every single time they train.

Which – as it turns out – can be a remarkable catalyst for personal growth.

Not all feedback is equally valuable

It does matter who you listen to. Not all feedback is equally valuable.

You need to learn to tune out the noise and look for the signals. Or put another, prioritize what you learn.

The 80/20 rule is helpful here

For me it’s been 20% of the comments that I’ve received that have resulted in 80% of the continual improvements and changes that I’ve made.

Because not every comment has equal weight.

A comment about the quality of the snacks served at break times holds less weight for me than a comment about confusion on how to do one of the course exercises.

Learning to sift the signal out from the noise is another feedback skill you build up – when you seek out and receive feedback regularly.

Feedback changed my life

No matter what it is that you do. No matter if you’re working with internal or external Clients or Customers.

Go out there and ask others how you’re doing and what you can do better.

Be proactive and fierce about it.

Don’t wait for the sometimes antiquated performance review process to guide you.

That may come too little, too late.

Looking back, I realize I wouldn’t be the Trainer I am today without embracing these painful but essential lessons.

And don’t get stuck in being hurt

When I reflected on what that Attendee said about my speech sounding like a training program, I shifted from hurt to what I could do the next time to be better.

In the end, feedback isn’t just about what others think of you — it’s about how you decide to grow.

https://www.omnitouchinternational.com/how-i-learned-to-work-with-senior-leaders-at-the-j-paul-getty-museum-in-malibu/