By BOSEDE OLUSOLA-OBASA
Today, I share with you one critical habit that stands out intentional people. I dare say that if you took yourself to be an intentional person and you haven’t ever been involved in this practice, then you should double check yourself. What might this be? You may ask. It is soliciting feedback about you from well-meaning people!
Asking people how well they think you are doing or how they perceive you is a very healthy practice. As parents, you should learn to sincerely ask your children for this feedback. As workplace leaders, you should intentionally seek this feedback from your team members. As a friend or community member, you should ask, too. The same goes for subordinates and their superiors.
Oftentimes, people pray and work towards success but rarely take responsibility for the habits needed to sustain it. True growth requires courage—especially the courage to ask others, ‘What do you see in me that I need to work on? That’s literally bringing yourself before the court of accountability. Truth is, this can be a security system for your greatness, if well harnessed.
I recall a fateful day in 2017, during the humble beginnings of my organisation (RCV), a young graduate – Jeffrey (then a volunteer intern with a neighbour company) did something that startled me. He walked up to me and made a simple but profound request of me. He said, “Could you please write down the qualities you’ve observed about me—especially the areas I need to work on? And please do so in your handwriting so I can keep it for remembrance.”
At the time, I didn’t feel qualified to be in the space he was putting me. RCV was still in its infancy, and I was just finding my feet in the business of character development, so I thought he should have considered more high-sounding names. Anyway, I honoured his request.
It’s been several years after, and I have watched Jeffrey rise from being a valuable volunteer intern to a substantive employee of the same organisation, then he rose to become the general manager, later the CEO of the organisation’s subsidiary, before exiting to start his journey into entrepreneurship.
Jeffery is a testament to the power of humility, teachability, and seeking feedback. The moral of sharing this true experience is to show that a teachable person doesn’t wait to get feedback even if it comes as a reprimand. They are open to getting corrected by seeking correction, embracing it, and rising or flying higher by it.
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Asking for feedback exhibits the character qualities of: openness, vulnerability, personal security, teachability, humility, growth-mindedness, sincerity, etc. It is true that those who ask for feedback are more intentional about their personal brand growth journey than those who wait for feedback. Embracing feedback shows that you understand that you can see all sides or everything about you all the time. It also shows that you understand that, like opinions, feedback could simply be borrowing other people’s eyes and minds to see angles beyond your own eyes and mind. Remember that ignoring your blindside doesn’t protect you. It cripples you.
Those who sincerely solicit feedback are most likely able to nip a wrong pattern in the bud before the odds go largely against them, while those who don’t care about feedback often get caught in the web and subsequently have to scamper to get out of it.
Questions to help you get started:
*When was the last time you sincerely asked someone you trust for feedback?
*Do you know how to choose who to ask for feedback?
*Do you know how to prepare your mind for feedback (especially when it might come in critical)?
*Can you sieve a body of mixed feedback to extract what’s beneficial for you?, etc.
You may wish to get help from my new book, ‘Your Weakness Is Not a Verdict!’ To get your copy, simply click this link: https://selar.com/m/BosedeRCA0
I remain committed to adding value to you. If you love what you read, let me know; also, feel free to share it with another value-loving person or platform like you or yours. You should likewise reach out if you would love to book a corporate training session on teamwork attitude optimisation, leadership sustainability, corporate culture creation, exceptional customer service, or personal character development coaching. I will be glad to help you or your team scale.
