ICommunicate Radio Show #141: Using Guilt as a Motivator

Are you comfortable asking for feedback? How about advocating for what you want and need from your boss? In this episode of ICommunicate, Mark Altman and Joseph Lyman discuss the benefits of initiating feedback, how to know if it’s safe, and how to determine if it’s authentic when managing up and sideways in the workplace. Segment 1: When we have expectations that aren’t being met, we’re inclined to believe that people will eventually learn to read our minds to satisfy our wants and needs. How can we start conversations with our peers and leaders about communicating feedback? How can we develop communication skills even when they’re not innate to us? Segment 2: When we finally gain the courage to ask for feedback from our leaders and they give it to us, we’re inclined to think that they’re only doing so out of guilt. Is this a reasonable expectation, or are there more factors that play into it? What’s the mindset of a leader when it comes to delivering feedback? Segment 3: Giving and receiving feedback sounds easy enough at its surface, but what happens when our expectations about feedback aren’t lining up with those of our peers and leaders? What communication skills can we use to ensure that our expectations are aligned? Segment 4: Understandably enough, it’s difficult to start up conversations around feedback, especially if we feel like we don’t have permission to. What gives us the green light to initiate discussions around feedback?