With the festive season on the horizon, your feeds are likely full of gratitude lists, reflective captions and reminders to appreciate the little things. All very wholesome. But in the world of high-performance teams, one of the most valuable things to be grateful for rarely makes the list.
Constructive feedback.
Not the fluffy kind that feels nice in the moment, nor the generic “great job” or celebratory emoji that evaporates as soon as you close your laptop. We mean the type of feedback that sharpens your thinking, strengthens your skills and accelerates your development. The type that requires the giver to be brave and the receiver to be open.
Most people, (75% according to my recent poll) would rather receive feedback than give it.
Giving feedback means holding space for discomfort. It means being specific. It means risking that someone will misinterpret your intention. Receiving feedback might sting for a moment, but delivering it requires preparation, perspective and care.
To make feedback actually useful, you need structure. This is where the C.O.R.E. model comes in:
When feedback follows this structure, it becomes fair, constructive and actionable. It does what feedback is supposed to do. It helps the other person grow.
But here is the part that many leaders avoid acknowledging. Constant praise is not the same as good feedback. In fact, it can cause more harm than good. When people grow dependent on external praise, they start to feel something is missing any time they are not explicitly told they are doing well. Their confidence becomes conditional. Their performance becomes approval-driven.
High-performance cultures do not reward that. They build something much stronger. They build internal confidence. The type of confidence that does not evaporate when someone doesn’t go out of their way to say “well done” for well…getting the job done.
Meaningful feedback makes people better. Excessive praise makes people anxious.
Knowing the difference is the mark of a mature team.
Gratitude has its place. Celebrate effort. Recognise improvement. Acknowledge people. But never confuse validation with development. The former feels good in the moment. The latter moves people forward.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, progress does not come from the path of least resistance. Lasting confidence is built on information, insight and honest conversations that help people take the next step. And good feedback is the vehicle for that.
A balance sheet offers a snapshot of financial health in one single moment in time. It is not the full story. It is a picture based on the data available at that moment. Add or remove information and the picture changes.
Feedback works exactly the same way.
The quality of the feedback you receive depends entirely on what the other person can see, what they understand and what they believe to be true. It is shaped by their level of knowledge, their experience, their priorities and their perspective.
This is why high performers never take feedback at face value. They ask themselves:
Whether you are presenting to the Board, completing a performance appraisal with a team member or trying to win a new client, understanding your audience and being able to see things from their perspective makes it easier to shape a plan that helps you to help them arrive at the desired outcomes that benefit you both.
If you do not adapt your communication to the audience in front of you, their feedback will be superficial. They will tell you what they can, based on limited input. But when you tailor your message, anticipate their questions and set them up to understand the full picture, you unlock richer insight. Better decisions. More informed reactions.
High-performers do not complain about unhelpful feedback. They take responsibility for shaping the conditions in which useful feedback can exist. They give people the clarity they need to make good judgements.
Your job is not only to receive feedback, but to make it easy for people to give you feedback that is accurate, relevant and actionable.
Great feedback moves businesses forward. Poor feedback stalls progress. The difference often comes down to two things: how it is delivered and how it is set up.
At MCO Performance, we help teams build the systems, structure and mindset that make meaningful feedback possible. Book a 15 minute discovery call to explore how we can help your business communicate better and perform stronger.
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