CEO's Corner: Lewis C. Lin's strategies for overcoming employee defensiveness during feedback sessions
Discover CEO Lewis Lin's strategies for turning employee resistance into productive feedback sessions. Improve communication and foster growth.
Hello and welcome to our CEO's Corner!
Today, our team caught up with our busy CEO Lewis C. Lin. We asked him for his insights on tackling a familiar leadership challenge: dealing with feedback-resistant employees. Lewis, known for his empathetic approach and effective strategies, helps us navigate this predicament. He takes us through common examples of defensive behavior and offers actionable strategies to tackle this challenge head-on.
His insights are valuable not just to managers but to anyone in a role that requires giving or receiving feedback. Here's a sneak peek into the problem-solving mindset of our CEO, as he assists a Frustrated Manager.
Cheers,
Team ManageBetter
My employee sighs and argues when I give feedback
Dear Lewis,
I'm grappling with a challenging situation. An employee I supervise often sighs and argues when receiving feedback, which hampers productive dialogue. Despite sporadic acceptance of feedback, this resistance is persistent, about 95% of the time.
The individual is capable, but their attitude hinders progress. Frequent excuses, blame-shifting, and passive-aggression are prevalent.
How can I better spot defensiveness to feedback and how what is the best way
Seeking your advice,
Frustrated Manager
Dear Frustrated Manager,
Let me tell you, I feel your pain. Trying to navigate through such a situation is like trying to play ping pong with a balloon. Dealing with defensiveness can be challenging, but I'm confident we can identify some strategies to help you approach this.
To spot defensiveness to feedback, imagine the following scenarios:
Scenario 1: Meeting deadlines
Manager: I've noticed that you've been struggling to meet deadlines lately. It's important that we stay on track to ensure the success of our projects.
Defensive response: I don't see it the same way... I think I've been doing fine.
Issue: The employee dismisses the feedback rather than acknowledging the issue or proposing a solution. This dismissive attitude prevents effective communication and improvement. This is defensive and indicates an unwillingness to accept responsibility.
Scenario 2: Improving presentations
Manager: Your presentations could use some improvement. They're not engaging enough, and I think you could do a better job of conveying your ideas.
Defensive response: Got it, thanks.
Issue: This is the verbal equivalent of a closed door. The conversation is shut down without any commitment to improvement. The lack of engagement or willingness to discuss the issue hampers growth and change.
Scenario 3: Handling task responsibilities
Manager: I've noticed some issues with how you've been handling your task responsibilities lately. It seems like there's been a drop in the quality of your work.
Defensive response: Well, you're missing some context. If you understood the full situation, you wouldn't be saying this.
Issue: They are deflecting responsibility and making excuses. Instead of addressing the feedback, the employee puts the blame on the manager's supposed lack of context and understanding, which avoids accountability and obstructs progress.
Strategies for more productive dialogues
Implement these strategies for a more productive dialogue:
Situation behavior impact (SBI): Kick-start with this time-tested framework for providing constructive feedback. Highlight the situation, discuss the behavior, but most importantly, have both the employee and the manager openly discuss the impact of the observed behavior. This approach focuses on the behaviours, rather than the person. It promotes self-reflection without it feeling like a personal attack, and pinpoints specific behaviors needing change.
Labeling: A simple yet potent strategy, labeling involves explicitly naming a behavior during conversations. This often overlooked tactic can seem blunt, but it’s highly effective especially when you need to provide immediate feedback and you can’t wait until the next 1:1. A Google VP once labeled my defensive behavior during a meeting with 4 others, and boy, did it stop me in my tracks. He said, “Lewis, your reply sounded defensive. Are you rejecting my help?” This no-holds-barred honesty was a wake-up call and sparked my journey into understanding my own defensiveness.
Growth mindset: As a former Microsoft executive back in 2010, I witnessed one of the most defensive corporate cultures imaginable. Finger-pointing and politicking were the norms. However, the arrival of the new (and now current) CEO, Satya Nadella, transformed this. His secret? Infusing the “growth mindset” as a catalyst for change. Rather than batting feedback away with a "you don’t understand" or a "you’re the problem," employees began to embrace different perspectives, responding with, “Interesting point... let's explore that.” Now, neither Satya nor I would claim that Microsoft has entirely eradicated defensiveness, but one glance at the company's soaring stock performance attests to the remarkable cultural shift ushered in through the power of the “growth mindset.”
Remember, behaviour change requires time, patience, and sometimes a few stumbles along the way until you find a strategy that resonates with your employee. If after several attempts, an employee remains resistant to change, it might be time to reconsider if they're in the right role.
Best,
Lewis C. Lin
CEO of ManageBetter
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