Fear of Feedback (Summary)

1. Many people try to avoid performance appraisals out of fear of criticism. The criticism would trigger negative emotions, in which everyone wants to protect. Higher on the other hand, fear anger and emotional reactions to criticism of their employees. These tests, critical appraisals to avoid lead to different - conscious and unconscious - harmful behaviors: a. Postponement of feedback and delay discussions of important tasks and projects; b. Denial of reality in the enterprise or the consequences of this reality for their own situation; c. Brooding over perceived excessive passivity and self-isolation; d. Envy towards successful colleagues; e. Self-disqualification by ill and reckless action.

2. People avoid feedback because they hate being criticized. People do not wish to hear their own imperfections. The behavior exhibited is as mentioned below: a. Procrastination: During procrastination one feels helpless about a situation and exhibits anxiety, embarrassment, hostility and anger. b. Denial: One is in denial when he is unable to face or fail to acknowledge the reality. It is most often an unconscious response. c. Brooding: It is a powerful emotional response taking the form of morbid pre occupation. Brooders lapse into passivity, paralysis and isolation. d. Jealousy: This involves comparing ourselves with others based on suspicion, rivalry, envy or possessiveness e. Self sabotage: It is an unconscious behavior where people undercut themselves

3. To cope up with this behavior, people must learn to adapt to feedback. Following adoptive techniques can be used a. Recognize your emotions and responses: Once your emotions have been identified you should critically understand it. b. Get Support: Ask for help from trusted friends, who will listen, encourage and offer suggestions. c. Reframe the feedback: Reconstruct the feedback process to your advantage, i.e. reacting to feedback in a positive light so that negative emotions and responses lose their grip. d. Break up the task: Divide the large task of feedback into manageable, measurable chunks and set realistic timeframes for each one. e. Use motivation: Pat yourself as you make adaptive changes, more so since feedback process is not wholly a negative experience

4. Once you begin to adapt your responses and behavior it is time to seek regular feedback from your boss. The proactive feedback includes four steps: a. Self assessment: The first task is to determine which elements of job are most important. Next step is to recall informal feedback from co-workers, subordinates and customers. b. External feedback: This involves speaking to few trusted colleagues to collect information that supports your self assessment. Also, you can directly ask your boss for feedback. c. Absorbing feedback: After hearing critical feedback one must keep negative emotions private and replace them with adaptive responses. d. Taking actions: The last phase is to act on the information received in the form of feedback.

5. The organizations profit when their employees seek feedback and are able to effectively deal with criticism. This makes the environment more honest and open, thereby improving the performance throughout the organization. These adaptive techniques also improve their relationship with family members and friends. They also discover that instead of fearing the feedback, they can look forward to leverage it for their enhanced performance.