Throughout this series, we have been exploring the topic of feedback. The first two posts focused on humility and being open and receptive to learning.
Without humility and a teachable spirit, feedback is useless.
But most of us face another challenge with feedback in our algorithmically driven world: we are used to seeing and reading things we want to hear.
For example, I am an avid podcast listener, and this morning, one of my favorite podcasts interviewed someone I disagree with on a specific topic.
My initial reaction was, “I don’t want to listen to that.” (Before I started typing this post, I was probably going to skip it, but now I feel like I have to listen to it 🙂.)
The not-so-hidden secret of our current media landscape is that we are fed a constant stream of information curated explicitly to our interests and likes.
This means we live in our own little worlds, like Truman in the Show.
This curation is so prevalent that I am not 100% sure how to break away from it, but I know I must make the effort to try.
Here is the broader point for leadership development. When everything is curated for you all day, every day, it can be jarring when someone challenges your view on a particular topic.
It does not mean that THEY are wrong. It does not mean that THEY are right.
It means you are USED TO hearing and reading what you want to hear and read.
So, don’t dismiss someone’s feedback out of hand. Work through the content to discover the truth.
After all, we all felt better when Truman left the Show.