Performance Feedback

If you work for a boss who’s good at their job, you expect to hear when you’re not working safely. No leader who takes safety seriously will give you a pass on that; no good leader will take a pass from performing that part of their job.
 
Of course, good leaders don’t limit their performance feedback to followers who aren’t working safely.  Some of the best coaching comes in the form of positive reinforcement of good, safe behavior. Aka, praise.
 
But leadership doesn’t only take place between supervisors and subordinates. For example, there are times when followers are called upon to coach up the boss. You can think of that as “upward leading.” Upward leading isn’t necessarily the easiest thing to do, but sometimes is exactly what’s needed; nobody’s perfect, not even the boss. It’s the same process; but it works in a different direction, with different dynamics.
 
There’s a place in all of this for peers. Whether positive or corrective, performance feedback from peers can be some of the most valuable coaching anyone can get. If help given is honest, specific and given for the purpose of helping a peer work safely, you should know that it really can make a difference. You should not be reluctant to offer this kind of help to your peers: you’re doing them a huge favor.
 
When you get that kind of feedback, be sure to say thanks.

Paul Balmert
July 2022