How to Filter Good & Bad Feedback

I remember having a conversation with a former boss where they gave me some feedback and I told them thanks for sharing but I wasn’t going to do anything about it right now.

Why?

It wasn’t going to be good for my mental health.They were a bit surprised with my reaction and doubled down on the feedback. But I stood my ground. And I’m glad I did, even if I risked being labeled as “difficult” or not open to hearing different points of views.

I knew if I focused on this feedback at this particular point in time, it was likely it would impact my performance in other parts of my job, not to mention my personal life. I needed to make a choice that was right for me at that time. And I did.

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I chose to ignore the feedback – for now.

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The lesson here is that as a leader, not all well-meaning feedback you receive needs to be acted upon…or is in your best interest. In fact, the best leaders have a “feedback filter” that takes in information but filters it to use what’s best for them…and ignore the other noise.

The truth is, not all feedback is helpful. Nor should all feedback be taken 100% without reflection and thought.

Now that doesn’t mean there aren’t some items that need to be acted on of course. Just be picky. Set your personal feedback filter to take in what works best for you AND the organization. And make the call to listen but not act on feedback when it sets off red lights on the feedback filter.

In this situation, my boss wasn’t wrong with their feedback and about a month later, I was ready to address the feedback when I knew it would be more productive for me.

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To learn more about Andy and his work visit him at www.andyportercoaching.com or follow on Linked In.

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