Say this word to any Month 8 World Racer and I guarantee you they will groan with disgust.
Truly, it is a love/hate relationship we have with feedback. In all actuality, we know how beneficial it is and we have seen tremendous amounts of growth in both ourselves and our teammates because of it. However, the cliché phrases like, “I just want to call you higher,” or “I encourage you to…” have been said over and over. This, along with previous requirements of weekly feedback have left us with a bitter taste towards it.
That being said, at the beginning of the month when my online class required to have 10 people on my squad fill out a survey giving me feedback, my initial reaction, and theirs, was to cringe. However, as the complying student I am and the amazing, supportive team that they are, we put away all of our dreadful feelings and gave our all into filling out the survey.
Now, six weeks later, I am reminded of the powers of growth and encouragement feedback can sincerely bring.
In the survey, my teammates were asked to answer the question, “At times, how does this person behave that could lead to negative situations?” This week, my online class required me to have a conversation with at least four people who filled out my survey and ask them how I have grown, or not grown, in the areas they replied to this question with.
As I sat down to have this discussion with my team, honestly, I was nervous. I remembered reading their responses and feeling the truth of them. I remembered coming up with goals and specific ways of improving my behaviors in these areas. I remember achieving some goals and seeing progress in myself. However, I was anxious to hear my teams view of my growth.
Immediately, my team began to praise me in my growth. They gave me specific examples of ways they have seen me grow and how that has effected the way I interact with them and lead others around me. They celebrated this growth in me and affirmed that they are confident I have truly overcome majority of the areas they mentioned in the survey.
I was filled with joy. It was one thing to feel that I had achieved my goals and seen growth and progress in myself, but to hear that encouragement from my teammates was something completely different.
Conversations like these remind me of how crucial feedback is. Without it, I probably wouldn’t have recognized some of the areas that were holding me back and I definitely would not have experienced the tremendous amounts of growth that I did because of my team’s feedback.
