Feedback – How not to MESS it UP- III

Dear Readers,

In this posting, I’ve written about the importance of "walking the talk" before giving feedback.  Hope you would find it interesting.

Should we walk the talk?

I remember a story of mother who would be very unhappy that her son is eating lot of sugar which is not good for health.  She would take him to a Saint nearby hoping that the saint can give appropriate feedback to her son and her son would also listen to him.  After listening to the mother, the Saint would ask the mother to come after a week.  The next week, when she goes, the saint would advise the boy not to have too much of sugar.

Surprised that the Saint could have done it last week itself, she would ask him why he took one week time and what is the reason for delaying it by a week.

The saint would reveal to her that he himself was indulging in having lot of sugar till last week.  Before advising, he wanted to stop it himself first and then advise the boy.

This story conveys one simple message very effectively. 

Unless one “walks the talk” or is a role model, he cannot give feedback or advice anyone on that particular aspect. 

No walk the talk means it’s just a preaching which will never be effective and others can easily see us through in the long run. As leaders or Managers, we would not have a moral ground to just preaching without practising.

One cannot talk about cost cutting on one side and spend lavishly on personal perks on the other side.

I still remember how one Business leader set himself as a role model in one my of earlier organisation when it was going through a tough phase and when lot of austerity measures were being taken to save the Plant.  Besides various measures, at personal level, the Business Head got his jeep’s (used for daily plant visit) petrol engine replaced with an old diesel engine from the workshop.  And he did that with a very genuine intention.  When employees came to know about it, every message and feedback that he conveyed on cost-cutting had a very good reach till the grass-root level and everyone was looking up to him.

To put it in a nutshell, we can talk about

 Ø Honesty only when we are honest

Ø Integrity and ethics only when we practice it in our day-to-day life

Ø Punctuality only when are punctual

Ø Fairness and objectivity only when we are fair in our transactions, decision-making etc., 

I think this sums up the message as to why one  should be a role model or walk the talk himself first before giving feedback to others.  

That’s all for this posting. Would appreciate your thoughts &  feedback and pls. do share your experience too. 

diD yOU enJOY ReADinG ThIS ArTIcLE? 

                                  If yES, 

yOU maY sHAre it wiTH Your FriENds tOO.