Ask for Advice, Not Feedback

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Jul 18, 2023, 10:10 ET

"Advice by its very nature is forward looking, which makes people much more willing to give and receive it. It takes out a lot of judgment being placed on things you've done in the past."
– Samantha Smith

New C-Suite Intelligence podcast features The Miles Group COO Taylor Griffin and Managing Director Samantha Smith.

NEW YORK, July 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "One of the most common pieces of feedback" our clients share with us is that they "get no feedback," says Taylor Griffin, COO of The Miles Group/TMG. Not giving any constructive feedback has the "unintended consequence of demotivating your team and demotivating your highest performing individuals, who really want it."

People often don't get or give a lot of feedback, she continues, because they're so uncomfortable giving it. How can they make it easier to give, as well as digest?

TMG, advisors on talent strategy, succession planning, board assessment, and senior executive coaching, says one of the most effective tactics for giving and receiving feedback is to reframe it as advice instead.

Advice by its very nature is "forward looking, which makes people much more willing to give and receive it… It takes out a lot of the emotion around judgment being placed on things you've done in the past," says Samantha Smith, Managing Director of TMG and co-host of the new C-Suite Intelligence podcast episode on "Ask for Advice, Not Feedback."

When feedback is given, it can be received as a mandate, or part of a performance plan. Advice, however, allows for interpretation, personalization, and a lack of recrimination.

In the podcast, Griffin and Smith offer these leadership lessons on feedback and advice, among others:

Even when they recognize they're already high-performing, growth-minded individuals are still looking to grow. They appreciate the advice their leaders give them.
Take the defensiveness out of reactions to advice by showing care and humanity in your words and actions while delivering it.
Balance your advice. Be specific, connect the dots, spot trends, be forward looking, and also affirm the person along the way. It's not always about giving constructive and developmental observations, it's also about recognizing the things they do incredibly well.
Closing the feedback loop demonstrates coachability. When a person is willing to receive advice and do something differently on the other end, they demonstrate not only that they are coachable, but also better leaders themselves.
When giving advice, leaders are encouraged to think beyond functional areas and offer advice as it relates more broadly to the person's career trajectory and growth.

"Ask for Advice, Not Feedback" is out now on Apple, Google, Spotify, TMG's website, or wherever you get your podcasts.

For more information, please contact executive producers Davia Temin or Trang Mar of Temin and Company at 212.588.8788 or [email protected].

About the C-Suite Intelligence podcast
CEOs running the world's top companies don't start out that way – they pull ahead of their peers with behaviors and practices that make them the "best of the best." Stephen Miles and the team at TMG coach some of the world's most successful executives, helping them continuously up their game even as business conditions grow more complex every day. Learn the secrets of the highest performers and use this intelligence to power your career. New episodes are released bi-weekly on Apple, Google, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

About The Miles Group/TMG
TMG develops talent strategies for organizations, teams, and individuals – focusing on high-performance, world-class leadership. Through assessments and development, coaching, leadership transition planning, and organizational design, TMG helps clients cultivate exceptional talent from the C-suite to the next generation of leaders throughout the organization. Clients include many of the Fortune 100 as well as VC portfolio companies, firms in transition, and organizations around the globe and across industries. TMG has been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, C-Suite, Entrepreneur, and Chief Executive. The firm is headquartered in New York City and operates globally. For more information, visit https://miles-group.com. Follow TMG on Twitter and LinkedIn, and Stephen Miles on Forbes.