During the quiet of the holidays, I’m completing annual reviews for my team. The lull allows me to take my time and be thoughtful in my writing.
We had our meetings. And I had my own review. As a result, a few themes have been percolating in my mind these past weeks.
1. Nothing should be a surprise.
The annual review should be the culmination of a year’s worth of conversations. Nothing should be new. If you’re only having deep conversations on feedback, growth, and performance once a year, you should reassess mutual levels of trust and pivot accordingly.
If you get blindsided in a review, or you yourself are blindsiding someone, you should question your comfort with confrontation. And honesty. Let's get real and not waste each other's time, shall we?
2. Clear goals are indicative of good things.
I take goals seriously. They should be ambitious yet reasonable. If goals are laden with corporate-speak, reviews could be entirely subjective. Your future could be dependent on politics and likability instead of competency and results. While that may work for a while, beware. Tides of sentiment can quickly change.
Goals articulated directly, succinctly, and revisited often tend to correlate with good leadership and a good culture. In most cases, my team's goals were legit. For others, we had work to do. If nothing else, we talked about it and can lay the groundwork for a rock solid year next year. I'm a big believer that light is the best disinfectant.
3. Actions speak louder than words.
This is a big one for me. There’s what you do and there’s how you do it. The technical side of your performance should be immaculate, no question. As you rise, so too should your sensitivity to other work-styles, collaboration with others, and reinforcement of boundaries. No one likes high-performing jerks. Connecting with people as people is often the only way to really access all they have to offer.
What you do speaks volumes more than what you say. High performers understand this. Every day, I aspire to be hyper-aware of my nonverbal communication. I expect those I promote to do the same. And I love examples that exemplify this like the "Parable of the Oranges."
4. Receptivity to feedback is crucial to growth.
If someone appears defensive or disengaged when I’m taking the time for a coaching moment, I see it. It doesn't bode well. It will appear that person isn't interested in improving. Few things are less attractive in an employee.
As uncomfortable as it can be, constructive feedback is usually a sign of a manager that wants to see you succeed. The more uncomfortable it is, the more the feedback is needed.
At the same time, I know if my manager is taking the time to give me feedback, I need to appreciate the intent behind it. I know if I take feedback to heart, it can only mean positive things for our relationship, my performance, and our future.
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