Difficult Conversations and Actionable Feedback

1. Mark Cannon (615) 343-2775 mark.d.cannon@vanderbilt.edu Difficult Conversations and Actionable Feedback

2. Typical Growth Pattern

3. Factors That Drive Development

4. Korn/Ferry’s Lominger 360 Competency Ratings • Feedback(“confronting direct reports”) • rated (3.40/5.00) in the bottom 10% • Coaching(“developing direct reports and others”) • rated lowest (3.37/5.00) of all 67 competencies

5. Almost every executive I meet is successful because of doing a lot of things right, and almost every executive I meet is successful in spite of some behavior that defies common sense. - Marshall Goldsmith

6. Giving Performance Feedback Jack’s Feedback to Bill Bill, your performance is not up to standards (and moreover . . . .) You seem to be carrying a chip on your shoulder. It appears to me that this has affected your performance in a number of ways. I have heard words like “lethargy,” “uncommitted,” and “disinterested” used by others in describing your recent performance. 4. Our employees cannot have those characteristics. 5. Let’s discuss your feelings about your performance. 6. Bill, I know you want to talk about the injustices that you believe have been perpetrated on you in the past. The problem is that I am not familiar with the specifics of those problems. I do not want to spend a lot of time discussing something that happened several years ago. Nothing constructive will come from it. It’s behind us. 7. I want to talk about you today, and about your future in our organization. Adapted from Argyris, C. (1983). Reasoning, Learning and Action. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

7. Feedback Complications • The way our minds process information leaves with blind spots that make it difficult to: • Give high-quality, actionable feedback • Accurately assess and see gaps in the quality of our own feedback • More specifically, we tend to be overconfident in: • The extent to which our assessments, conclusions and feedback are accurate and complete • The extent to which other people share our perceptions and conclusions • Therefore: • Our feedback typically lacks the concrete specificity and examples that the receiver needs. The employee’s performance problem seems so obvious to us that we do not feel a need to give a detailed explanation. • We do not sufficiently engage in dialogue with feedback receivers to help identify and fill in gaps and resolve misunderstandings • Consequently: • Feedback receivers often fail to learn what they need to know

8. The Ladder of Inference Available Data Context & Model Take Action Decide what to do Explain/evaluate what’s happening Name what’s happening Paraphrase the data Select data

9. Feedback Examples • We just can’t trust Paul • Pat does not stand firm • Jane is not a team player and is contentious • Phil is a poor manager • Lane is unprofessional • Bill is not committed • Ted adds no value

10. Flawed Feedback Characteristics • Attacks the Person Rather Than the Person’s Behavior • Vague or Abstract Assertions • Without Illustrations • Ill-Defined Range of Application • Unclear Impact and Implications for Action

11. Proposed Alternative High Quality Advocacy • Share not only our conclusions, but also the reasoning behind them and the examples or other data on which our conclusions are based. High Quality Inquiry • Ask questions and invite others to share their perspectives, disagreements and concerns so that we can better understand them, address them, and learn things we may have missed. Testing • Use concrete, objective data and observations to resolve disagreements whenever possible.

12. Describe Impact Describe Impact Observe Behaviors Observe Behaviors Clarify Expectations Express Appreciation Specify Consequences Feedback Modeling: Individual Interaction Positive Feedback Constructive Feedback

13. Case: “We just can’t trust Paul” • Giver: We just can’t trust Paul. • Coach: Can you give an example of what Paul does that leads you to conclude that you cannot trust him? • Giver: He is constantly criticizing. • Coach: Can you give me some examples? • Giver: In our meeting last week, we discussed two new ventures. He was overly critical, raising all potential problems he could think of and did not say anything to acknowledge the importance of growing through new ventures. • Coach: Are there other examples of being overly critical other than with new ventures? • Giver: Well, actually he is just fine on the day-to-day operations. It is really just on the new ventures, but the new ventures are really important to our company. • Coach: OK, and can you clarify how you would like him to behave if he believes he sees a legitimate problem with an idea? • Giver: Well, his technical skills are good, and we do want his critiques, but we also want to know what strengths he sees and what it would take for him to put his full support behind an idea.

14. High Quality Inquiry/Advocacy Manager’s Feedback Session Manager: Hi John, thanks for coming in. I want to talk to you about an important problem. • I guess I am just going to say this straight out. I think you have been soft on your people in the regular personnel interviews, and I really want you to start telling it like it is. John: I don’t understand. Are you calling me a liar? Manager: [Worried that this might get out of hand]. No, no, no, not at all. I think you are doing a really wonderful job, but I do want to make sure that when you do your evaluations, you really say what you think. John: Well you can count on that. Of course you have to be diplomatic with people nowadays. Otherwise, how can we hope to keep them. But, of course, I never hold anything back if it is important. Please assess: 1) The quality of advocacy 2) The quality of Inquiry 3) Testing (use of objective data) 4) What each party fails to learn from the other (missing data)

15. Constructive Questions for Feedback Givers • How did I arrive at this conclusion? • What illustrations, examples, etc. would I need to share with the other person in order for him or her to understand why I see it this way? • Under what conditions have I observed this behavior? • What do I see as the specific, undesirable consequences of this behavior? • What would be the most constructive way to help this person achieve better results?

16. What is Framing? • A frame is an a set of assumptions that guides our attention and effort. • We are often unaware of our frame and how it is impacting our effectiveness. • Reframing (adopting and applying a different set of assumptions) is often helpful in increasing our effectiveness.

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18. The Control Frame In tense, threatening situations, people typically adopt what we might call the “Control Model” or Model I approach, which is characterized by the following assumptions, behaviors, and results. Assumptions (Frame): Self: I am right (and that should be obvious to you). Other: You are wrong. You should see it my way Task: Convince the other to see it your way. Maintain control over the situation. Behaviors (Actions): • Poor quality advocacy (See below) • Share general, abstract conclusions • Do not share the reasoning or data behind your conclusion • Poor quality or no inquiry (See below) • Do not ask questions in a way that invites others to voice their differences Results: Limited learning, compliance, escalating conflict

19. The Learning Frame Assumptions (Frame): Self: I have an informed perspective, but I could be missing something. Other:You may have something to learn from me. You may have data or information that would enable me to learn from you. Task: Have a dialogue in which we learn from each other. Make informed decisions. Behaviors (Actions): • High quality advocacy (See below) • Share concrete, specific conclusions. • Share the reasoning or data behind your conclusion so that the other can learn how you arrived at your conclusion. • High quality inquiry (See below) • Ask questions in a way that invites others to voice their differences Results: Mutual learning, informed decision making, shared commitment

20. Case: “Pat does not stand firm.” • Giver: Pat does not stand firm. • Coach: I get the general idea. What would be an example of not standing firm? • Giver: Well, that is hard to say, but let me illustrate. When Pat’s boss comes in to approve the 4th quarter earnings release, we may have ideas about how to goose up the numbers a little and make things look a little better for the quarter. Many of these ideas might be perfectly fine, but if any of them were to stretch into a grey area, we would have to count on the comptroller to say “That is going too far, and I will not sign that.” I fear that Pat would not stand firm against the ideas of top management the way his boss does. • Coach: What leads you to see him this way? • Giver: Well, he is affable, amiable, anxious to please and does not have sharp elbows.

21. Case: “Pat does not stand firm.” • Coach: OK, I can see how you would wonder about him. However, I am still am not getting a clear picture. Is this a demonstrated weakness or just an untested skill? Can you think of anything Pat has done that leads you to conclude that this is a demonstrated weakness? • Giver: (Pauses to contemplate for moment, then shakes his head no.) That is a good distinction. I think it is an untested skill. • Coach: OK, so you believe it is an untested skill. Do you have ideas about how you could test it? • Giver: No, not for now. • Coach: OK, let’s continue the interview . . . . . • Giver: (About five minutes later he interrupts his own train of thought) Wait, I have an idea how we can test it. We will give Pat a job which demands that he demonstrate those skills! • Coach: Great, what job would that be? • Giver: Well, I’m not sure specifically now, but we should probably shift Pat to a CFO function for one of our big businesses to create a fair test.

22. Performance Diagnosis Model Source: Whetten & Cameron, 2005 27

23. Gallup’s 12 Key Questions for Effective PerformanceSource: First, Break all the Rules • Do I know what is expected of me at work? • Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right? • At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day? • In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work? • Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person? • Is there someone at work who encourages my development? • At work, do my opinions seem to count? • Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important? • Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work? • Do I have a best friend at work? • In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress? • This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?