Ask for Feedback Whenever You Can Get It

When I had my son, someone told me that the most courageous thing you can do is ask for help. I couldn’t agree with this statement more.

Throughout your career, there will be multiple people that play a major role in who you become. I recommend finding a handful of people that can help you become the best you.

• Someone who can coach you on your specific position or role within the company. Someone who has been in a role like yours. They get the ins and outs of what you are working on and can help you find answers.
• Someone with a similar family/life structure. If you are a young mom, it’s good to have other young moms (and older moms) to talk to. You can talk through how to prioritize your time and if opportunities are right for you to pursue. If you’re a dad that travels a lot for work and has four kids at home, it’s good to have another dad to talk to. Traveling with a family back home can be hard and it’s good to have someone who gets it. Don’t want to get married and have kids. Find someone with a similar mindset so you can share experiences. Regardless of your lifestyle, it’s good to have someone that lives on common ground.
• Someone that thinks the complete opposite way you do. They should challenge the way you think and push you outside of your comfort zone.
• Someone, it’s safe to vent to. You will have people you don’t work well with and you will have bad days. Find someone you trust that you can talk to, so you don’t spill your guts to everyone in the office.
• Someone that believes that you are the best person that ever walked this earth. They empower you and give you the courage to be your best self.
• Someone who will call you out on your shit. They know when you are feeding them a line of bull and will put you in your place.

Set up a structured, scheduled check-in with each of these people and ask them for feedback. Ask them questions. Allow them to help you gain a better understanding of yourself. Yes, it can be a little scary to ask people how they perceive you and it’s even harder to hear their feedback, but if you do it on an ongoing basis, you will grow. It’s important to allow yourself to truly understand who you are and why you do the things that you do (sometimes the things you don’t even realize you were doing).

Share your personal and professional goals with them and ask them to hold you accountable and provide feedback based on how you are aligning with each goal.

I have a lot of respect for people that WANT to know how they are doing and improve. It means they are self-aware and that is a hard quality to find.