Here are three ways to avoid the negative effects of well-intentioned feedback:
- When others give you feedback, ask yourself, in every case, “What’s the best possible way that person could have intended the feedback s/he’s just given me?”
- When you give someone feedback, frame your comments in a way that clearly indicates your own positive intent to your listener.
- Be sure that the feedback you provide is coming from a positive place in you! Ask yourself, before you make a quick comment that could be misinterpreted, “What is my purpose in giving this specific feedback?
Are you genuinely offering assistance? Merely showing your own expertise? Angry at that person for something else entirely? If your own energy around the feedback is positive, it is less likely it will be misinterpreted.
