From Criticism to Collaboration: How Savvy City Managers Turn Feedback into Fuel for Success

As city managers and municipal leaders, you’re no strangers to feedback. It comes at you from all directions – council members, department heads, citizens, and staff. But in the whirlwind of daily operations, how often do you step back and consider your relationship with feedback itself? This week, we’re diving into the groundbreaking book “Thanks for the Feedback” by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen, which offers a fresh perspective on transforming criticism into a powerful tool for collaboration and success.

The Big Picture: Reimagining Feedback as Fuel

Stone and Heen challenge you to shift your mindset about feedback. Instead of viewing it as a dreaded necessity or a potential threat, they encourage you to see it as high-octane fuel for growth and improved performance. This perspective is particularly crucial in the complex world of municipal leadership, where effective feedback can be the difference between a thriving city and one that struggles to meet its citizens’ needs.

Key Insights We’ll Explore This Week

1. The Three Types of Feedback: Discover how understanding the distinction between appreciation, coaching, and evaluation can help you navigate feedback more effectively and turn potential criticisms into collaborative opportunities.
2. Overcoming Feedback Triggers: Learn how to manage the emotional responses that often derail productive feedback conversations, and instead use them as catalysts for positive change.
3. Becoming a Skilled Receiver: Uncover techniques to extract value from all feedback, even when it’s poorly delivered, transforming every interaction into a chance for growth and collaboration.

Why This Matters for Municipal Leaders

As city managers, your ability to receive, process, and act on feedback directly impacts your effectiveness as a leader. It influences everything from your decision-making processes to your relationships with staff and elected officials. By mastering the art of turning criticism into collaboration, you can:

• Foster a culture of continuous improvement and innovation in your organizations
• Enhance communication with diverse stakeholders, turning potential conflicts into productive dialogues
• Make more informed decisions that reflect the needs of your communities and inspire buy-in from all parties

Looking Ahead

Throughout this week, we’ll delve deeper into each of these insights, exploring practical applications for municipal leadership. We’ll examine how these concepts align with our ABCs of Impactful Leadership framework, focusing on Awareness, Balance, and Cultivation in the context of feedback and collaboration.

Don’t miss our accompanying podcast episode, “Feedback Revolution: Transforming City Hall Conversations,” where we dive even deeper into these concepts and provide real-world examples of city managers who’ve successfully turned criticism into fuel for success. You can find the link to the podcast here: The HaltingWinter Podcast

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post, where we’ll unpack the three types of feedback and how understanding them can transform your leadership approach from reactive to proactive.

Remember, as you embark on this journey, the goal isn’t just to become better at handling feedback – it’s about leveraging every piece of input, positive or negative, to create stronger cities through more collaborative, insightful leadership.

How are you currently approaching feedback in your role? What aspects of feedback do you find most challenging to turn into collaborative fuel? Share your thoughts in the comments on our LinkedIn post. You can find me on LinkedIn here or our company page, HaltingWinter, here. Let’s start a conversation about transforming criticism into collaboration in our municipalities!

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Seth Winterhalter is President of HaltingWinter Municipal Solutions, dedicated to making stronger cities through stronger leaders. Through executive coaching, consulting, and the Municipal Leadership Development Circle (MLDC), HaltingWinter helps city managers and municipal leaders transform their leadership impact and their organizational culture.