Welcome back to the Look and Sound of Leadership, an ongoing series of

executive coaching tips designed to help you be perceived in the workplace the

way you want to be perceived. I'm Tom Henschel, your executive coach, and today we're talking

about getting good feedback. Michael is a leader in his industry. He's owned his own companies and been a chief executive officer twice.

He's now a division president at what he says is the best company he's ever worked for

and his CEO just gave him a piece of feedback that shook him deeply.

He paused as he told me about it, and then, as he looked out the window, he said,

I've been leading companies for over 15 years.

Where has this feedback been? Has everyone known about it and never told me?

Most likely, I answered quietly.

I think it's human nature to want to know how others see us and it goes without saying

that every one of us has ways we can improve but can we ever really know how we're

seen by others and how can we know we're improving the right things?

The answer, feedback.

What follows are five behaviors that will help you get meaningful feedback.

Number one, ask often.

If your boss came to you this afternoon and asked,

how am I doing as your boss?

Would you tell her everything you know?

I doubt it.

Even in our most intimate relationships, few of us feel safe enough to share how we really experience another person.

But if every month your boss asked you the same question,

...