What's up everyone? This is Alex Lieberman, co-founder and executive chairman of Morning Brew.

Welcome back to Founders Journal, my personal audio diary where I give you the business builder,

the tools you need to think better in order to build better, whether that's building a business,

a team or a new product. Ever since my first job in finance, I have been obsessed with the value

of feedback. And that's because in this first job that I had, I literally never got it.

Maybe it was just my manager's shortcomings or maybe it speaks to finance's long history

of expecting its workers to just figure it out. But in one and a half years of working in finance

after college, I received feedback once, literally just once. One time at the six-month mark of my job,

my manager pulled me in and conducted a formal feedback session. And all they ended up having to

say was, it's too soon to know whether you're doing a good job or not. From that point on,

I made it my mission to better understand how to give and how to get feedback. So today, we're talking

feedback. It is one of the most important activities to help a professional grow, yet most people suck

at giving it. It's time to change that. Let's hop into it. If you want to commit to giving great

feedback, you need to understand why it's so important. Here's how I think about it. Throughout

our lives, we have teachers. In school, my stats teacher taught me the principles of statistics

and then tested me on how I could apply those principles through tests and assignments. In life,

my parents taught me the principles of living a well-valued life by reinforcing my good behaviors

like holding the door for someone or saying thank you when complimented and they corrected my

behaviors that went against the values that they taught. Work should be no different. Being a student

never stops and your manager should be your best teacher guiding you through work in a way that

makes you the best version of yourself. If they can do this, not only will you realize the value

that they provide, but you'll also optimize the value that you give to your company. As a manager,

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