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Let’s Talk

Let’s Talk

Make Effective Feedback Your Superpower

Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

Critical feedback, delivered frequently and expertly, can be a game changer - it can turn average performers into the hardest workers and stars into superstars. But fear of hurt feelings and awkward conversations often lead managers to hold back from offering crucial insights. According to recent studies, 44% of managers dread giving feedback, while 65% of employees wish their managers gave more.

In Let's Talk, Dr. Therese Huston shows how to give constructive feedback skilfully and with confidence. She argues that to give evaluations that employees take to heart, you first need to find out what kind of feedback your employees want most. Do they want to be appreciated, coached, or evaluated? All three are important, but if you deliver the kind of feedback each person craves, they are more likely to hear what you have to say and step up their game.

Huston offers highly practical and uncomplicated strategies to turn painful assessments into productive conversations, from how to best state your intentions and the importance of taking the other person's side, to why we need to give employees the chance to respond and be listened to. This handbook will offer the tools to help managers improve performance, trust and morale and make a once-dreaded task feel natural.

© Therese Huston 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Reviews

  • Giving great feedback - whether recognition, coaching or evaluation - is a game-changer when it comes to helping each other do our best work. We know that. And yet, it's incredibly difficult to do it well, in a way that's useful, fair, and strengthen relationships. Let's Talk breaks down giving feedback with the latest research, relevant stories, and actionable frameworks that we can all apply to turn feedback into a personal superpower.
    Julie Zhuo, bestselling author of THE MAKING OF A MANAGER

About the author

Therese Huston

Dr Therese Huston received her MS and PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University. She is the founding director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Seattle University. Huston has written for The New York Times and Harvard Business Review and she regularly delivers talks for academic audiences, businesses and conferences. She has previously given talks at Microsoft, Amazon, TEDxStLouis and Harvard Business School.
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