I’m always striving to learn and improve. Here are the steps that have helped me adopt feedback and improve my communication from R. Evon Benson-Idahosa.

1. Pause and resist the defensive posture and choose to listen with a heart that is open and pliable.
2. Don’t automatically attempt to counter what is constructive simply because it may be unsettling. Instead, breathe and look for patterns. Have you heard this before? Are there consistencies in the feedback?
3. Rather than react, respond with gratitude and by asking clarifying questions. Can you explain what you meant by this or perhaps give me an example?
4. Acknowledge the possibility that this may be a blind spot, because how we see ourselves is often rather different from how people see us. So take a census with some of those in your trusted circle. Do they agree with the feedback?
5. And finally, be unafraid and humble enough to look in the mirror to make the necessary adjustments. After all, it is only when we can see our imperfections that we have the opportunity to courageously transform them.

These are her thoughts of the Tuesday.