Do you really know what you are capable of?

The presenter stood stock still – smiling at the faces in front of them. They were poised, calm and ready to move people, like they had never moved them before. 2 weeks earlier this would never have happened - they would not have agreed to present, they would have sat, judging and jealous in the audience

The presenter knew the audience were feeling low, knew they were off their game, knew they had lost belief in what they were doing and why. So the presenter gave it all they had. And all they had was a lot more than even they knew they were capable of giving

The audience sat up straighter. And their eyes shone brighter. Maybe they could do it after all, maybe there were different perspectives, different ways of doing things, which they had not been aware of. And they believed - just a little bit more - in what they were doing

So they gave a bit more than they had been giving

And everyone surprised themselves just a little bit – by being more capable than they thought they were

Here’s the thing. There are so many missed opportunities because we limit our own perspective of what we are capable of. So we don't learn new ideas and skills and as a consequence - reduce our impact on the world around us. Our communication skills, our leadership skills - our confidence, our cooking, our cycling

We believe our own view of what good looks like, our own view of the options which are available, the skills we should learn, the levels we are capable of reaching. How we measure up

The thing is – frankly – who do we think we are?

One of the biggest opportunities we have as human beings – is to gain new perspectives - especially from experts, from peers, from coaches

Firstly on what we are capable of, and secondly how to get there

But sadly, tragically even, we often just don’t, do we?

We are so afraid of feedback, we never know how good we could have been – let alone actually achieve our full capability. So the world misses out. Our families miss out. Our teams miss out. Because we don’t gain new perspectives, we aren’t truly open to learning from people who see things differently from us, whether subject-matter experts, coaches or peers - we don’t fulfil our potential. Which means we reduce our impact – on everyone. We live ‘less than’ lives

What is both fascinating and fabulous – is that there is a skill we can all learn which ensures this ‘less than’ living doesn’t happen. This waste of our capability and our potential 

The skill is Welcoming Feedback. If I told you the presenter in the above story is a ballet dancer, would you think he had got to that level, that ability to move people – without feedback? If I told you that the person in the above story is an Oscar winning actress – would you think she got to that level on her own – without feedback? I doubt it 

'Feedback' – as Ken Blanchard (author of the one minute manager) says, "is the breakfast of champions" – whether we are dancers, actresses, football players, or florists

Yet so many of us do all we can to avoid feedback. And by avoiding feedback, we never learn the new perspectives, the new skills, the different tools, the new ideas we can apply – at home, at work, in our whole life 

At Progressfull™ we are really curious about the disconnection between how in some arenas, especially the sporting arena – people thrive on feedback – coaches are paid millions, artists and players hang on their word, and train and train to reach their potential - yet in nearly every other walk of life, human beings seem to run and hide from any assessment, observation, and critique of their approach 

Why are we blindsided?  Why do we avoid and often dread feedback, given feedback is so highly valued when our goals are the world stage and world cups?

It’s because receiving feedback sits at the junction of two conflicting human desires - we want to learn and grow, but we also want to be accepted just as we are right now

So we have a disconnect… without feedback, we cannot attain excellence in any field, as Elbert Hubbard said, "to avoid criticism, do nothing say nothing and be nothing…" and yet most of us avoid and often fear feedback

To counter this disconnect and help you gain the new perspectives and skills that will unlock your capability and your potential, we have created an Upskill (our name for a course/masterclass) called Welcoming Feedback. The Welcoming Feedback Upskill enables you to embrace, usher in, even roll out the red carpet for different perspectives and assessments on what you can do to fulfil your potential and make progress in your everyday life - at home, at work, in your whole life

Welcoming Feedback is all about us seeking and sharing the gift of feedback. It’s the best way to test and calibrate our self-perception and it’s a great way to help and support others by calling out positives and encouraging course corrections. Welcoming Feedback is about mastering the skills required to receive feedback well, drive our own learning and as a result unlock our potential. It’s about how to recognise and manage our resistance, how to engage in feedback conversations with confidence and curiosity, and even when the feedback seems wrong, how to find insight that might help us grow

This is how we learn the new perspectives, how we gain the very best skills and how we too can achieve more than we know we are capable of achieving

You can explore the Welcoming Feedback Upskill HERE