Coaching practices for Feedback for Growth Not Performance
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Feedback for Growth Not Performance, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- All the feedback I get is about whether I hit the target, and none of it touches the assumptions underneath how I’m even seeing the situation
- Whenever I ask how I’m doing, the answer comes back as a verdict on what I already screwed up, and I spend the whole conversation defending myself instead of actually learning anything I could use next time.
- No matter how carefully I word it, my feedback seems to land as me sitting in judgment over them from above
- I only ever seem to show up to this person’s desk when I need something corrected, and I’m realizing I haven’t done a single thing purely for their benefit in months
- The second someone suggests something, I’m already arguing back in my head
Practices that may help
- Seek developmental feedback, not just performance feedback
Ask for feedback that challenges your assumptions about how you see, not just how you perform.
Kegan’s Subject-Object Theory, Made Practical - Ask for ideas about the future, not assessments of the past
Replace "how did I do?" with "what ideas do you have for how I could do better?"
Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior - Establish shared purpose before delivering critique
Frame critique as help toward a shared goal, not an evaluation from above.
The Feedback Sandwich: Why It Doesn’t Work and What to Do Instead - Give something genuine before you ask for something hard
The trust account needs deposits before you make a withdrawal — invest in the relationship before demanding performance.
Caring Personally: The Foundation of Radical Candor - Receive every suggestion with only "thank you"
Accept all feedforward without debate, justification, or even agreement — just acknowledge and note.
Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior - Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior
Feedforward, developed by executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, replaces backward-looking critique with forward-looking suggestions — asking "what ideas do you have for the future?" rather than "what did I do wrong?" The core claim is that people are more receptive to ideas about what they could do than to judgments about what they did. Evidence is primarily clinical and practitioner-based rather than from controlled trials. - Define success by growth and contribution, not scorekeeping
Shifting the success metric from achievement tallies to personal growth and impact changes what you optimise for — usually for the better.
Goal-Free Living: When Process Beats Destination - Feedback: extract the signal, ignore the noise
Seek feedback fast, but use the part that actually tells you how to improve.
Ultralearning: Aggressive, Self-Directed Learning - Use feedforward to align team members on goals before projects begin
At the start of a project, invite feedforward on how to succeed — before any performance to critique.
Feedforward: Future-Focused Feedback That Actually Changes Behavior - Close the loop with regular, specific feedback
Goals without feedback are motivationally inert — feedback is the other half.
Goal Setting Theory, Made Practical
Related concerns
- Deferred Evaluation Feedback
Replace "how did I do?" with "what ideas do you have for how I could do better?"
Ask for ideas about the future, not assessments of the past
- Feedforward Exchange
In structured feedforward exchanges, neither party evaluates or debates the suggestions — only listens and notes.
Establish a no-argument rule in feedforward exchanges
- Feedforward Vs Feedback
Feedforward, developed by executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, replaces backward-looking critique with forward-looking suggestions — asking "what ideas do you have for the future?" rather than "what did I do wrong?" The core claim is that people are more receptive to ideas about what they could do than to judgments about what they did. Evidence is primarily clinical and practitioner-based rather than from controlled trials.
- Forward Looking Feedback
Feedforward, developed by executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, replaces backward-looking critique with forward-looking suggestions — asking "what ideas do you have for the future?" rather than "what did I do wrong?" The core claim is that people are more receptive to ideas about what they could do than to judgments about what they did. Evidence is primarily clinical and practitioner-based rather than from controlled trials.
- Future Focused Feedback
Feedforward, developed by executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, replaces backward-looking critique with forward-looking suggestions — asking "what ideas do you have for the future?" rather than "what did I do wrong?" The core claim is that people are more receptive to ideas about what they could do than to judgments about what they did. Evidence is primarily clinical and practitioner-based rather than from controlled trials.
- Goal Alignment Feedforward
Feedforward, developed by executive coach Marshall Goldsmith, replaces backward-looking critique with forward-looking suggestions — asking "what ideas do you have for the future?" rather than "what did I do wrong?" The core claim is that people are more receptive to ideas about what they could do than to judgments about what they did. Evidence is primarily clinical and practitioner-based rather than from controlled trials.
Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.