One of my suggestions for increasing self awareness in my blog post Know Thyself Part 2, was to write three words about how you think you were perceived in a meeting and to ask 2 other people to give you feedback about the same.
This facilitates feedback in terms of the words themselves and also provides you with a comparison between what you thought and what others thought.
Last week I used this tool myself. After a meeting, I wrote down my 3 words. Then I dropped an email to two colleagues who I work with infrequently and asked them to give me three words in feedback about my communication, behaviour and conduct.
My words were: clear, together, bossy
Their words were: clear, controlled, organised and professional, confident and considerate.
There was 1 match. But in general, without delving into interpretations and meanings within meaning, I think the words are a variation on a theme. ‘Considerate’ is the word that stands out as a bit different.
It’s certainly got me thinking. I’m going to use this tool at random intervals and I’ll let you know what I find.
Likewise, tell me what you discover if you try this out for yourselves