Conflicting feedback is confusing.
A direct report says you’re too in the weeds.
A peer says you need to get closer to the details.
An executive says you’re strategic but not visible enough.
Feedback is never just about you. It’s also about the giver’s hopes, needs, and pressures. Different priorities and definitions of “good” create different, sometimes opposing, perspectives.
The result? Contradictions that can feel difficult to reconcile.
Try this:
- Look for patterns. Pull the thread through all the data. What shows up more than once?
- Understand the context. Who’s giving the feedback, and what pressures are they navigating?
- Use it to build partnership. Treat each perspective as data about what matters most to that person. Lean into those insights to strengthen trust, improve collaboration, and meet their priorities more effectively.
- Expand your range. Modulate your leadership style for the person, moment, and work at hand.
Conflicting feedback isn’t a problem to solve. It’s an invitation to grow your leadership range, strengthen your partnerships, and deliver more effectively across the organization.
Are you ready to level up your leadership? Let’s connect about how coaching can benefit you and your organization. Email me at julie@coreyjamison.com.
Let’s connect.
We periodically send emails with insights on leadership, team alignment, organizational transformation and more.
Julie Bush specializes in working with leaders and teams to develop ways of working that improve team alignment, cohesion and results. She is a sought after coach of leaders across many levels of experience, and over a wide range of industries. Specializing in the opportunities and challenges facing emerging leaders, Julie helps people navigate the world of work, plan a career path, and integrate the aspects of a robust and rewarding personal and work life. Julie has worked with leaders and teams in organizations that range in size from Fortune 100 to start-ups.