July 2025
The Seven Sins of Feedback
| | |
It’s mid-year review season again! It’s that time of year when calendars fill up with performance check-ins and leaders across the organization gear up to give feedback. And while feedback is often considered one of the most powerful leadership tools, it’s also one of the most frequently misunderstood.
While mid-year reviews are a great time to check in on annual goals and progress, feedback shouldn’t be limited to these formal reviews or only reserved for tough conversations. Done well, it’s an everyday act of leadership… a simple, focused way to help others grow, realign, and thrive. But when it’s handled poorly, feedback can damage trust, confuse employees, or shut down growth altogether.
So let’s call it out. Here are Seven Sins of Feedback and how you can avoid them during this critical mid-year moment (and beyond):
| | President & CEO, Turknett Leadership Group | |
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH VICKI ABELSON
How can leaders receive feedback well - especially when it challenges their identity or leadership style?
I think learning how to receive feedback is just as much of a skill as learning how to give it.
When I personally receive feedback, the first thing I try to remember is: What’s a reasonable reason someone might be giving me this feedback? Especially if it’s critical. Most of the time, people aren’t trying to hurt your feelings—they’re trying to help or share something important.
The second thing I ask myself is: What can I learn from this—even if I disagree? There’s usually some nugget of truth or something valuable I can take away, even if I don’t fully agree with the feedback.
Finally, I always encourage myself—and my clients—to come into feedback conversations with a beginner’s mindset. Even if I think I already know what they’re going to say, or if I feel defensive, I try to stay curious: What can I learn here that will help me move forward? That shift in mindset makes all the difference.
| |
How to Give and Receive Critical Feedback
Patrick Thean | Harvard Business Review
What’s the biggest challenge new managers face when trying to grow in their roles? Answers could include broad, complex, and difficult-to-qualify problems like figuring out how to fulfill the company’s vision, retain clientele, or lead a productive team. While these goals are worthy of pursuit, there is one overarching skill needed to see them come to fruition: building strong relationships with your direct reports.
| | | |
We are thrilled to announce our next live virtual event!
In this discussion, we’ll explore the intersection of technological innovation and human creativity with our featured guest, Chloe Barzey who leads over 3,000 Accenture associates across Georgia, Alabama, and Tennessee. We’ll ask for her insights into how organizations can harness the potential of technology with connectivity and collaboration of people to transform visions into results. She is currently a member of Leadership Atlanta, Leadership Georgia, The International Women’s Foundation and on the Board of the Executive Leadership Council. Thus, we’ll also invite Chloe to share her insights into how women can take their leadership to the next level.
Listen in as our speaker shares her unique experiences and insights.
| | | | |
Facilitated by Anne Quiello, M.S., PCC
Senior Consultant & Host of Women in Leadership
| |
Welcome Vicki Abelson!
Please join us in congratulating Vicki Abelson, MBA, MSIMC, PCC, who has officially joined Turknett Leadership Group full-time as our Vice President of Leadership Development!
Many of you already know Vicki from her exceptional work as an executive coach with us over the past several years. Her deep expertise, thoughtful approach, and passion for leadership development have made a lasting impact on countless clients - and now we’re thrilled to have her step into this expanded leadership role.
In her new position, Vicki will help lead all aspects of our service delivery -partnering closely with clients and our incredible team to ensure we deliver excellence in every engagement.
Welcome aboard (officially), Vicki! We’re so lucky to have you.
Find out more about Vicki here: https://lnkd.in/eJica6sM
|
|
Welcome Rob Turknett!
We’re growing our innovation muscle at TLG!
Please join me in welcoming Robert Turknett to Turknett Leadership Group full-time as our Senior Consultant and AI Integrator!
In this forward-looking role, Rob will lead the charge in designing and integrating AI-powered tools that enhance the value we deliver in leadership development and talent management. He’ll also guide the evolution of our internal tech infrastructure - ensuring we scale thoughtfully while staying rooted in what makes us special: personalized, high-touch service grounded in leadership character.
We’re excited about what’s ahead - and even more excited to have Rob helping us shape the future.
Find out more about Rob here: https://lnkd.in/eKES6X8v
|
|
Values into Actions
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our recent Values into Action session on July 11:
“Building a Workplace Culture that Prevents Burnout.”
In today’s high-performance environments, balancing the drive for results with the need for healthy boundaries is no small feat—but it is possible.
A special thank you to Hope Harris, CHRO at Real Floors, and Leona Rapelye, SVP of HR at Synergis, for leading an open, practical, and insightful conversation about how leaders can create more sustainable and resilient workplace cultures.
Together, we explored real strategies for preventing burnout—grounded in empathy, intention, and action.
|
|
SHRM Lunch and Learn
At our most recent Lunch & Learn, we tackled one of the trickiest parts of HR: navigating the gray areas of compliance.
Hot Topics in HR Compliance sparked an insightful roundtable discussion where HR professionals shared real-world strategies—helping each other gain clarity, avoid over-correcting, and identify practical solutions that actually work.
We explored everything from AI in the workplace to pay transparency, benchmarking our own policies and spotting potential risks before they escalate. It’s always energizing to see peers come together, share openly, and leave better prepared to navigate today’s complex HR landscape.
|
|
TLG at North Fulton Focus Series!
Turknett Leadership Group was honored to attend the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce’s June Focus Series, dedicated to Leadership and celebrating the nonprofits making a difference in our region.
The event featured an inspiring keynote from the incomparable Shan Cooper - a former Women in Leadership speaker whose vision and authenticity continue to inspire us. We love seeing and supporting our past speakers as they make an impact in the world!
Congratulations to the Chattahoochee Nature Center and the Roswell United Methodist Church Job Networking Ministry on being recognized for your incredible contributions.
We’re proud to be part of a community where leadership and service go hand in hand!
|
|
Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well
Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen have spent the past fifteen years working with corporations, nonprofits, governments, and families to determine what helps us learn and what gets in our way. In Thanks for the Feedback, they explain why receiving feedback is so crucial yet so challenging, offering a simple framework and powerful tools to help us take on life’s blizzard of offhand comments, annual evaluations, and unsolicited input with curiosity and grace. They blend the latest insights from neuroscience and psychology with practical, hard-headed advice. Thanks for the Feedback is destined to become a classic in the fields of leadership, organizational behavior, and education.
| |
Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity
The idea is simple: You don't have to choose between being a pushover and a jerk. Using Radical Candor―avoiding the perils of Obnoxious Aggression, Manipulative Insincerity, and Ruinous Empathy―you can be kind and clear at the same time.
Radical Candor is about caring personally and challenging directly, about soliciting criticism to improve your leadership and also providing guidance that helps others grow. It focuses on praise but doesn't shy away from criticism―to help you love your work and the people you work with.
| | | |  | |
Corporate Headquarters
100 Crescent Center Pkwy
Suite 600
Atlanta, GA 30084
(770) 270-1723
Tim Huff
President & CEO, TLG
thuff@turknett.com
(770) 270-1723
| | | | |
