Most feedback creates defensiveness. Feedforward creates development.

In this episode of A Student of Leadership, Robert Adams shares the concept that changed how he leads and coaches: feedforward. The shift from looking in the rearview mirror to looking through the windshield. And the stakeholder approach to leadership development that removes the distortion of self-assessment.

In this episode:

- Robert's personal story: why the feedback conversations he was having were not changing behavior, and what shifted when the language changed

- The rearview mirror versus the windshield: a visual that reframes how development conversations land

- Why backward-facing information produces defense, and how forward-facing information produces development

- The exact language shift that keeps the wall from going up in your next development conversation

- The stakeholder piece: why the people you impact and influence every day hold the most accurate picture of your actual leadership behavior

- How to use a two-part stakeholder question to ground your development in reality rather than self-perception

- Where AI genuinely helps in the feedback and development space and where the relational work belongs to the leader

The core language shift:

Instead of: "Here is what happened and what you did wrong."

Try: "The next time this situation comes up, I would like to see more of this and less of that."

The stakeholder two-part question:

Looking back 30 days: what behavior did you actually observe from this leader?

Looking forward 30 days: what is one thing this leader could do that would have positive impact on you and the team?

Referenced this week:

Feedforward approach: developed and championed by Marshall Goldsmith, executive coach and leadership thinker. Robert Adams is a Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coach.

Episode 63: Developing People in a Time-Starved Environment. Available now in your podcast feed.

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Share this with a leader who is having the same feedback conversation and not seeing behavior change.

Real Leaders. Real Growth. One Table.

Robert Adams | A Student of Leadership