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Here’s how to share feedback when you aren’t the person in charge.
You see a way to improve a process. You have an insight that could save a project from a potential pitfall. You notice a recurring challenge that, if addressed, could make everyone’s work a little easier. But you hesitate.
Why? Because the person you need to talk to isn’t your direct report. Maybe they’re your peer, a colleague in another department, or even your boss. The thought of offering unsolicited feedback feels presumptuous or risky without a formal title to back you up.
So, you stay silent. The insight is lost, and the opportunity for improvement vanishes.
Shift Your POV: From Critique to Contribution
In many organizations, feedback is treated as a function of authority—as something that flows downward from a manager to their team. But in healthy institutions, insight and feedback flow in every direction. The most effective feedback isn’t tied to a position on an org chart; it’s grounded in a shared commitment to the work.
This requires a fundamental shift in thinking, in which you stop seeing feedback as a personal critique and start seeing it as a professional contribution. When you frame your observations around a collective goal, you move from being a critic to being a collaborator. People are far more receptive to feedback when it is framed around shared outcomes and institutional goals, not personal critique.
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