Raw honesty 🍯

"Yeah, we decided NOT to engage them because they are too slow”

In a recent meeting, this was the feedback given by a colleague regarding another department. 

Oh, wait a minute. He was referring to my department. 

It was a brutally honest slap in the face, one that is typically responded to with defensiveness, excuses and justifications. I simply said, “I know right. We’re working on it!” Give me another chance! 

We had a good laugh 😂..  Then moved on towards a solution. 

I appreciated the raw honesty that was voiced out here. At the end of the day, perception plays such an important role, and this is what “Nurture Trust” is about: to behave professionally in a way that instils confidence to others who work with us. If we don’t take an active effort to create positive experiences for managing the expectations of our customers – even if they are within the same organization – then all of that hard work might have been meaningless, no matter how intelligent, analytical, or grandiose your work deliverables are. 

This also reminds me that we should toughen ourselves up to be receptive of honest feedback. There is no need to get defensive, shift blame or return the insults like a bunch of kindergarten boys. We need more well-intentioned feedback if we want our organizations to improve and thrive – and we can play our part by welcoming them with open arms, not shooting them down for preserving our ego. 

Raw honesty is awesome. By the way, did you notice that, if you were to remove the letters “s” and “t”, “Raw Honesty” becomes “Raw honey” 🍯, which is also pretty awesome? 😎 (Sorry, I just had to 🤭)

May Allah always grant us with friends, families, colleagues, subordinates and bosses who are always willing to hold us accountable, and give us honest direct advice to keep us in check out of their care and sincere well wishes for us. 

Ever heard people complain that “I’ve told them, but they refuse to listen!” I only invite them to ask themselves this: When you are on the receiving end, are YOU listening with an open heart? 

We can’t change the world, but we can change ourselves

إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوْمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُوا مَا بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ

“Verily, Allah will not change the state of a people until they (first) change what is within themselves” (Ar-Ra’d 13:11)

But yeah, you got me partner. We’ll try to speed up. #BroCuba

 

Received any brutal feedback lately? How did you respond? Love to hear it!

#TheBarakahEffect