Welcome to MBAgency

I’m David.

The sole purpose of this newsletter is to openly document my wins, and losses, from starting a holding company.

Let’s dive in :)

30 Second Summary

• Bad bosses can ruin your relationship with feedback

• When it comes to feedback, treat it like a bank account

• Make positive feedback a daily habit

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I Hated My First Job…

During the first few years of my career I worked in a very professional, corporate setting.

And I learned one thing about myself.

I hated feedback.

It felt like every chance my manager had to “rake me over the coals”, he took it.

(In many ways, it even felt he was excited to give me negative feedback, but that’s a different story)

Time and time and time again, I got negative, demeaning feedback.

And let’s even set aside the fact I thought I was doing a good job - this feedback wore on me.

Do you know what it’s like to show up at a job ready to make an impact, only for your manager to nitpick you every single chance they get?

Yeah, not fun.

It wasn’t until my second job did my thoughts around feedback change. All of the sudden, I actually looked forward to feedback.

At one point, I was even actively seeking it out.

So, what changed?

Positive feedback entered the picture.

Once I left that job and started Pneuma Media, I took what I learned from my 2nd job and applied it to each and every person I managed, and each and every company I was a part of.

Here’s the gist:

Managers suck at feedback. But, it’s not always their fault. Because their managers also sucked at feedback.

Most times when we think of feedback, we immediately think that it’s going to be negative - it’s all we’ve ever known.

But, I’d argue that most feedback is, and should be, positive.

There’s a great article about Harvard’s research into this topic, stating that "employees need a 6:1 positive feedback ratio to perform their best”

In other words, show your employees some love before you ever give them a piece of negative feedback.

I always think of it like a bank account.

You don’t want to withdraw money from your bank account without ever depositing money first.

Each time I gave an employee a positive piece of feedback, I thought of it as a $50 deposit. If I did that a few times each month, my “feedback bank account” would be well-funded for the day that a piece of negative/constructive feedback needed to be shared.

Here are a few “in the wild” examples of what I’m talking about (by yours truly)

Moral of the story?

Make positive feedback a daily habit in your journey as a founder/owner.

Especially as your team grows.

Not only does it built a better culture within your company/agency, it gives you a platform to stand on whenever negative/constructive feedback needs to be delivered.

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