An acute problem for senior executives.

• Author: Kristie, James
• Position: LEADERSHIP

From The Leadership Pipeline by Ram Charan, Steve Drotter, and Jim Noel. Copyright 2011 by John Wiley & Sons Inc. Published by Jossey-Bass, a Wiley imprint (www.josseybass.com).

FAILURE TO SEEK or listen to feedback is an especially acute problem for senior executives. It's not that they're averse to certain types of feedback; they're always asking for feedback on new programs and products. What they don't actively seek--or what they turn a deaf ear to--is unsolicited feedback about themselves. Specifically, they're not interested in hearing how they're leading or how and why they should do things differently. In some instances, they're not interested in this feedback because it doesn't fit their definition of leadership. To them, being a leader means staying the course in the face of adversity, which is appropriate up to a...