Find your purpose to escape career doldrums

Managers may have to make employees uncomfortable by offering negative feedback, writes Gary Rich, founder and president of Rich Leadership, but discomfort can be an unlikely gift to spur employee growth. "Friction produces energy, and energy is what drives outcomes and ultimately what separates good organizations from great ones," Rich writes.

Put it into practice: Keeping employees on their toes is a process that should inspire performance, even if it doesn't always lead to "warm fuzzies" between management and employees. "Being worried about a boss's reaction when one doesn't perform is a healthy, rational response, not something organizations should seek to avoid," Rich writes.

When Betsy Ward became MassMutual's first female CFO in 2016, she modernized the company's finance processes, winning buy-in from her team with empathy and experience. Ward says women in the male-dominated finance industry must be resilient and make their voices heard. "They get loud, and I just have to get louder and keep talking until I can hardly hear what I'm saying, but I just have to keep going. I had something important they needed to hear. Especially as a risk officer, you have to be able to speak up," Ward says.

In a groundbreaking discovery, California ground squirrels have been filmed hunting and consuming voles, a carnivorous behavior never before seen in the species. The findings, published in the Journal of Ethology, suggest that the squirrels' adaptability to changing environments may be more complex than previously understood.

In my spare time, I am a musician. I have played guitar since my teenage years, but I put it down for many years to pursue my career in journalism and then the ministry (as well as this fantastic job). I picked it back up in 2009 and have gotten back into songwriting and performing. In fact, I am currently working on an album that I hope to release next year.

All that to say, I am familiar with uncomfortable feedback. The producer of my album is young enough to be my son, but there's no doubting his experience as a record producer. Over the past few months, he has given me feedback -- particularly about my singing (which I admit, I'm not Billie Eilish) -- and some of his words, while well-intentioned, have stung.

His advice is sound, but what's happening is that he's touching a tender spot. I have never been confident in my singing voice. Mainly because my brother once told me I was awful and when I told my mom I was singing in the church choir as an alto, just like her, she laughed and said, "Well, you're singing flat."

I could have let all of that critical feedback keep me from singing at all, but here I am, regularly singing and performing and even creating an album. This is Gary Rich's point. Sometimes, feedback feels terrible. Sometimes, it makes us doubt our abilities, but it's necessary to be honest with others about their performance and how they can improve it.

For me, this has meant hiring a vocal coach who has helped me improve my singing. For your team, it can mean more coaching, professional development programs or working with a mentor.

There are times when feedback is unhelpful. I once had a colleague who, I finally realized, was giving me his "feedback" as a way to manipulate me and undermine my confidence. This sometimes happens and we must be on guard for harmful feedback.

Whenever feedback makes us feel uncomfortable, it is ultimately our choice about what to do with it. Either we can take it to heart and work on our weaknesses, or we can continue to do what we've always done and get the same results.

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