Growth can only take place beyond the familiar...
But you have to be willing to know how to grow
Interview with Steve Herz author of the Bestselling Book Don't Take Yes For An Answer
Self-improvement doesn’t happen when you’re doing what you’re already good at. If you want to take your skills to the next level, you need to open yourself up to newness and challenge. It starts with getting the right type of feedback from those you trust and respect.
Steve Herz is the author of Don’t Take Yes for an Answer (2020), which covers how “positive feedback limits personal and professional growth and then teaches you how to embrace hard truths and critical feedback to escape mediocrity and break away from the pack.” He invites us to leave our comfort zone and embrace the three critical communication traits that will guarantee that you stand out AWE: A―Authority. W―Warmth. E―Energy.
As much as it would be great to change things about your employer and co-workers, long-term improvements won’t happen unless you start with yourself.
In this interview, Steve unloads a treasure trove of wisdom and practical strategies for opening yourself up for the right kind of feedback, as well as how to open others up to become comfortable with providing that feedback. It’s an approach that invites you to “up your AWE in every aspect of your life.”
He states that objective, universal, and contextualized advice is the way to go.
He also touches on how adhering to a company’s dress code builds greater rapport (HINT: When in doubt, err on the side of conservative).
Opening yourself up to honest feedback can be an emotional process—sometimes exhaustingly so. Learn how you can keep your ego at bay and take criticism to heart in order to make real changes.
Find out how you can escape what Steve refers to as “The Vortex of Mediocrity”.
If he could turn back the clock, what objective feedback would 53-year-old Steve give to his 25-year-old self?
As you’ll notice throughout our conversation, change can’t even begin to happen until you first undergo a mindset shift.
Steve leaves us with this homework assignment: After carrying out your career-related tasks, ask those you trust and respect for one or two specific pieces of advice on how to improve the next time you perform. By simply making this a habit, you’re guaranteed to become an objectively better professional in a year’s time.
In this interview we cover the importance of:
Empathy
Brutal yet sensitive honesty
Objective and universal advice
A company’s dress code and culture
Constructive feedback via using the right tone
Escaping “The Vortex of Mediocrity”
Shifting your mindset
Sincerity
Building your AUTHORITY, WARMTH, and ENERGY
Order a Copy of Steve's Book Here
