August 29 2022
By: Shawn M. Galloway
Early in my corporate career, I had a great mentor and coach. He gave me feedback that I could improve my leadership role and the performance of those I'm leading by providing balanced and significantly more positive feedback. He asked me to keep six pennies in my left pocket. My job was to move each, one by one, over to my right pocket. I could only do this when I gave specific positive feedback on the observed desired behavior and made it sincere. There were many days I went home with six in my left pocket. Not because of undesired performance issues, but because I was busy or forgot.
Getting in the habit of the critical behavior of giving better and more frequent positive feedback can be difficult and takes time. The idea of six pennies was a tool provided to me as a young leader. What worked or works for you? Even better, what tools are you sharing with others as they become leaders of people?
"Make feedback normal. Not a performance review." — Ed Batista
"Positive reinforcement changes behavior for the better, while criticism stabilizes negative behaviors and blocks change." — Virginia H. Pearce
Shawn Galloway, CEO of ProAct Safety, is an expert in safety excellence. With almost thirty years of experience, he is a highly sought-after advisor, keynote speaker, and expert witness. Shawn has become a trusted partner to leading organizations across various industries worldwide. He ranks in the top 1% of the most prolific writers in his field, having authored over 500 articles and several bestselling books. He also launched the world's first safety podcast, Safety Culture Excellence©. As a recognized authority in safety, Shawn has received awards such as being named among the Top 50 People Who Most Influence EHS and a Top 10 Speaker, among others.
He is a regular guest on Bloomberg, Fox News, The Daily Mail, Dubai One, U.S. News & World Report, Sirius Business Radio, Wharton Business Daily, and leading safety magazines and podcasts. Shawn also serves as a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, Forbes Business Council, and Fast Company Executive Board, enabling his influence to shape safety thinking and strategy at the executive level.
