Feedback Is A Gift. Seriously

In this lesson, we explore how feedback, especially how we receive it, is one of the most important levers for building trust with our engineering manager and accelerating our career growth.

• We highlight that managers are the primary (and often only) source of meaningful feedback, since peers rarely want the discomfort or risk of giving constructive criticism.
• We emphasize that when we first receive feedback, our job is to say thank you, avoid defensiveness, and take time to reflect—even if we disagree or feel misunderstood.
• We explain that most feedback contains at least a kernel of truth, and our responsibility is to identify what’s useful and implement changes quickly, then follow up later to show progress.
• We warn that pushing back defensively can permanently shut down future feedback, leaving us “rudderless” with no insight into what to improve.
• We share that the fastest-growing engineers treat feedback as a superpower: they assume good intent, absorb nuance, implement rapidly, and create a virtuous cycle where their manager is eager to invest even more in their growth.