Author: Ruth McGowan

Four ways to filter feedback

Not all feedback is useful That's why a filter is needed.

just the scroll down arrow

The candidate had just delivered a winning ‘stump speech’ to a large audience of potential voters in her local town hall. By the end of her pitch, she could feel the support of the audience behind her and left the stage elated.

As she packed up to leave the venue, a friend approached her and said, ‘I want to give you some feedback about what you should have done…” Her heart sank because what followed was a critique of everything the candidate had supposedly done wrong that night; from what she was wearing to what she had not talked about. Her friend thought he was being helpful but his ‘feedback’ risked derailing and deflating the candidate.

Luckily, this candidate was a coaching client of mine. The next day, as we discussed what happened, I was able to share with her a simple and helpful ‘feedback filter’ to consider when receiving feedback. And I want to share it with you too.

Unwanted feedback vs useful advice

Have you ever felt ambushed by someone’s opinions about your life or work – even when you haven’t asked them to comment on what you’re doing?

Let’s face it.  Feedback – even when delivered with the best of intentions – can get your back up.

I’m not talking about useful advice, that’s provided in a helpful way by someone who knows their stuff. There’s a difference. For example, check your reaction when someone who knows nothing about your area of expertise says, “I want to give you some feedback” compared to an expert who asks, “can I give you some advice?” Most people will brace for the inevitable negative comments that come with the first statement, yet are curious to listen to advice from an expert.  

It’s important to accept while that feedback can assist you, not all advice is good advice. Too much ‘white noise’ of others’ opinions can paralyse and confuse you, especially when it’s not asked for or comes from people who don’t know what they are talking about. 

To help you sort the useful feedback from the dross, what you need is a feedback filter.

The Feedback filters 

Motivational speaker Matt Church provides a straightforward way to filter feedback from the helpful to unhelpful. In his book NEXT he advises

“Not all feedback is good, constructive or useful. Take control and be strategic about who you listen to and what advice you take on board.”

Church’s model is simple and effective approach to classifying feedback into four categories:

  • 1) SOLICITED advice is when you ask for feedback from someone  
  • 2) UNSOLICITED advice is when someone just gives you advice, even when you didn’t ask for it.
  • 3) The people you receive the feedback from, are either an EXPERT in the topic and experienced or knowledgeable (i.e. qualified to speak on the topic). Or
  • 4) They are NOT EXPERTS, just someone who’s unqualified, giving you their opinion.  

To understand what category feedback falls into, Church suggests you ask yourself these two questions:

  • Did I ask for it?
    and
  • Is this person qualified to have an opinion?

If the person is unqualified to have an opinion and you didn’t ask for it, you have the option to ignore it. On the other hand, even if you didn’t ask for it, but the person is qualified, you may want to consider the feedback. If the person isn’t qualified but you asked for their feedback, there is an opportunity to take the information on board as data, that may or may not inform your action.

The real gold in feedback comes when you can ask an expert for feedback and they are willing provide you with advice.

That’s the sort of feedback worth acting on. For candidates in political campaign-mode like my client, it is crucial to have a team of trusted, expert advisers around you (often known as the Kitchen Cabinet) who can guide and provide feedback for action.  

How to respond to feedback you don’t seek

If you’re tired of getting unsolicited ‘feedback’ from unqualified people with plenty of opinions, try  these polite replies:

  • “Thank you for your opinion”
  • “Thank you, you may be right”
  • “Thank you, however, I need to focus right now but next time I want your advice I’ll be sure to ask for it”
  • Simply smile, nod and move on

And for yourself, next time you feel a desire to give someone feedback, consider if;
a) you are qualified and experienced to pass it on and
b) if the person has asked for it.
If it’s just a random opinion and the person has not asked for feedback, then maybe hold your tongue! 

Ultimately, feedback and advice can be useful, especially for showing up blind spots that you may not be aware of. However, feedback should lead to an improvement in your work, not hinder action or knock your confidence.

Ruth McGowan OAM is an experienced political campaigner at a local and federal level and a Councillor Coach. She is author of Get Elected; a step-by-step campaign guide to winning public office  

Victoria Leads the Nation in Female CEOs

When it comes to women making it to top leadership roles in local councils, Victoria is leading the nation.

just the scroll down arrow

When it comes to women making it to top leadership roles in local councils, Victoria is leading the nation.  

In the past three years, the number of female Chief Executive Officers leading Victorian #localcouncils has doubled.  One third of the 79 councils are now led by a female CEO, including interim and acting roles (26 women and 53 men). 

The rise in female CEOs is up from 14% in the 2000s, to 16% in 2017 to 33% in August this year.  

Compare this to the national average for #LocalGovernment of just 11% of council CEOs and general managers being women and only 6% of CEOs in ASX 200 companies are women. 

What is Victoria doing right? A few things

  1. There are more women councillors making the decision to recruit a female CEO (38%), which means more, talented female CEOs are being employed
  2. Leadership and advocacy for gender equality by the female CEOs and Presidents of the three peak bodies in Victorian local government, MAV, VLGA and LGPro 
  3. A strong pipeline of talented women coming through council management teams 
  4. Advice for Councillors on how to lift gender equality at all levels of councils from Local Government Victoria’s Best Practice Guidelines for Gender Equality (which I authored in 2018, along with a comprehensive Research Companion)

When employing CEOs the Best Practice Guidelines encourage Councillors to consider steps such as:

  • Develop inclusive job advertisements
  • Work with recruitment agencies who are committed to gender equality and can source gender balanced short lists
  • Balanced selection panels of Councillors
  • Oversight by an independent chair 
  • Grow the talent pipeline within the organisation so women leaders can step up into CEO roles

Progress on gender equality can be precarious, especially in politics. But this milestone, is one to be celebrated.

Campaign tips for COVID times

To get elected, competitive campaigners need to keep going, even when the going gets tough.

just the scroll down arrow

Campaigning for public office is challenging at the best of times. Now, with COVID implications, it’s just got a lot harder.

The requirement for physical distancing and the ongoing uncertainty about when this pandemic might end, has turned traditional campaigning on its head.  

When you can’t shake hands with unsuspecting voters, or face the hecklers at large public meetings, or even kiss babies, what’s a would-be politician meant to do to be heard?

Turns out you can still do quite a lot!

In 2019, when I published Get Elected the first national guidebook on how to run a successful political campaign, my goal was to assist women and candidates from diverse backgrounds to Get Elected. At the time, few were predicting a pandemic!

This year in Australia, COVID is posing a challenge for many candidates seeking office. No more so than in Melbourne, Victoria where Stage-4 restrictions are impacting the approach taken by many candidates contesting the upcoming local government elections in October.   There, Local Government Victoria has issued Safe Campaign Guidelines to help candidates understand how to comply with the directions of the Victorian Chief Health Officer to stay safe.  

In response to requests for advice on how to cut through with a campaign in a pandemic, and garner the attention of voters, I have developed a 2-page guide on Campaign Tips In COVID times.

Tips to cut through

My advice for candidates seeking the competitive edge for their campaign at the moment covers the following strategies

  • No 1 – Stay compliant. Keep updated on what you must do in a pandemic by following the advice of your Chief Health Officer, Electoral Commission, and various government departments.
  • Go online – With physical distancing requirements, online is the main platform to promote you and your message to voters.
  • Cut Through – With so much news, you need to work hard to be heard above the plethora of pandemic news
  • Tell The Story  – Explain your personal story. People want to hear from candidates. And tell the story of the election where you are standing. Most people don’t know about it.
  • Write Letters – In these digital times, letters still make an impact.
  • Advertise – In election campaigns, the Candidate is the product. Go out and sell yourself, online and in traditional media.
  • Promote your image – In times like these, you will need to work even harder to put your face in front of voters and raise awareness about your campaign.
  • Fundraise – Fundraising is tough at the moment, yet it is worth asking for support to boost your reach.
  • Be Inclusive – When more than 21% of Australians speak languages other than English at home, make an effort to communicate with diverse voters.
  • Stay Connected – there are several resources out there that can help with tips and advice on campaigning in challenging times.

To download a copy of Ruth’s Campaign Tips in COVID times; and get help to cut through with your campaign https://ruthmcgowan.com/free-downloads/ visit and subscribe to Ruth’s newsletter.

When I met Australia’s first female PM

Once upon a time we had a female Prime Minister

just the scroll down arrow

It’s been ten years since Australia had our first female Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard AC and she remains a role model for women in politics.

When it comes to dreaming about getting into political offices, every young woman needs to know it is possible because it has been done before.  

In the years since June 24, 2010, every little girl -and woman – who has dreamt of entering politics – can look back and know that from 2010-2013, our country was led by a woman.

However, we haven’t had another women PM since then. Why not?

Australia’s international ranking for the percentage of women in politics has slipped to 55th in the world, down from 26th, when Ms Gillard was first elected in 1998 (source: Inter-Parliamentary Union) Currently, we still have fewer than one-third of women in the Lower House in Australia’s Federal Parliament.

This week I spoke to the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Australia about what needs to be done to help more women Get Elected so we can reach Gender Equality in Australian Politics.

You can be what you see

Visible leadership of women in power, at the highest level, means all women aspiring to public office can now see what is possible. I am grateful to Julia Gillard for being ‘the first’ in this area of female political leadership.

I first met Julia Gillard in 2009, when she was Deputy PM. I was the local Mayor for Baw Baw Shire Council. It was the days following the Black Saturday bushfire disaster that devastated my community. Julia Gillard came to visit the fire-affected areas, speaking first-hand with survivors and local officials to learn about the impact of the fire and understand where support was needed. She listened to stories of survivors and heard about the impact this unprecedented natural disaster had on peoples lives and the challenges for local government services. As a result, support and additional funding came in the months of recovery ahead. This was welcomed by those trying to rebuild their lives.

I was delighted to meet Julia Gillard again in February this year, at Victoria’s Government House. She spoke at a gathering of Pathways to Politics alumni and chatted with dozens of admiring women afterwards. I was thrilled to gift her a copy of my book Get Elected, written to support more women to run for public office.  This meeting has been a highlight of 2020.

Ten years on, let us celebrate this milestone in Women’s leadership. I hope that we won’t have to wait too long to see the next female Prime Minister.