You know how when you’ve never heard of something, a brand or a concept for instance, and someone mentions it and all of a sudden it’s everywhere?  And you then wonder how you could have been so out of the loop for so long?  I had that happen with the word “sommelier” recently.  At a shi-shi dinner with friends in Tribeca a few weeks back, the discussion turned to my friend’s friend, a sommelier, who was very well dressed and had an “in” to all the good restaurants.  I didn’t understand why being from Somalia made him so hip.  We all had a good laugh at my expense when I blurted out my ignorance and found out he was a wine connoisseur from Connecticut, not just a cool guy from Africa.  Now of course everywhere I turn, someone’s talking about a sommelier.

I had the same feeling this weekend reading the New York Times, although instead of not being “in the know” this time, I was right where I wanted to be.  I had just last week written a blog post when I read the NYT Corner Office interview with Maigread Eichten, president and chief executive of FRS, a maker of energy drinks.  Maigread was asked about how she gives feedback. Here’s what she said:

“One of the most memorable things one of my bosses at Pepsi told me was that if you really care about somebody, you give them constructive feedback. And if you don’t care about somebody, you only say positive things. That’s stuck with me all this time. So I really try to make sure that I give people good, constructive feedback – positive first, of course, then constructive, and I give it in real time. It’s got to be in the moment. It’s got to be private.

If you missed my post, 4 Steps to Giving Criticism in a Constructive (Versus Destructive) Way, go check it out.  It will give you tips on how to do what Maigread agrees is so critical to success.  In fact, Maigread highlighted 3 of the 4 issues I raised i) it’s the right thing to do (hard things usually are) ii) positive first then negative; and iii) give it real time and in private (or off-line as I call it).

But don’t take my word for it, take hers…

NYT Corner Office