American Idol has increased the profile of the “critique” and also demonstrates the different flavours that this sort of constructively critical feedback can take. Even if you are not familiar with the show you may have run into this type of coaching critique:

• Unclear (aka Randy) – Praise the good and allude to shortcomings; downplay the importance of the negative and openly use the prefix “I don’t know what it was but…”;
• Cheerlead (aka Paula) – Give As for effort; make everyone feel that they are trying their best;
• Direct (aka Simon) – If it is great, say so; call out all performances that fall below the “great” level and pin point exactly what was missing.

Whether a boss, mentor or coach, the Direct version is the one that holds the most promise for the coachee to develop existing skills and acquire new ones. People who truly want to develop—especially those who employ coaches—should challenge the Unclear, as well as the critiquing school of “Good, good. More of this is just fine.”

Where this falls down is when the Simons of the world cannot provide insight to fill the gap. Showing what is missing is important, but if the emperor indeed has no clothes, there is definite value in telling him or her where to shop.

Last week, Simon pointed out that singer Kady Malloy had “an astonishing lack of personality.” Voice, looks and all other assets could neither compensate nor cover up this fact. In the follow-up banter with Seacrest, Kady claimed that she did not know what Simon had meant. I would suggest that what she really didn’t understand is: “what do I do differently?”

Providing the “what should you do” is the value that the executive coach can and must add. Simon is not a coach, but would likely be good one because he is very perceptive in isolating what is missing. For what it’s worth, I think that Kady could smile and move more when she sings. For personality to the extreme (pun intended), watch Gary Charone sing “Hammer to Fall” in the 1991 Freddie Mercury Tribute concert.

Tagged as: American Idol, Executive Coaching, Gary Cherone

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