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From Educational Field to Work Place: The
Impact of Effective Feedback on Leadership
Development
Zhoulin Pan1, Jingyi Zhou2, and Sicheng Zhu3(B)
1Rutgers University, New Brunswick, State of New Jersey 08854, USA
2Jiangsu Second Normal University, Wuxi 210000, China
3East China University of Science and Technology University, Shanghai 200030, China
19002505@mail.ecust.edu.cn
Abstract. As a theory to study the effectiveness of leadership behavior, after years
of development, the leadership member exchange theory has become a hot spot
and key field in the research of leadership behavior in management psychology
and has attracted the attention of many scholars. As an important theory of human
resource management, the Leader-Member Exchange theory plays an important
role in improving team performance. The work performance of leaders and the
work performance of employees is also an important part of team performance and
corporate economic benefits. With the theory defined as a behavioral construct and
an accurate corresponding measure developed, future research findings can easily
be applied to leadership training and assessment. If a positive relationship between
certain exchange behaviors and employee outcomes is found, managers can be
trained to maintain or exhibit more of these exchange behaviors. This behavioral
approach to Leader-Member Exchange theory alleviates the problem of the low
application value of earlier non-behavioral cognitive approaches. In this research,
we used literature review as the research method to emphasize the crucial role of
this theory and how to directly apply feedback to leadership development in the
business field. By comparing and contracting the Leader-Member Exchange theory
and effective feedback, this research emphasizes that communication between
leaders and employees is the best route to solve the problems in the organization
to be more productive in the working place.
Keywords: Effective feedback ·leadership development ·LMX ·business
development
1 Introduction
Effective feedback was first widely discovered and applied in the field of education.
Feedback is information or comments provided by teachers or other learners. In the field
of education, feedback refers to the evaluation of information that learners receive from
teachers or other learners in the process of completing learning tasks. While effective
Zhoulin Pan, Jingyi Zhou and Sicheng Zhu—contributed equally author.
© The Author(s) 2022
G. Ali et al. (Eds.): ISEMSS 2022, ASSEHR 687, pp. 2328–2337, 2022.
https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-494069-31-2_274
From Educational Field to Work Place 2329
feedback is often mentioned in education, it can also be applied to leadership devel-
opment. Modern business development emphasizes customer-pleasing strategies. The
statement highlights the importance of internal and external communication in modern
business activities and the importance of effective feedback in management [1]. Effec-
tive feedback has since become widely used in business, especially in leadership and
management. Feedback is specific information that is actively sought for or given to help
an individual or group improve, grow and develop. [2] It needs to be specific, easy to
understand, and aimed at helping individuals or groups grow. Many articles on business
management and development mention the power of feedback, which is one of the most
common and central tools in business development. The significance of this study is to
explore how effective feedback affects the development of leadership skills.
In this article, we begin with a theoretical review, introducing the use of effective
feedback in education, explaining the concept of effective feedback and the impor-
tance of effective feedback in modern business and management. In this section, the
leader-member exchange theory is mentioned and effective feedback based on facts is
considered an effective method of leadership. Then, we list the role of three effective
feedback on leadership development in enterprises, including effective feedback to build
a network, effective feedback to improve leaders’ ability of self-insight, self-regulation,
and self-identity, and effective feedback to control information overload. Finally, the
paper discusses how to improve effective feedback in an enterprise setting. That is,
determine the logic to promote effective feedback in enterprises, analyze the specific
situation of enterprises, and use the LMX method to seek feedback. Specifically, it dis-
cusses why feedback has an impact on leadership development, what impact feedback
has on leadership development, and how to improve effective feedback in the enterprise
setting. At the same time, the article emphasizes that any feedback mechanism should
work both ways. It is a common misconception that business performance appraisal and
other methods are more a test of employee competence. But actually, it’s also feedback
on the leadership development level of the leader. Therefore, it is of great significance
to emphasize this point.
2 Theoretical Review
According to the literature review, effective feedback is first used in the educational field.
However, it is possible to combine effective feedback and Leadership- Member Exchange
theory in the business activities to make a more productive enterprise environment.
2.1 Overview of Effective Feedback in the Educational Field
Effective feedback was first widely discovered and applied in the field of education.
Feedback is information or comments provided by teachers or other learners. In the field
of education, feedback refers to the evaluation of information that learners receive from
teachers or other learners in the process of completing learning tasks. Feedback consists
of two main elements: evaluation and modification [3]. Revision is a more specific guide
to the student’s project. Teachers can modify student work by explaining it and providing
2330 Z. Pan et al.
different or better ways of expressing it. In theory, revision involves not only pointing
out problems with a student’s work but also explaining why it is right or wrong.
Effective feedback is the feedback that is given to the information for effective eval-
uation during communication activities. According to the different feedback times, the
time machine of effective feedback can be divided into timely feedback and delayed feed-
back [4]. Effective feedback to improve students’ learning has some purposes, according
to the research: To begin with, appropriate feedback can assist pupils in properly com-
prehending the learning objectives. Feedback should be detailed enough for students to
understand the gap between their current level of learning and their learning objectives
[5].
Informative evaluation is not only necessary but also of great significance to feedback
evaluation information to students timely and effectively. Informative evaluation, effec-
tive feedback is descriptive rather than judgmental. Descriptive feedback gives praise
to students for their achievements and suggests areas that need improvement. Effec-
tive feedback is characterized by positivity [6]. Teachers should give full recognition to
students’ achievements, acknowledge their efforts, and actively express their respect for
students’ achievements. Effective feedback is specific. Specific feedback makes students
more clearly aware of the gap between themselves and their learning goals and is more
conducive to improving students’ academic achievement.
2.2 Overview of Leader-Member Exchange Theory
Modern business development emphasizes customer-pleasing strategies. The statement
highlights the importance of internal and external communication in modern business
activities and the importance of effective feedback in management [1]. Effective feedback
has since become widely used in business, especially in leadership and management.
From the perspective of the motivation of feedback-seeking behavior, researchers have
found that some goal orientations, such as power distance, may influence leaders to seek
or avoid feedback, thus having a great impact on the operation of organizations [7]. By
combining the leader-member exchange theory, Moss et al. (2009) pointed out that feed-
back avoidance, as a feedback management strategy, helps to mediate the relationship
perception between leaders and members. Feedback runs through the whole management
activities of leaders, from plan-making to work guidance, from subordinate skill training
to performance review, feedback is everywhere. Other researchers have also reviewed
and discussed the leader-member exchange theory. Based on the literature review, the
researchers suggest the development of a complementary leader-member exchange mea-
sure based on reciprocal relationships in social interactions, which demonstrates that
effective feedback can be utilized in interpersonal relationships in business activities
[8]. Another factor in providing effective feedback is how it is structured. Leaders must
follow a few simple communication guidelines to create a feedback culture in their firm.
Effective feedback encourages leaders to tell each other what they have learned, what
they have discovered, and what they have suggested.
From Educational Field to Work Place 2331
2.3 Compare and Contrast Effective Feedback and LMX Theory
Effective feedback emphasizes that information is the keynote, correction guidance to
improve, so the feedback needs to be based on facts. Based on this, correct feedback is an
effective leadership method that can help subordinates move in the right direction and
achieve continuous results. “Knowledge management as a business strategy operates
on multiple frontiers simultaneously.” [9]. Therefore, to be understood and absorbed
by feedback, interference factors should be removed first and both sides should estab-
lish a relationship of equality and trust. In this way, feedback can be equally received.
Furthermore, feedback should be given at the appropriate time, place, and occasion.
Our research focuses on the impact of effective feedback on leadership in business
activities and the specific practice of effective feedback in modern organizations. Accord-
ing to the literature review, effective feedback was first applied in the field of education.
It mustn’t ignore this point because it has implications for its use in business. There is no
doubt that effective feedback has a profound impact on the development of leadership,
and leadership plays a vital role in the development of the enterprise. The more respon-
sibility a leader has, the more influence he has on others. Through effective feedback,
managers continue to develop leadership to maximize the use and use of resources and
ultimately create the greatest results. High profit is not the whole business development
that the enterprise pursues, the long-term survival of the enterprise or organization under
the sustained profit is what the business development should emphasize. At the same
time, society has given enterprises the environment they need to develop, and people
have gradually added corporate social responsibility to their operational strategies and
explored new related interests.
3 The Value of Effective Feedback
There is no doubt that effective feedback has a profound impact on the development
of leadership, and leadership plays a vital role in the development of the enterprise.
The knowledge that comes with feedback is an indispensable resource for our progress
and growth, and as leaders, we need it more than anyone else [10]. The more respon-
sibility a leader has, the more influence he has on others. Through effective feedback,
managers continue to develop leadership to maximize the use and use of resources and
ultimately create the greatest results. High profit is not the whole business development
that the enterprise pursues, the long-term survival of the enterprise or organization under
the sustained profit is what the business development should emphasize. At the same
time, society has given enterprises the environment they need to develop, and people
have gradually added corporate social responsibility to their operational strategies and
explored new related interests.
3.1 Effective Feedback Builds Networks
Networking can bring more information, expertise, resources, and cooperation to lead-
ers, and feedback is the key to harmonious interpersonal management. The so-called
relationship network refers to a person in social life through communication and com-
munication with others and thus forms a relatively stable, performance for mutual benefit,
2332 Z. Pan et al.
mutual assistance relationship model. The effect of effective feedback on networking
is more pronounced when leaders talk to each other as equals. One of the common
ways in which international organizations use feedback to build relationships is to bring
together senior leaders of relevant organizations around the world. In the case of events
convened by business organizations, the World Organization executive program, run by
consultancy Andersen, is a five-day seminar. The seminar, which addresses the devel-
opment needs of Andersen’s global partners, provides an opportunity for them to meet
and exchange views with senior executives from various industries around the world;
the seminar aims to help Andersen’s partners build their networks and create win-win
business opportunities [11].
3.2 Effective Feedback Improves the Psychological Process of Leadership
Experts argue that leaders are better off becoming self-directed learners, able to gradually
perceive their shortcomings in events and correct them, rather than having to seek help
from others every time. Manuel London proposed three basic psychological processes
of leadership: self-insight, self-regulation, and self-identification. Self-insight is defined
as a multidimensional concept whose essence is an awareness of one’s strengths and
weaknesses. It requires individuals to be aware of how others react to them and their
impact on others. [11] This is the first step in the development of leadership. Only when
leaders carefully examine themselves and enhance their self-recognition can they lay a
foundation for the following self-regulation and identification. Leaders strive to change
after accepting the image of others and responding appropriately to the appropriate
situation. And use the gap to correct the original logic and behavior. Self-identity refers
to the reflective understanding of the self based on one’s experience. Having a strong
sense of identity is important because it guides behavior, and seeing yourself as a leader
allows people to exhibit leadership behavior [12]. Through effective feedback, leaders
can recognize strengths and weaknesses that they are not aware of, and constantly adjust
to improve their self-learning-oriented leadership.
3.3 Effective Feedback also Contributes to the Ability to Control Information
Overload
In today’s society, people are faced with a lot of information every day, but if they don’t
process documents with a purpose, they will waste a lot of time looking for information
instead of thinking about how to take action. Information load is defined as… The
complex mixture of quantity, ambiguity, and variety of information that people are forced
to process [13]. Information overload can distract leaders, while effective feedback can
filter complex information, analyze events in detail from multiple perspectives, and
quickly find out the key points based on different perspectives of different industries and
levels. Effective feedback can also combine explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge,
make full use of the enterprise database and employees’ personal opinions, quickly fill
in the weaknesses and loopholes of the enterprise, and reduce losses to the greatest
extent.
From Educational Field to Work Place 2333
4 The Application of Effective Feedback in the Business Field
The impact of effective feedback on leadership development also affects business devel-
opment. Good leadership can enhance team cohesion, for the common goal, but also
can create a positive working atmosphere, so that the team out more creative thinking,
and efficient work. This environment allows companies to grow and seize opportunities
when necessary to change the landscape. Therefore, how to make better use of feedback
in enterprises has become an important issue. Given this problem, this article makes the
following reflections.
4.1 Clarifying Logic is the Foundation
First and foremost, the logic for promoting effective feedback in the enterprise needs to
be determined. From the perspective of enterprise development, the most direct impact
of improving effective feedback is the communication efficiency between leaders and
employees. With the improvement of communication efficiency, the work efficiency of
the team and the leadership of the leaders will be improved. According to the model
of the relationship between LMX and leadership effectiveness, we can see that LMX
can complement each other and jointly promotes the development of enterprises. The
LMX model has transformed the traditional top-down one-way management leadership
model into interactive management between superiors and subordinates, or even between
employees and teams or organizations. This interactive management emphasizes more
Communicate, learning, and shaping each other. Therefore LMX can play an important
positive role in leadership development. Only by respecting and caring between people
can better reflect values and achievements. Especially in the era of diversified values,
it is far from enough to mobilize the enthusiasm of subordinates only using salary
increases and other material means. In terms of motivation, mastering more skills, using
different methods for different subordinates, and requiring more emotional input can
continuously improve the effectiveness of organizational leadership [14]. The emotional
investment of leaders to employees is often presented in the form of communication
in the enterprise. Therefore, effective feedback can become a bridge directly related to
LMX and leadership development.
4.2 Specific Analysis of Specific Problems is Important
Based on clear logic, enterprises also need to do a specific analysis of the specific sit-
uation. Corporations should make decisions based on their own culture, development
history, and characteristics, and make adjustments and improvements. Businesses need
to be aware that this particular "dual" relationship is also bound to be affected by orga-
nizational culture and structure. Different organizational cultures reflect the values and
ideologies that employees, including leaders themselves, adhere to. In a strong orga-
nizational culture, leaders and most members have similarities in organizational devel-
opment goals and behavioral orientations. Therefore, it is possible that members can
consciously build high-quality leadership based on feelings and trust with the leader. -
Member exchange relationship. In today’s flattened organizational structure, leaders can
establish direct information exchanges with multi-level members at the same time with
2334 Z. Pan et al.
the help of scientific and technological means, and the performance of work tasks under
the conditions of knowledge creation and management also requires more adequate
authorization, flexible change trend The awareness and practice of self-management
of members are required to be gradually strengthened. The leader-member exchange
relationship model under this trend should be significantly different from the individual-
level model [14]. Effective feedback is only a leadership enhancement tool, but the real
essence is that leaders integrate emotions and skills into communication with employees,
thereby enhancing each other’s capabilities.
4.3 The Motivation of Feedback-Seeking is Necessary
In fact, In the enterprise, the communication between leaders and employees can also
be called feedback-seeking. It is a complex goal-oriented process that involves both
instrumental self-assessment activities and image- and ego-sensitive considerations [15].
What’s more, seeking negative feedback is more effective. Seeking negative feedback
proves to be not only more diagnostic and developmental but also more image-enhancing
than positive feedback-seeking which asks for good news about oneself [16,17]. How-
ever, negative feedback-seeking may be more complex than others, because the lead-
ers may face the dilemma between the need for accurate assessment for performance
improvement and the need for management [16,18]. Thus, we suggest corporations take
leaders’ motives into consideration.
There are two motives predominate in leaders’ feedback-seeking from subordinates
[19,20]. If a leader’s motivation is work-related, they are more likely to seek input
from professional subordinates as it relates to their productivity [19]. But if leaders seek
feedback just for impression, they are more likely to choose non-professional subordi-
nates to ask, because negative feedback will affect their image [7]. Subordinate expertise
serves as s a moderator in the relationship between LMX and leader negative feedback-
seeking. Therefore, by observing the subordinate professionalism asked by the leader,
the motivation of the leader to seek feedback can be seen, so that more targeted leadership
development can be more easily carried out.
4.4 Feedback in the Business Goes Both Ways
Finally, companies need to pay attention that any feedback mechanism that should be a
two-way development. Many corporate performance appraisals and other methods are
more just tests of employees’ abilities, but leaders benefit very little from them. With the
help of effective feedback, LMX can better manage the interaction between superiors
and subordinates. Therefore, only by merging the two can the enterprise develop better.
5 Conclusion
This article focuses on how to directly apply feedback to leadership development in
the business field. By analyzing the definition and meaning of feedback, it is found
that feedback is currently more used in the field of education, mainly focusing on the
cultivation of future leaders, and seldom used in the development of current leaders’
From Educational Field to Work Place 2335
abilities. In the business field, LMX is more used to improve leadership. Therefore, this
paper analyzes the similarities and differences between feedback and LMX and draws the
key point of communication between leaders and employees to solve the problem. The
result is a way of applying feedback directly to leadership development in the business
world. This paper believes that enterprises need to clarify the basic logic of feedback,
analyze specific problems in detail, pay attention to the motivation of leaders to seek
feedback, and pay attention to feedback are two-way measures in four aspects, so as to
achieve the purpose of directly improving leadership through feedback.
This research first expands the areas where feedback can be applied, increases the
practicability of the application of feedback in business, and allows the feedback mecha-
nism to be directly applied to the improvement of leadership, so that the ability of leaders
in the enterprise can be improved more. The way. At the same time, the concept and
meaning of feedback and LMX are more specifically studied, and the two are compared.
Through the analysis, the importance of communication between the upper and lower
levels is clarified again, and it also makes the company pay more attention to the essential
logic of feedback, the motivation of leaders to seek feedback, and the two-way feedback.
Finally, the article hopes that improving leadership can help companies develop more
efficiently to a certain extent.
The main method of this study is to compare and analyze the existing conclusions
and the research summary. Therefore, lack of data support, it is not possible to carry
out regression analysis for the research objects and specifically analyze the influence of
variables. Second, because the existing research on the direct application of feedback
to leadership development is not perfect, there is no concrete actual case to support the
theory, and all findings and suggestions remain at the theoretical level. At the same time,
because the research on LMX is still incomplete, and there are no in-depth research and
analysis reports in many aspects, the comparison and analysis of LMX are not thorough
and complete, and it may not be able to fully explore all of its advantages. It has not been
able to be accurately grasped, and it is only proposed to improve the existing findings.
The main method of this study is to compare and analyze the existing conclusions and
the research summary. Therefore, lack of data support, it is not possible to carry out
regression analysis for the research objects and specifically analyze the influence of
variables. Second, because the existing research on the direct application of feedback
to leadership development is not perfect, there is no concrete actual case to support the
theory, and all findings and suggestions remain at the theoretical level. At the same time,
because the research on LMX is still incomplete, and there are no in-depth research and
analysis reports in many aspects, the comparison and analysis of LMX are not thorough
and complete, and it may not be able to fully explore all of its advantages. It has not been
able to be accurately grasped, and it is only proposed to improve the existing findings.
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