Keeping Donkeys out of the Boardroom

Points out that feedback is essential to improve continually the performance and development of executives. However, executives rarely receive specific, candid feedback about their work. Suggests that most of these individuals are left to manage in relative isolation, wondering if others support the direction they are headed and the methods they employ. Describes how the childhood game “Pin the tail on the donkey” was used with senior business leaders to illustrate how a lack of performance feedback hinders their effectiveness and diminishes the impact of the corporate succession planning process. This non‐traditional, experimental intervention heightened these leaders′awareness of the importance of providing performance feedback and illustrated the confusion and discomfort perceived by those who work without it.