Keeping it 💯

Lately, we've noticed a growing trend in our work: leaders are increasingly hesitant to give feedback when someone isn’t meeting expectations. This isn’t a new challenge—it’s a classic “people stuff” dilemma—but it never seems to get any easier. Have you ever hesitated to give feedback because you wanted to be kind? Or maybe you hoped things would improve on their own? You’re not alone—many caring leaders and teams struggle here. But delaying feedback often leads to bigger problems, tougher conversations, and more mess to untangle down the road.

Why Holding Back on Feedback Backfires
We see it all the time: leaders put off difficult conversations because they care about their people. They want to be supportive, avoid discouragement, or simply sidestep an uncomfortable discussion. But when feedback is delayed for months (or even years), it turns small course corrections into major performance problems. By the time the conversation finally happens (“hey, turns out you’ve been messing up for years- everyone knows it but you!”), employees may feel blindsided, and leaders are left with awkward conversations and tough decisions that could have been avoided.

The Hidden Problem of Delayed Feedback
When employees don’t receive clear feedback, they assume they’re doing just fine. Meanwhile, the company evolves around them, expectations shift, and performance gaps keep widening. By the time the issue is finally addressed, both the employee and the company are frustrated. From the employee’s perspective, it feels unfair—after all, they’ve been doing what they thought was expected. No one told them differently. For the manager, they’re often at their wits end and operating from a place of emotion.
The good news? Regular, honest feedback makes everything easier.

🌞 It’s fairer – Employees know what’s expected and have the chance to improve.
🌞 It keeps standards consistent – No one feels like expectations are shifting unexpectedly.
🌞 It helps people grow – Those who can improve will, and those who aren’t the right fit will have clarity sooner.
🌞 It makes tough decisions smoother – If a parting of ways is necessary, it’s a natural conclusion rather than a shock.
🌞 It normalizes feedback – Frequent feedback stops feeling like a “big deal” and becomes a natural part of work.

Avoiding feedback doesn’t protect people—it holds them back. By making it a regular, expected part of work, you create a culture of transparency, growth, fairness, and inclusion. You can’t be a truly supportive, human-centred workplace when you’re withholding key information that could help someone (and the business) level up.

Have some tough feedback in mind as you’re reading this? Check out our guide below for a step by step on how to do the thing. In a big organizational mess? We offer a 3 hour, hands on virtual feedback workshop for teams, with plenty of practice. This is our most requested workshop, and one we’ve perfected for years; Clients say it entirely changed the way they communicate, gave them the language to make true change, and had a tangible impact on how well they work together. Just reply with “feedback workshop” and someone will reach out.

Stay bright,

Nora

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Coming Up

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