Compassionate Feedback

I’ve been working with leaders on compassionate feedback. There seems to be opposite ends of the spectrum – either too forceful lacking empathy or too much empathy lacking honesty and clarity.

If you are too forceful and lack empathy, there is a risk of alienating the staff member. If there’s too much empathy such that honesty and clarity is lost, there is a risk of stagnation for both you and the staff member.

“I’m too nice.”  Really?

Ask yourself these questions: How nice is it to let your staff member continue with blind spots that can prevent their work from being done well or prevent career advancement? Who’s really suffering here?

Compassionate feedback balances empathy and accountability.