“How did you rate Alan on the quality of his work?” said a manager to his supervisor.

“I rated him as ‘meets expectations’ and said he could be more careful. I showed him examples where he could improve.”

“Alan’s mistakes have caused extra work for others, and I know the mistakes negatively impact our service. ‘Does not meet expectations’ would have been more accurate.” 

“Probably so but Alan is a nice guy and I did not want to upset him.” 

In his book, Dare to Lead, Berne Brown reports that senior leaders identified the lack of honest feedback as the greatest barrier to leadership courage.  While some said sugar-coating bad news is due to lack of skills, most identified a culture of stressing “nice and polite” as the major culprit.

Too many avoid clarity because they want to be seen as kind, but allowing contributors to believe they are doing OK when they are not is unkind. Artificial harmony produces hallway gossip, distrust and decreased performance.   

The late Howard Cosell, one of the top sports announcers of his day, often used the phrase “telling it like it is” to report unpopular truths. Courageous leaders tell it like it is.