Let’s be honest—most leaders don’t wake up in the morning excited to give performance feedback.
In fact, many do the opposite. Delay it. Avoid it. Sometimes, they even try to “manage” performance through workarounds—like skipping over a vacation request or secretly hoping someone makes a mistake big enough to warrant termination.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Over the years of consulting and coaching, I’ve noticed 3 common reasons for avoiding performance feedback communication that many leaders struggle with (and you might too):
- Unicorn syndrome – Many leaders have a person on their team who feels irreplaceable. Maybe they’ve worked at the organization the longest or can handle certain tasks that no one else can (or wants to). This makes leaders feel like they can’t communicate any feedback for fear that the person will quit, and they’ll never be able to find another person to hire that will replace this (unicorn) employee.
- Repeating History & Roadblocks – Many leaders also have a potential roadblock on their team. They’ve given feedback in the past to a specific employee, but that person didn’t respond well. They called in sick or slowed down a project, and overall just impeded progress. Now the leader is afraid to address any other issue because they don’t want to deal with the backlash.
- Good Enough – It’s common for leaders to avoid giving their high performers constructive feedback because they’re doing so well that the leader doesn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize that or cause any discouragement.
It’s understandable. Feedback feels easy when it’s positive, but when it goes to corrective, it can often feel easier to delay and avoid.
But the truth is that nothing ever gets better by delaying or avoiding. Avoiding feedback doesn’t solve anything. It just leaves everyone—leaders and employees—frustrated and unclear about expectations.
EVERY employee needs feedback to be successful – from the unicorns and low performers to the high performers.
EVERY leader is responsible for providing all feedback and information that would help their employees be successful with adequate time to course correct and implement.
Here’s the good news: when you start giving consistent, direct feedback, things change.
- You set employees up to succeed (instead of guessing what you want).
- You give people the chance to step up—or step out—on their own.
- You have a stronger foundation if you need to make tough calls down the road.
The trick is learning how to move feedback from insight to impact—so it’s not just something you think about, but something that actually changes performance.
That’s exactly what we’ll dig into in the next FREE #heyAnne 3 in 30 webinar on Sept 10.
From Insight to Impact: Techniques for Performance Feedback
Date: Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2025
⏰ Time: 10:00–10:30 am PT (plus a 15-min bonus live Q&A!)
In just 30 minutes, you’ll learn:
⭐️ Why giving feedback feels so difficult—and what to do about it.
⭐️ How to tell the difference between high and low performers.
⭐️ Why written feedback doesn’t have to be intimidating.
Who’s this for?
⭐️ Leaders at any level
⭐️ Emerging leaders
⭐️ HR professionals
After the webinar, you’ll walk away with:
✅ A PDF of the slides
✅ A simple handout/checklist for quick reference
✅ A limited-time special offer: discounted 45-minute coaching session for you and up to 5 team members (use it for your org or partner with another to share the cost).
If you’ve been putting off a tough conversation, this is your chance to build the confidence and tools you need to handle it with clarity and purpose.
Reserve your spot today here—it’s free, fast, and will change the way you lead.