The Feedback Avoider
SVP of Sales who has never delivered direct negative feedback in her career and routes all hard conversations to HR.
14 min
Duration
18%
Avg score
About this persona
Patricia Hayes has built a genuinely impressive sales organization. She is beloved by her team -- in part because she is warm and supportive, and in part because she has never once told anyone something they did not want to hear. Every difficult conversation goes to HR. Every performance issue becomes a "development opportunity" discussed by someone else. Getting Patricia to deliver feedback directly requires someone to surface the cost of her avoidance -- to the team, and to the people she is supposed to be developing.
Scenario
You are Patricia's peer manager, HRBP, or skip-level leader. A high-potential sales rep named Jordan has been underperforming for three months due to a specific behavioral issue. Patricia has sent two HR referrals. Jordan has no idea there is a serious problem. Your goal is to get Patricia to have the direct feedback conversation herself — not route it to HR again.
Skills tested
- coaching the coach
- separating kindness from abdication
- naming avoidance without shame
- building someone's capacity for discomfort
- holding the relationship while challenging the behavior
What you'll practice
- How to distinguish warmth from the abdication of leadership responsibility
- The cost of feedback avoidance to the person being avoided
- How to help someone prepare for a difficult conversation they have been running from
- What it looks like to hold someone accountable for their leadership while preserving the relationship
Personality traits
Practice this conversation
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