One of the toughest responsibilities people leaders must take on is confronting their direct reports about performance issues. I still remember how nervous I was giving corrective feedback to a team member as a first-time manager. I didn’t sleep much the night before and leaned heavily on the notes our HR department helped me prepare.
During my career as a CEO and people leader, I watched many new managers struggle with these conversations. We humans have an innate desire to be liked and to belong. Confrontation of any kind can threaten that, and leaders who are new to performance conversations often feel this the most. They fear that sharing critical feedback might damage their reporting relationships.
Dispatches From The Front 