During our annual reviews and three-up three-down sessions, our leadership team members are giving each other superficial feedback like telling someone they work too hard or need to relax more. They are clearly dodging the hard truths to protect team chemistry. How do we force them to give actual, actionable feedback?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Superficial feedback is a symptom of low vulnerability-based trust. When your leaders offer platitudes instead of real critiques, they are practicing artificial harmony to protect themselves from discomfort. This polite avoidance does not protect team chemistry, it actively erodes it by allowing performance issues and cultural friction to fester beneath the surface.

To fix this, you must change the rules of your feedback sessions. Ban all cliché, soft phrases from your reviews. If a leader submits feedback like they work too hard, reject it and require them to rewrite it.

Make your feedback framework concrete and performance-based. Force every team member to evaluate their peers directly against two specific areas: Core Values and GWC™.

Have them answer three specific questions for each peer:
- What is one specific way this person lived our core values this quarter, and where did they fall short?
- Is this person fully executing the roles in their seat on the Accountability Chart, and where do they need to improve?
- What is the single biggest bottleneck this person is creating for your department, and what do you need them to stop doing?

As the facilitator, you must model the behavior you want to see. Lead the session by sharing your own weaknesses and asking for direct, unfiltered feedback. When a team member musters the courage to share a hard truth, praise their honesty and ensure the team addresses the issue productively. Over time, this practice will build the safety your team needs to have honest, high-impact conversations.