Greg Stevenson describes giving an employee direct feedback he thought was fair, only to realize the employee felt inadequate afterward. The gap between what a leader intends and how it lands, he argues, determines whether leadership actually works.
That stopped me in my tracks. Because from where I was sitting, I hadn't done anything wrong. I'd given clear, direct feedback. I'd respected her time by being efficient. I hadn't been unkind. I hadn't raised my voice. I hadn't said anything that wasn't true. But none of that was the point. The point was the gap between what I intended and what she actually experienced. In that gap, a young person who had worked hard and wanted to do well had walked out of my office feeling like she wasn't good enough. That wasn't what I had meant, but it was what happened. And the difference between those 2 things is where leadership either works or doesn't.
