Issue 05 | Natalie Gleeson | Resourceful Robin™
① FIRST THOUGHT
Most leaders have sat through the training. A framework, a rating scale, maybe a workshop on giving feedback. And then they walk into the actual room, with an actual person, and none of it quite fits. The model was clean. The conversation isn't. No wonder most of them don't land the way the slide deck promised.
② THIS WEEK'S THEME
The performance conversation your training didn't prepare you for.
③ THE THREE LENSES
🧠 EQ — Separating identity from behaviour in feedback.
The reason performance conversations go wrong most often isn't the feedback itself. It's that the person receiving it hears an attack on who they are, not what they did.
"You're not strategic enough" lands very differently from "In last week's meeting, I noticed the proposal didn't connect to the broader business goal. Let's talk about that."
One attacks identity. One addresses behaviour. The first closes people down. The second opens a conversation.
Emotionally intelligent feedback is specific, observable, and separates the person from the performance. It says: I see you clearly, I value you genuinely, and this specific thing needs to change. That's not a contradiction. That's the whole point.
Your Prompt Think about feedback you've given recently. Did it address behaviour or identity? What would the behaviour-specific version of that feedback have sounded like? |
⚡ AQ — Adapting your approach to each person, not each policy.
Performance conversations are not one-size-fits-all. The same words, in the same tone, with the same structure will land completely differently depending on who's in the room.
Some people need directness and brevity. Others need context and space to respond. Some are motivated by challenge. Others by recognition of effort. The policy doesn't know any of that. You do.
Adaptable leaders read the person, not just the process. They know that the goal of a performance conversation isn't to deliver a message, it's to create a shift. And creating a shift requires adapting your approach to the person in front of you.
This is where your investment in knowing your people pays off. Not just in performance season. Always.
Your Prompt Think of someone on your team. How do they best receive feedback? Is your current approach calibrated to them — or to what's comfortable for you? |
🔑 RQ — Giving meaningful feedback with no extra budget or time.
You don't need a formal review cycle to give great feedback. You don't need a course, a coaching engagement, or an HR framework. You need presence, specificity, and the willingness to say something true.
The most powerful performance feedback I've ever witnessed took less than three minutes. It was specific. It was timely. It connected what the person had done to the impact it had. And it ended with a question, not a verdict.
Resourceful leaders give feedback in the moment, with what they observed, as close to the event as possible. They don't wait for the annual review to say something that could have changed the trajectory three months ago.
Your Prompt Who on your team deserves a piece of specific, positive feedback right now — and what would you say if you gave it before the end of this week? |
④ FROM THE FIELD
I once sat in on a performance conversation where the manager had prepared meticulously; competency ratings, examples, development suggestions. It was thorough. It was also entirely one-directional.
The person on the other side of the table said almost nothing for 45 minutes. Afterwards, they told me they felt like they'd been assessed rather than seen.
The best performance conversations are more question than statement. They're collaborative. They treat the person as the expert on their own experience. The manager's job isn't to deliver a verdict, it's to open a dialogue that leads somewhere better.
⑤ THE ROBIN RESOURCE
This week: try the SBI Framework for your next piece of feedback.
S — Situation: When and where did this happen?
B — Behaviour: What specifically did you observe?
I — Impact: What was the effect on you, the team, or the work?
Three components. No judgment on character. No assumptions about intent. Just what happened and why it matters. Simple — and it works every time
⑥ ONE LINE TO TAKE INTO THE WEEK
"Great feedback isn't about finding the right words. It's about seeing the person clearly enough to know what they need to hear."
Future-Ready Minds | Natalie Gleeson | Resourceful Robin™
Think clearly. Adapt fast. Act resourcefully.