Hosts: Ivan Konermann & Heather Hopkins

Big Promise: Leaders will leave with practical shifts they can use now and year-round to make reviews easier, clearer, and less stressful.

Core Theme: Bad reviews aren’t born in December—they’re built through avoidance or fuzziness all year. Strong reviews come from routine, honest, specific feedback tied to role expectations and observable behavior.

7 Patterns That Create Terrible Reviews

1. Avoiding feedback all year → surprise at review time, damaged trust.
   Key line: “Choose your hard.” Deal with discomfort now or misery later.
2. Lopsided reviews (all bad or all good) → demoralizing or misleading.
   Fix: highlight strengths + 2–3 priority growth areas.
3. Making it about the manager → spotlight shifts off the employee.
   Fix: focus on employee patterns/impact; remove “I” from drafts.
4. Manager underprepared → vague fluff or identity attacks (“personality”).
   Fix: role requirements + clear examples; reviews aren’t negotiations.
5. Overweighting technical performance → behavior issues ignored, toxicity rewarded.
   Truth: how results happen matters.
6. Fear of honesty with top performers (“they’ll quit”) → unhealthy team signal.
   Better question: what if they stay and keep harming the team?
7. Waiting for the formal review to give feedback → first real convo comes too late.
   Fix: ongoing small course-corrections, not annual swerves.

Memorable Lines:
“Choose your hard.” • “Fluffy cloud feedback.” • Spotlight metaphor • Driving/steering analogy.

Takeaways:
Give timely feedback, be specific, keep priorities narrow, balance strengths + gaps, prepare for the conversation (not just the form), and hold behavior accountable.

Call to Action:
If you’re dreading reviews or writing them over holidays, you’re likely stuck in these patterns. Reach out to Wingspan for help building honest, effective feedback habits year-round.

Text us for leadership performance advice!

3 Takeaways:

1. Explore Wingspan’s Leader Team Coaching & Advising — the proven path for leaders ready to multiply performance across their teams. Schedule a Clarity Call with one of our expert Advisors right now!
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3. Check out our YouTube Channel for unfiltered clips on behavioral performance and leadership actions that actually work.📲 Text us for leadership performance advice — real answers for real leaders.

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