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In relationships with other people, especially those closest to us, we often encounter situations where their words seem hurtful. Honesty that is perceived as unfair and harsh can be difficult to accept and is therefore automatically rejected. However, only people who know the other person well and care about his or her wellbeing are able to make comments that are difficult to hear but necessary for his or her development. Provided, of course, that they do so with empathy, respect, reverence and sincerity.

According to a Gallup survey, only 26% of employees believe that the feedback they receive helps them to do a better job. This is because appraisals and development discussions often lack the ‘tough’ content that would be helpful for their development.

Research from the Harvard Business Review supports this. They report that while 72% of employees consider leaders providing critical feedback to be important for their development, only 5% of them believe that their managers actually share such feedback with them.