Module 1 — Why managers avoid feedback
Surfaces the avoidance patterns most first-time managers fall into, and reframes feedback as a kindness rather than a confrontation.
Almost every first-time manager arrives at the same private moment: a teammate is doing something that needs to stop, and the manager knows it, and the conversation that would address it has been postponed for two weeks. Three avoidance patterns explain almost all of this — the 'maybe it'll fix itself' bet, the 'I don't want to be the bad guy' identity protection, and the 'I'll bring it up at the review' procrastination. Each one feels like restraint in the moment and reveals itself, weeks later, as neglect. This module reframes the choice. Withholding feedback is not kindness; it is a private tax the manager charges the teammate, paid in confusion and a lower ceiling on their growth. Once managers see that, the cost of the awkward conversation drops below the cost of the comfortable silence.
In-class activity
Pair exercise: each participant names one piece of feedback they have been postponing for more than two weeks, identifies which avoidance pattern they fell into, and writes a single-sentence version of what needs to be said.