One of the most dangerous instincts a founder can have is the desire to be liked. You want your team to enjoy working for you. You want the office to feel positive. As a result, when an employee misses a deadline or ships subpar code, you might stay silent. You fix it yourself or you make a joke about it to soften the blow.
This is a mistake. By avoiding the uncomfortable conversation, you are denying your team the opportunity to get better.
Constructive feedback is supportive feedback given to individuals to help identify solutions to areas of weakness. It is the mechanism by which a company corrects its course. Without it, you are flying blind, assuming everyone knows the standard when they clearly do not.
Feedback vs. Criticism
#It is vital to distinguish between constructive feedback and criticism. They may sound similar, but the intent and the outcome are different.
Criticism focuses on the person and the past. It often feels like an attack. It says, “You are bad at writing copy.” This shuts the person down. They become defensive. They stop listening.
Constructive feedback focuses on the problem and the future. It is collaborative. It says, “This copy did not convert because the hook was too vague. Let’s look at how we can make the opening line punchier next time.”
The goal of criticism is to vent frustration. The goal of constructive feedback is to improve the output. If you are angry, you should wait before giving feedback. Feedback given in anger is almost always received as criticism.
The Sandwich Method Trap
#For years, management books taught the “Sandwich Method.” This is where you say something nice, then give the bad news, then say something nice again.
In a fast moving startup, this often backfires. The employee hears the compliments and ignores the critique. Or, they see right through it and feel manipulated. It creates a culture where praise is viewed with suspicion because people are waiting for the “but.”
Founders should aim for directness over comfort. You do not need to be mean, but you need to be clear. “This deliverable is not at the level we need it to be. Here is why.” This respects the employee’s intelligence and saves time.
Making it Actionable
#Feedback is useless if it is not actionable. Telling a designer “I don’t like this” is not feedback. It is an opinion. It gives them no path forward.
To be constructive, feedback must provide a solution or a direction. You need to explain the gap between the current result and the expected result.
- Vague: “You need to be more proactive.”
- Actionable: “In the next client meeting, I need you to present the agenda before they ask for it.”
When you make the feedback specific, you remove the ambiguity. The employee knows exactly what success looks like next time.
The Culture of Radical Candor
#If you want a high performing team, you have to normalize feedback. It cannot be a scary event that only happens during annual performance reviews. It should be a constant stream of data.
This starts with you. As the founder, you must ask for feedback on your own performance publicly. “I think I rambled in that all-hands meeting. Did anyone else feel that way?”
When the team sees that the leader is open to correction and does not get defensive, it creates psychological safety. It signals that we are all here to improve the work, not to protect our egos.