Your "just being honest" routine is masking emotional laziness. My daughter asked ChatGPT to review her essay. It said her writing was "boring and flat." 💀 She laughed, revised, moved on. But she didn't say "ChatGPT is mean." She said "it didn't validate first." She wanted truth from something that gave a damn. That's the game for managers now. Your people aren't looking for sugar-coated feedback—they want feedback that sees THEM before the MISTAKE. Not a compliment sandwich. Just a beat of "I see the effort" before "here's what needs work." AI will figure out validation soon. But humans still have the edge: you can be honest AND warm. You can say "this needs work" while they know you care. Does your team know you're in their corner before you tell them what's not working?