Good feedback is a conversation, not an annual event. Imagine coaching a hockey team all season without telling the players how they're doing. No feedback after games. No advice during practice. No conversations about what needs improvement. Then, at the end of the season, you sit everyone down and explain everything they did wrong. Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Yet that's essentially how some organizations approach performance reviews. As year-end conversations begin, it's

Small problems are easier to solve before they become official results. Parents know the feeling. You think school is going fine, and then suddenly a report card lands in front of you, and you realize something has been slipping for weeks. Maybe the signs were there. A missed assignment. A little frustration. A subject that suddenly became harder. The lesson is simple: by the time the report card arrives, the story has already been developing for a while. The same is true a