The "Sandwich Approach" Undermines your feedback

Effective leaders are transparent about the strategies they use when working with others

“Alex and Stacey, I have some negative feedback to give you. I'll start with some positive feedback to relax you, and then give you the negative feedback, which is the real purpose of our meeting. I'll end with more positive feedback so you won't be so disappointed or angry at me when you leave my office. How does that work for you?”

Have you ever thought of how influence and trust intersect? This article, HBR , might just have an aha moment for you. Many people think that to successfully influence someone you need to give a “sandwich” of positive feedback with the corrective meat in the middle followed by another slice of warm affirmation.

I’ve seen many so called experts talk about the power of sandwiching. In reality it increases anxiety. The receiver can’t rely on what you saying being the whole of the story and people who use this strategy definitely aren’t being open about what they are doing.

There is a much better way to give feedback and this article shows how to use openness and trust to do it.