When Positive Feedback Is Holding You Back - by Nithin

High performers receive the laziest feedback in the entire organization. Not because managers are trying to hold you back, but because they assume you already have everything you need. You're the reliable one who figures things out, so they default to pleasantries: "You're doing great," "Keep doing what you're doing," "I have no concerns at all." It sounds nice but tells you nothing about what to do differently to accelerate your goals. With every surface-level performance conversation, the gap between what you need and what you're given grows wider. You start feeling responsible for filling in the blanks and second-guessing what "great" actually means.

Here's what surprises almost everyone: your manager often doesn't know what your next level requires either. It's usually not a lack of skill - it's a lack of bandwidth. Most managers spend their days in reactive mode with meetings, escalations, deadlines, and hiring gaps. They're not sitting around mapping out your long-term development with precision. So the conversation stays surface-level unless you guide it deeper.

You can train your leadership to give you better feedback by elevating the quality of questions you bring into the discussion. Try these in your next 1:1: What would exceeding expectations look like in my role? What do you see leaders at the next level doing differently than me? If you had to choose one focus that would accelerate my growth, what would it be? That pause from your manager isn't a problem - it's proof that the conversation just shifted into the clarity you've been craving. One person who tried this approach reported back: "I asked him those questions, and you were right, it transformed the entire conversation. I also offered two options for each question, and he loved it. He actually said, 'This is really helpful, thanks for taking it a step further.'"

The funny thing about accelerated growth from mid-level to senior roles: the strategies don't get harder, you just learn to be more strategic. That single 1:1 created more momentum toward promotion than years of hard work ever did. You become a strategic partner in your own development instead of a passive recipient of polite, empty feedback.