A note on flattery

Nobody has ever been flattered by a good assessment. You read it, you wince once, and somewhere in the wince you decide to trust it.

That's the tell. The report that makes you feel wonderful is selling you something. The one that names, precisely, the cost of how you lead is the one worth keeping, because flattery carries no information and an accurate discomfort carries all of it.

If it didn't sting at least once, read it again. You skimmed.