Michael welcomes leadership and executive coach Katie O’Brien Ceccarini, founder of Endurance Management Coaching and author of the award-winning book Fearless Feedback, to discuss why feedback is hard and how to do it without losing the relationship. Katie shares her path from early education to Yelp and Opendoor, where she trained managers to handle difficult conversations, and introduces her framework: mindset, relationship, and delivery. They cover tactics like swapping the word “feedback” for “information,” building trust through relationship kickoff and reinvestment conversations, naming which “hat” you’re wearing with close colleagues, and clarifying the purpose of a conversation (instance, pattern, or role fit). For receiving feedback, Katie offers “thank, own, ask,” stresses communication preferences, and notes not all feedback must be implemented.

Timestamps:
00:24 Welcome
02:53 Why Feedback Feels Hard
04:02 Rejection and Identity
06:04 Early Manager Lessons
09:03 Fearless Feedback Framework
10:52 Mindset and Language Shifts
17:11 Close Relationships at Work
21:16 Delivery Purpose Instance Pattern Fit
24:08 Receiving Feedback Well
27:19 Not All Feedback Is Gold
31:28 Relationship Kickoff Conversation
35:27 Key Takeaways and Where to Find
38:31 Closing Question Leadership Story
41:04 Final Thanks

Connect with Katie:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katie-ceccarini/
https://www.enduranceboss.com