When I first came back to Claris Networks, a customer gave me an earful about the performance of one of our project managers. I ran into one of our then owners offices (Dave Sagraves), vented, and asked for the name of this PMs manager so I could put the feedback where I thought it belonged. Or really, did I just want to blow someone up for no reason?

Dave challenged me, “Before you do that, have you just talked to the PM about it?”

Great advice. Once the PM and I talked, I understood the situation better, saw the issues our PM was tackling on the customers behalf, and was able to assist with bridging the communication gap for all of us.

So – when someone dumps on you about a peer, consider whether you’re hearing the whole story. Then love your teammate with direct communication. We all need good feedback and you can honor your co-worker by keeping it real (and safe) by giving the person a chance to hear it and respond.

“There are two sides to every story. The first one to speak sounds true until you hear the other side and they set the record straight.” Proverbs‬ ‭18:17‬ ‭TPT‬‬