Most employees assume that if something were wrong, their manager would say something. That assumption quietly derails more careers than poor performance does. The same manager who tells you you’re doing great will say in a closed-door meeting: “Johnny is solid, but he’s not showing the initiative we need for a client this size.” That’s the real feedback. And Johnny never heard it. This post explains why managers hold back, what gets said when you’re not in the room, and the specific questions that open the door so they’ll tell you the truth.
