Autonomous AI agents hold both promise and risk

Effective feedback can help your team excel, but as Bernard Coleman, VP of people at Swing Education, writes, you could fit the archetype of "The Vague Vanisher" if your feedback is too generic, "The Time Traveler" if the input is not timely or "The Assumption Maker" if comments are based on what others have said. You can make feedback your superpower by making it specific, timely and based on behaviors you've personally observed, Coleman writes.

Put it into practice: Other bad feedback archetypes include "The Drive-By" who gives harsh criticism with no follow-up, "The Personality Attacker" who traffics in personal insults and "The Public Punisher" who dresses down team members in front of others, Coleman writes. "Leaders who fall into these traps not only hinder growth but also erode trust and morale."

Leave them alone. Seventy-two percent of you try to leave people alone when they're on vacation and another 17% send messages but don't expect replies. For the 10% of you bothering people on vacation, stop. Few of us work in industries where there are true crises requiring replies when someone has chosen to take vacation. You're likely frustrating them and spoiling their time away that they earned as part of their compensation. Plan better or be more patient.

If you get annoyed when work colleagues reach out to you when you're on vacation, be sure to set a good example when you're back in the office and don't bother your team members and colleagues during their time off. Everyone is better off when we respect boundaries and give people time to recharge away from work.

-- Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, which includes TITAN -- the firm's e-learning platform. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He is a West Point graduate and author of three leadership books: "One Piece of Paper," "Lead Inside the Box" and "The Elegant Pitch."

The Apple TV+ hit show "Severance," depicts "divided" people, which is what intrigued Patricia Arquette enough to join the cast as Harmony Cobel, a senior manager at Lumon. Arquette says the show reflects the divisions within society and insecurities that keep people from fulfilling their potential. "I think people struggle with the inner critic all the time, and it really can hold you back. Probably it's the main thing that does hold you back," Arquette says.

Scientists have demystified the safety of tomatoes, which belong to the nightshade family known for toxic compounds. A new study reveals that a genetic mechanism involving the protein DML2 reduces toxic steroidal glycoalkaloids during tomato ripening. This process, known as demethylation, breaks down these compounds into less harmful substances, according to a study in Science Advances.

I have encountered just about every lousy feedback archetype Bernard Coleman outlines in his article. I've had my work criticized in front of my entire team by a "Public Punisher" who broadcasted his insult over the public address system that everyone used to communicate. I've encountered the "Feedback Sandwich Gone Wrong," where my boss was apparently trying to use a feedback technique but gave me insincere praise while delivering harsh feedback. I've also encountered the "Personality Attacker" who insulted me as a person instead of critiquing my work or behavior.

I suspect we've all encountered bosses who were terrible at giving feedback. Coleman, though, presents these archetypes not so we'll harken back to bad managers but to help us examine our feedback techniques and honestly evaluate whether we've ever embodied these archetypes. If we're honest, we'll see ourselves in a few of them.

I know I'm guilty of being the "Time Traveler" and not giving feedback in a timely manner or the "Assumption Maker" when I've approached someone after hearing about a problem from someone else.

All of these archetypes undermine trust in your leadership, so it's a good idea to take time to evaluate your feedback style to prevent your team from, like me, writing about how it affected them years later. You don't want your team members to remember you like that.

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