Along with many other fans of figure skating, I had a moment of déjà vu while watching the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. I saw French coach and choreographer Benoit Richaud sitting just outside the rink wearing a jacket of the Canadian national team just several minutes after he was shown on camera wearing the jacket of the Georgia national team. A quick search online revealed that he was actually working with 16 different skaters from 13 different countries at this year’s winter games.

The fact that about a tenth of the best skaters in the world competing this year turned to the same coach for training speaks volumes about the importance of getting good mentorship —even if it means leaning on someone who cheers on your competition.

This week, Kellogg’s Ellen Taaffe discusses why giving clear feedback is such a critical responsibility for leaders.

Plus, we hear from a seasoned viticulturist who offers advice to an aspiring winemaker.

Missed conversations

Whether it’s because they are afraid of hurting people’s feelings or of being perceived as too harsh, many leaders hesitate to give clear feedback to their mentees and team, says Taaffe, a clinical associate professor of management and organizations.

While such fears are certainly warranted, they often result in softened, generic messages—and, worse still, missed conversations.

“It may feel easier to give more general feedback, but it does nothing to help people grow, even when the intent is positive,” Taaffe says.

She adds that leaders are more likely to give vague and less-actionable feedback to women than men, leaving women with less access to the kind of concrete information necessary to improve their work and grow their careers. But leaders can buck this trend by committing to clarity when giving feedback.

“[Giving] specific, behavior-based feedback is not unkind,” Taaffe says. “It is one of the most practical ways leaders can support equity and enable real development.”

Read more on LinkedIn.

Letter to a young farmer

Mentorship can come in the form of advice from a supervisor to a team member but also in the sharing of wisdom from older generations to younger ones.

On the blog Salt of Portugal, Kellogg professor of finance Sergio Rebelo shares a letter from a veteran viticulturist to a young farmer offering clear and actionable advice about flourishing in the field of winemaking.

António Magalhães, in his letter, offers step-by-step guidance on how to manage a vineyard effectively—from reducing rain erosion by planting vines on successive, narrow, stepped platforms to planting certain grape varieties that will grow well in the region’s warming climate.

In addition to these practical measures, the mentor underscores core values that are crucial to excelling in their challenging field. As is the case in many professions, achieving success rests on the realization that the work “is a relay race,” he says. “You did not choose your starting point, and you will not see the finish line.”

On the one hand, that means having the humility and initiative to seek out and learn from those who have spent years treading the same path. On the other hand, it means operating in a way that ensures the work thrives far into the future.

Rebelo suggests that these lessons about “patience, humility, and trust in the slow ripening of ideas” could apply to early-career professionals trying to find their way not just in winemaking but across industries.

Read more in Rebelo’s blog.