Experts warn that the practice of "bubble-wrapping," while sometimes unintentional, can severely stunt career growth and confidence by preventing employees from learning, improving and reaching their full potential.getty“Bubble-wrapping” is the latest workplace buzzword across social media. Women often unintentionally practice the trend at work every single day—and sometimes others also do it to protect them. If you’re an employee or employer— male or female—"bubble-wrapping" can stunt confidence and career growth.What is ‘Bubble-Wrapping’?A manager notices an employee’s presentations are consistently disorganized, causing clients to lose confidence. Instead of addressing the issue directly, the manager says, "You’re doing great overall" and quietly reassigns important presentations to someone else. The manager worries that honest feedback might hurt the employee’s confidence or damage the relationship.The employee never learns what needs to improve, continues making the same mistakes, misses opportunities for promotion and is blindsided when they’re later passed over for a leadership role. Another example is a leader who avoids telling a team that a project is behind schedule and unlikely to meet its goals. Instead, they soften the message, downplay the problems and absorb the stress themselves. When the deadline arrives, the team is shocked by the outcome because they were shielded from the reality they needed to confront.Bubble-wrapping is the act of cushioning employees, teams and even yourself from uncomfortable conversations, challenges, and feedback. ‘Bubble-Wrapping’ Causes Problems“There are plenty of reasons women feel like they need to bubble-wrap a situation,” says female leadership expert and founder of Female x Finance, Léonie Kennepohl. The Forbes 30-under-30 honoree adds, “Especially in the workplace, many women soften their communication because they want to be liked. They're also far more likely to receive feedback that they're being ‘bossy’ or ‘too direct’ when they communicate in the same way as male colleagues.”MORE FOR YOUPsychologists have another name for for bubble-wrapping: fawning—a form of self-abandonment when someone depends on the approval of others for psychological safety instead of finding it within themselves.The irony of bubble-wrapping is that while it feels compassionate in the moment, it often deprives people of the very feedback and challenges they need to become more resilient, capable and successful. Sometimes a demanding boss who pushes you out of your comfort zone can be the best medicine to help you grow your confidence and career.But according to Kennepohl, many women cushion difficult conversations. “They use techniques like the ‘sandwich’ method when delivering feedback and simply dilute their opinions to avoid conflict,” she explains. “While it often comes from a good place, it really can make communication less effective and is arguably worse than being known as ‘bossy’.” Over time, Kennepohl points out that bubble-wrapping makes women appear less confident in leadership positions. “The focus feels like it shifts from making the right business decision to protecting everyone else’s feelings,” she says. "That’s where it holds women back and can limit career progression, as it can present as a person not having leadership qualities.”3 Tips For Leaders To Avoid ‘Bubble Wrapping’Kennepohl offers three practical steps coworkers and employers can take to avoid bubble-wrapping and ensure you’re coming across as a true leader. 1. Prioritize developing your communication confidenceWe often bubble-wrap because we’re not confident in how to communicate something challenging. If you want to disagree with a client’s point, it may feel easier to bubble-wrap and agree, than to disagree and explain your point effectively. This is a confidence issue with your ability to express what you want to say in a professional way. The best way to tackle this is simply with practice. Next time you’re in a meeting and have something to say, try your best to express it as you mean it, without softening the edges. Start in 1-1s with your manager, then move up to internal team meetings, and follow with client or external meetings. Once you take the steps to make this communication normal, you’ll become more confident and comfortable to be direct and say what you mean, not what you think your clients or colleagues want to hear.”2. Adopt the mindset that constructive criticism is not bad One of the ways bubble wrapping takes effect is when we need to deliver constructive criticism. We might assume delivering this is simply negative feedback, but it’s not. Constructive criticism is needed for people to grow in their role. I’d argue that it’s essential for career development, and without it employees can feel stuck. As a manager, if you’re bubble-wrapping constructive criticism, you’re likely doing more harm than good to your employees. One of the ways we see this put into practice is the ‘sandwich method’. Years ago, managers were advised to put constructive criticism in the middle of two positive comments. Effectively, the feedback is cushioned, and it’s bubble wrapping.Employees may hear the positive and don’t realize the true importance of the criticism, making them less likely to action change. In turn, this has a knock on effect on the manager, who is then seen to be leading a failing team. Instead, be direct. Be a leader that explains clearly where there is room for improvement, how they can achieve that improvement, what support they’ll be provided with, and a timeline to get there. 3. Focus on being respected, not likedBubble-wrapping often stems from a desire to be liked by everyone around us. This isn’t a bad thing. Being liked by everyone is great, but it’s also not realistic. When you’re a leader at work, you won’t always be able to make decisions that everyone agrees with, and that’s okay. A choice you make might be loved by the C-suite, but hated by junior colleagues or vice versa. It’s impossible to please and be liked by everyone, but it is possible to gain a level of respect because the decisions you make are well-reasoned and are communicated clearly. Effective leaders understand that respect matters more than getting universal approval.A Final WrapThe goal isn’t to make work harder—it’s to prepare employees for challenges rather than protect them from them. It’s important to resist the urge to rescue employees from every setback and allow healthy struggle.We learning from working through obstacles independently. When honest but difficult feedback is delivered with respect and compassion, employees can handle it because they know you’re invested in their success. I have written about how unspoken and unwritten workplace rules cause miscommunication and disconnection.Strong leaders demonstrate that honest, respectful dialogue is part of a healthy workplace. When leaders tackle difficult conversations openly, employees are more likely to do the same. Normalize mistakes and create a culture where errors are viewed as learning opportunities, provided workers take responsibility and improve. Employees grow most when they’re supported enough to succeed but challenged enough to stretch.