Be behaviorally specific in your performance feedback. Instead of saying that you want more strategic thinking in the example above, the leader should give specific examples of the behavior that they do or do not want. 

 

For example:

 

"Ms. CFO - in the meeting about our acquisition of ABC company, you provided me with all the extensive numbers that your team had collected about rentals for last year. I don't need that level of detail. I trust you and your team. What I need from you is the bottom line: based on the financial projections that you've prepared, should we acquire this company, along with a brief summary of your reasoning."

 

The leader should go on to provide two or three other examples about what the leader does or does not want in terms of behavior in a specific situation. As always with performance feedback, this feedback should be provided in person, or on the phone if you can't meet with them, but not over email.

 

A good practice worth implementing is to then ask the employee to email you back their understanding of what you said. That way you have good documentation and a chance to ensure they understand what you said.

 

While a direct report may not be capable of giving you want you want - if they're in the wrong job, for example- fairness requires that you give them this kind of feedback in order to give them an opportunity to change.