I know a few people who pride themselves on their unblinking candor.  Most of them, in reality, just get a kick out of constantly shitting on people and they use &quot;candor&quot; as cover for their behavior.<p>Here is a good rule of thumb:  Is telling someone something hard going to directly benefit them, you, or someone else their behavior is affecting?  The go for it and give them <i>constructive</i> and <i>actionable</i> feedback.   Just telling them they blew it, they are pissing you off, etc is just shitting on them.<p>OTOH, not giving people hard feedback because it is awkward is a betrayal of the relationship you have with them because you aren&#x27;t helping them be better or at least understand the situation they are in when you could have just to save yourself from your own squeamishness.