In Brazil, feedback works through relationship. Before you can give someone meaningful feedback, you need to have a real connection with them.
This is not about being nice first to soften what comes later—it is about establishing standing to give feedback at all. A colleague who has not invested in knowing you, who has not built any connection, does not have the standing to evaluate your work. Their feedback will feel presumptuous, out of place, like they are overstepping.
But someone who has taken time to build a relationship, who knows you and your situation, can give you quite direct feedback because the relationship provides context for it. When you need to give feedback to Brazilian colleagues, invest in the relationship first. When you receive feedback from Brazilians, understand that it comes from people who have decided you matter enough to them to tell you the truth.
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