This could also be an impedance mismatch between European and US cultures. When Europeans (especially Eastern Europeans) are asked to be candid, they often are, without much regard for the consequences. As an immigrant I fortunately learned this very early in the US leg of my career, and now I just reply with inoffensive platitudes even if the person does deserve harsher feedback. I'm sometimes candid with my reports. I'm _never_ 100% candid with my bosses, after a couple of near career-ending run-ins (which, when you're an H1-B as I was at the time, results in getting kicked out of the country within 2 weeks).