Mark Williamson wrote:
An example might be, speaking in front of a crowd, saying "Almost all of you did a terrific job. However, there are some people here in whom I am disappointed. You know who you are" is better than saying "Everybody did well except John Doe, Jane Smith, and Tom Buck, in all of whom I am extremely disappointed".
No, Mark, I don't agree. What you did was more like saying "someone in this room smells bad", which has the effect of several innocent people feeling hit, but the one guilty most likely doesn't at all understand that he is accused. Specifically, I had no way of knowing if I was accused by your criticism, so I felt forced to present a preemptive defense, to avoid false rumors from spreading. In the situation you describe above, the good leader would first have talked to the individuals in private, who would then "know who they are" without guessing.