If you recommend someone, describe what they do well instead of promising what they never offered.

A recommendation that oversells sets up two people to be let down. The person hiring expects something that was never on offer, the person recommended arrives already behind, and your credibility takes the loss both times. Accuracy is the kinder service, because it puts the right work in front of the right person.

When you pass someone’s name along, describe what you have actually seen them do. Say what they are good at and, where it matters, what falls outside it. A narrower recommendation that holds up is worth far more to everyone than a generous one that does not.