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Do your staff give you Feedback?

· Feedback,Change,Leadership

There is a moment in every leader’s life when someone we are expected to lead looks us in the eye, and tells us something we didn’t ask to hear. A moment when feedback flows upward. Not politely packaged. Not summoned by surveys. Just… offered.

It can feel like an interruption. Even a betrayal of the unspoken order that says “you lead, I follow.” But what if it is a gift?

When a subordinate offers unsolicited feedback, they are doing more than naming a flaw. They are testing the relationship. Testing whether this space between you and them is one in which honesty can live without punishment. Whether you want to grow or just appear complete.

It is a test of trust, not performance.

Your first reaction in that moment: your sigh, your silence, your “thank you”… is more than a gesture. It is a signal about who you are, not just what you think. A signal about whether your authority is fortified by curiosity, or by fear.
Many leaders don’t fail because they’re too proud. They fail because they protect their certainty more than they protect the bond. They hear feedback and look for who is right. The best ones look for what is true, even when it is uncomfortable, inconvenient, or even undeserved.

You see, leadership is not a role we play. It is a relationship we shape.

And every time someone takes the risk to be honest with you, you shape that relationship. You teach them, quietly but unmistakably, whether truth is safe here; whether vulnerability is strength or sacrifice.

So the next time someone you lead offers you feedback, pause. Before you polish your image, protect your ego, or perfect your reply and ask yourself:
“What do I want this moment to mean for the relationship?”

Because in the end, your reaction to feedback is your feedback about the kind of leader you are and the kind of culture you make possible.

How do you react?

Please contact Andrew here if you would like to discuss how you may go further in this topic through Coaching.