The silence before the storm.
When something doesn’t go as planned – or goes wrong – most leaders don’t get surprised by the problem itself. They get surprised that no one told them sooner – when there really was time to fix it.
This rarely happens because people didn’t know. It’s because they didn’t feel ready, safe, or invited to say it. Maybe they thought it wasn’t their place. Maybe they hoped it would fix itself. Or maybe they told someone, and nothing changed. So they stopped trying.
This is one of the biggest blind spots I see in otherwise strong, fast-moving leaders. They want the truth. They think they’ve created an open environment. They’ve said things like “my door’s always open” or “just tell me if something’s off.” But in reality, those doors often stay quietly shut. And when the feedback finally surfaces, it’s filtered, watered down, or comes dressed up in an attempt to mask the real issue.
This is not a culture problem – it’s a communication problem. And it starts at the top.
Two-way communication is about more than collecting opinions or gathering data. It’s about showing people through your behaviour, not just your words that you genuinely want to hear what they think – and what is going on – even when it’s awkward. It’s about building emotional safety at the speed of business.
It doesn’t mean slowing down to a snails pace. But it does mean that when you share a new direction or decision, you might invite challenge directly. Try saying, “What might I not be seeing?” or “What concerns you about our ability to execute this?” and pause long enough to really listen.
And when someone raises something tough that you may not want to hear, avoid the urge to fix or defend straight away. Instead, say “Thanks for saying that – let me sit with it.”
These moments build trust. And over time, trust becomes a channel. Without it, you’ll get compliance, not challenge. You’ll get silence until it’s too late. And you’ll wonder why no one told you the truth earlier.
The leaders who avoid these painful surprises don’t just react well when someone speaks up – they make it part of how the business runs.
They treat listening as a leadership discipline. And they do the hard emotional work of being open to feedback that might make them feel exposed, uncomfortable, or wrong.
Because this isn’t weakness. It is humility and strength under pressure.
Reflect: What you’re emotionally open to hearing will quietly shape what others are willing to say.
What kinds of feedback make you most uncomfortable and how do you usually respond?
What would you most prefer not to hear right now – and who might be holding that insight?
What part of your reaction tells people whether it’s safe to tell you the truth?
Learn: What’s left unsaid in your team may be more important than what gets discussed.
What’s the last difficult issue that came to you late – or not at all?
What patterns are you noticing in who speaks up, who holds back, and when?
What’s being avoided or softened in your meetings – and what would your team say if asked the same?
Scale: The way you handle pushback sets the tone for how truth moves through your business.
What happens in your team when someone disagrees with you openly?
What are people learning from how you deal with challenge or dissent?
What could you model this week to show that truth is welcome even when it’s hard?
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