The Feedback Gap: Why your team stopped telling you the truth
An independent investigation into the University of Dundee's financial collapse revealed stark financial findings, but buried within the 64-page report lies a more uncomfortable truth and one that should concern every leader. This wasn't just about numbers although they were important; it was about culture, communication, and the silence that can destroy even well-established institutions.
The investigation revealed a pattern of behaviour that should ring alarm bells for every HE leader. The Principal consistently "controlled the narrative," maintaining a positive story even when facing £40m of required savings. This wasn't just optimistic leadership, it was institutional gaslighting and created a culture where the truth became unwelcome.
Staff across the university reported being "shut down" when raising legitimate concerns. The report specifically notes that "few dared to speak truth to power" and that the Principal "did not welcome difficult conversations." Female staff were particularly affected, being "spoken over" or publicly labelled as "obstructive" for challenging decisions. Ultimately, the University failed because its leadership didn't want to hear its employees' concerns.
Open Doors, Closed Minds
You believe you have an open-door policy. You've told your team countless times that you want to hear their concerns. You pride yourself on being approachable. Meanwhile, your team has quietly concluded that you don't actually want to hear bad news. This feedback gap is bigger than most leaders realise, and as we've seen from Dundee and countless organisations before it, it's costing more than you know.
Leaders often discover this gap during exit interviews, when departing team members finally share what they really thought. But by then, the damage is done, projects have failed, good people have left, and opportunities have been missed. The irony is devastating, the feedback that could have prevented these failures was available all along, trapped behind a wall of well-intentioned but misguided leadership behaviour.
The good news? You can fix this, but first you need to understand how it happened in the first place.
The problem most leaders miss - Teams learn what you really want to hear (versus what you say you want)
Your team is constantly studying your reactions, cataloguing your responses, and drawing conclusions about what you really want to hear versus what you say you want to hear. This research shapes every interaction they have with you going forward.
They watch carefully when someone brings you a problem. Do you listen thoughtfully, or do you immediately jump to solutions? Do you ask probing questions, or do you seem frustrated by the interruption? They notice which issues get quick attention and resources versus which ones get pushback or are quietly shelved. They observe your body language during difficult conversations and learn to read the signs of your impatience or displeasure.
Over time, they develop sophisticated strategies for managing your responses. They learn to frame things positively to avoid triggering your frustration. They present problems as opportunities and disguise concerns as suggestions for improvement. They become expert translators, converting their honest observations into palatable versions they believe you want to hear.
The subtle signals that shut down honest conversation
The most dangerous aspect of the feedback gap is how it develops through seemingly innocent behaviours. Leaders rarely set out to discourage honest feedback, but their unconscious habits create powerful barriers to truth-telling.
Consider the subtle signals you might be sending: checking your phone during difficult conversations signals that the discussion isn't worth your full attention. Jumping to solutions before fully understanding the problem suggests you're more interested in moving on than diving deeper. Defending your decisions instead of exploring the concerns behind them tells people that challenging your thinking isn't welcome.
Perhaps most damaging is the tone that communicates "this is inconvenient." It might be a slight edge in your voice, a barely perceptible sigh, or a shift in posture that suggests you'd rather be dealing with something else. Your team picks up on these cues and adjusts their communication accordingly.
Why "how's everything going?" gets you nowhere
The generic check-in compounds the problem. "How's everything going?" is a question that virtually guarantees a generic answer. It requires no vulnerability from you and invites none from them. People need explicit permission to share problems, not just opportunity. They need to see that you're genuinely prepared to hear difficult truths and that you value their honesty more than their reassurance.
Why success makes you harder to challenge
The more successful you become as a leader, the more difficult it becomes for others to give you honest feedback. Your position creates natural barriers to truth-telling that you might not even recognise.
Higher positions create higher stakes conversations. When someone challenges a decision made by a senior leader, they're not just questioning the idea, they're potentially negatively impacting their career prospects, straining their relationship with their boss, and risking their standing within the organisation.
The mathematics of risk change dramatically as you climb the hierarchy. Your decisions affect more people, which makes your team more careful about what they say. They're not just thinking about their own perspective, they're considering the broader implications of speaking up. This added layer of complexity can paralyse even well-intentioned feedback.
Success can also make you seem less approachable, even when that's not your intention. Your team may assume that if you've achieved your current position, you must have all the answers. They might hesitate to point out problems because they figure you must already know about them and have chosen not to address them for reasons they don't understand.
The true cost of the feedback gap
The University of Dundee's collapse illustrates the devastating consequences of the feedback gap, but the damage typically manifests in three critical areas that affect every organisation.
1.Problems that fester until they explode.
Small issues that could be addressed easily in their early stages become major crises when nobody feels safe reporting them. System failures that everyone saw coming go unreported until they cause significant damage. Projects fail because concerns weren't raised, risks weren't flagged, and alternative approaches weren't suggested. The organisation operates with dangerous blind spots that everyone except leadership can see.
2.Good people who leave without telling you why.
Exit interviews frequently reveal problems that existed for months or even years, problems that could have been addressed if only leadership had known about them sooner. High performers get frustrated with poor processes and systems but never feel comfortable raising their concerns. Innovation-minded people conclude that their ideas aren't wanted or heard and eventually take their creativity elsewhere. When good people leave quietly, they often trigger a cascade effect that damages team morale and organisational capability.
3.The echo chamber effect on decision-making
Leaders who don't receive honest feedback make decisions based on incomplete or filtered information. They assume systems are working when they're not, repeat mistakes because no one warns them about recurring problems, and miss opportunities because they're not hearing the full range of perspectives available within their organisation.
How to start build effective feedback channels
Closing the feedback gap requires intentional effort and genuine commitment to hearing difficult truths. It's not enough to say you want feedback, you need to create the conditions that make honest feedback possible and safe.
Creating safety before seeking honesty
This the foundational step. Start by acknowledging that giving feedback to leadership is inherently difficult and often risky. Share a specific example of a time when someone's honest feedback helped you make a better decision or avoid a mistake. Admit when you've made it difficult for people to speak up, and be specific about the behaviours you plan to change.
Create explicit agreements about how difficult conversations will work. Establish ground rules that protect people who share unpopular truths and make it clear that you value honesty more than harmony. These agreements need to be specific and actionable, not just aspirational statements about open communication.
Ask better questions
The questions that actually get real answers are specific, focused, and demonstrate genuine curiosity rather than mere compliance checking. Instead of asking "How's everything going?" try "What's one thing that's frustrating you that we could fix?" or "If you were running this team, what would you change first?" These questions signal that you're prepared to hear about problems and that you're genuinely interested in their perspective.
Follow up these questions with deeper inquiry: "Can you help me understand why that's particularly frustrating?" or "What would success look like if we addressed that issue?" The goal is to move beyond surface-level complaints to understand the underlying dynamics that are affecting performance and satisfaction.
Responding to negative feedback
How you respond when the truth hurts often determines whether you'll continue to receive honest feedback in the future. Your first response should always be gratitude, even when the feedback is difficult to hear. Thank them for their honesty and courage in sharing their perspective. Process your emotional reactions privately before responding substantively.
Ask follow-up questions instead of immediately defending your position or explaining why things are the way they are. Focus on understanding their experience and perspective before moving to problem-solving mode. Schedule follow-up conversations to demonstrate that you're taking their feedback seriously and that this isn't just a one-time check-in.
What changes when teams tell the truth
Organisations that successfully close the feedback gap experience transformational changes that go far beyond improved communication. The benefits compound over time and create sustainable competitive advantages.
Problems get solved earlier and at significantly lower cost. Issues are caught and addressed before they become crises, simple fixes prevent bigger problems, and team-generated solutions tend to be more practical and effective because they come from people who understand the day-to-day realities of implementation.
Teams that feel heard become dramatically more engaged. Participation in meetings and projects increases, ownership of solutions and outcomes improves, loyalty increases while turnover decreases, and collaboration across departments becomes more natural and effective. When people believe their input matters, they invest more energy in making things work.
Leaders who receive honest feedback learn faster and adapt more quickly. They develop better understanding of what's really motivating their team, build reputations as leaders who listen and act on what they hear, and make better decisions because they're working with more complete information.
Your next conversation matters
The feedback gap didn't develop overnight, and it won't close overnight. But every honest conversation makes the next one easier, and the compound effect of consistent effort can transform your leadership effectiveness and organisational culture.
Your team wants to tell you the truth. They have insights that could help you make better decisions, solve problems more effectively, and achieve better results. They're not withholding this information out of malice or indifference, they're protecting themselves from what they perceive as the risks of honesty.
The question isn't whether your team has feedback for you. The question is whether they trust you enough to share it. Start small. Pick one person you trust. Ask one real question. Then prove you can handle the answer.
The University of Dundee's story is a cautionary tale, but it doesn't have to be your story. The feedback gap is a choice, not an inevitability. Choose to hear the truth, even when it's uncomfortable. Your organisation's future may depend on it.