Anton Guinea
Entrepreneur, Speaker, bestselling author, and founder of The Guinea Group of Companies. For over 15 years, Anton has helped leaders move their teams to become psychologically safe, physically safe and overall better versions of themselves.
When was the last time you made it ridiculously easy for someone to tell you how you could be better?
I’m not talking about the casual “any feedback is welcome” tacked onto the end of a meeting. I’m talking about creating the kind of space where someone feels safe enough, respected enough, and valued enough to be honest with you, especially when it might sting.
I’ve come to believe that the leaders who grow the most aren’t the ones who are open to feedback. They’re the ones who actively invite it. And more than that, they’re the ones who create cultures where people actually feel safe enough to respond truthfully.
Most leaders say they want feedback. But do they really?
I’ve seen it too often. Leaders say they’re open to feedback, but their reactions tell a different story. The slight eye twitch. The deflection. The immediate justification. It doesn’t take much for people to learn, “Okay, maybe not so safe to be honest here.”
One reflection I’ve shared before is that people won’t speak up if they think the feedback will be used against them, instead of with them. You can’t fake psychological safety. Your people know when you’re just tolerating feedback versus genuinely valuing it.
This idea gets explored in more depth through a piece I wrote about making others feel safe to speak. Unless leaders show, through both words and action, that feedback is not only welcome but expected, they’ll never hear what they need to hear most.
The difference between accepting and inviting
Let’s get honest here. Saying, “my door is always open” doesn’t mean people will walk through it. You’ve got to swing the door open, call their name, and say, “Hey, I want to know what’s not working and how I can be better.”
That’s the difference between accepting and inviting. Accepting is passive. Inviting is active, intentional, and vulnerable.
And vulnerability matters. As this article explains, people take cues from their leaders. If you flinch every time someone questions your decisions, you teach your team to stay quiet. And that’s a leadership trap I don’t want you falling into.
But what if you don’t like what you hear?
That’s the point. The feedback that makes you squirm is the stuff that grows you the most. When I get feedback that’s hard to hear, I write it down, sit with it, and usually… I find some truth in it.
We talk more about this in this article about tough feedback. The feedback process works both ways. Giving it and receiving it require guts. If you want your team to be brave with you, you’ve got to show them how.
Humility is your leadership edge
Humility isn’t soft. It’s strength in disguise. Your team won’t follow you because you’ve got all the answers. They’ll follow you because you’re willing to ask better questions.
Questions like “What am I missing?” or “What do you see that I don’t?” — those are the real leadership indicators. You’ll find support for this in this study, which shows that humility in leadership improves group performance and learning behaviour.
If you’re still figuring out how to listen well under pressure, these five listening skills might be a great place to start. Presence makes all the difference.
Building a feedback culture means building safety first
People aren’t afraid of feedback. They’re afraid of what happens after the feedback. Will they be punished? Labelled as negative? Sidelined?
There’s a brilliant breakdown here about how feedback thrives in environments where psychological safety is the norm, not the exception. And if you’re building anything great, your culture, your team, your own skillset, that’s the place to start.
If you’re unsure where to begin, our leadership coaching programs walk through practical tools to help shift the tone of your team, from cautious to courageous.
If you don’t invite it, you won’t receive it
Silence isn’t a sign of success. It’s often a sign of discomfort. If your team isn’t giving you feedback, don’t assume you’ve nailed it. Assume instead that there’s something blocking them from speaking up.
And most of the time? That something is fear. Vulnerability, not certainty, creates followership. Let your team see that you can handle the truth, even when it’s not flattering. Especially when it’s not flattering.
Want to know what happens when you do? Engagement improves. Turnover drops. And your people start speaking to you before things go off the rails.
Start asking better questions today
Ask your team what they wish you’d do more of. Ask what slows them down. Ask how you can show up better and mean it when you ask.
If you’re serious about making feedback part of your leadership identity, you’ll want to build the structure that supports it. That’s what our speak safe training is for. And if you want to explore your own feedback blind spots one-on-one, let’s have that chat.
The best feedback you’ll ever get might be the one you’re too afraid to ask for. Ask anyway.
Please click the image below if you’d like to chat about what leadership means to you
If you would like to learn more about Anton or The Guinea Group, please click here to book into Anton’s calendar, to:
UPGRADE your Mindset
UPSKILL your Leadership
UPLIFT your Teams