# Building a High-Performance Feedback Culture

**Podcast:** LEITWOLF Podcast - Leadership, Führung & Management
**Published:** 2026-05-28

## Transcript

Most organizations don't have a feedback problem.
They have a fear problem.
You don't build a feedback culture by encouraging feedback.
You build it by how you respond to it.
Do people tell me what I want to hear or what I need to hear?
Hello and welcome to today's Lightwolf podcast episode.
It's my pleasure to welcome you here again, here at Lightwolf, your podcast.
für Leading with Impact.
Today, we cover a topic that on the surface, many people know, yeah, yeah, it's important, it matters, I know.
But deeper down, many people struggle to really deal with it, to get the impact that they want to have.
Why else do 7% of leaders only feel comfortable giving and receiving feedback, while 70% of leaders say, oops.
I think that's an area I need to develop.
So, today's topic is all about feedback and the fear of feedback and ideas how you can build a true feedback culture in your organization.
We all say we want it.
We all claim it matters.
But if we're honest, many of us avoid it, soften it or ignore it altogether.
So the real question is not, does feedback matter?
The real question is, are you building a feedback culture or just talking about one?
Looking at our client base, looking at my own career and also being honest with myself, I think the core problem around feedback is a hard truth.
Most organizations don't have A feedback problem.
They have a fear problem.
People fear consequences.
They fear conflict.
They often fear being exposed.
They fear repercussions for honesty.
And leaders?
They often fear losing authority, losing respect, damaging relationships, or simply being wrong.
So what happens then?
If that happens, if feedback is just talked about but not really given, feedback becomes diluted into politeness and sugarcoating.
It gets delayed until it's useless.
It gets disguised in annual reviews that no one takes seriously any longer.
That's not culture, that's avoidance.
If you want to build a real feedback culture, You need to shift one fundamental belief.
Feedback is not a tool.
It's a leadership behavior.
It's not something you do once a quarter.
It's how you operate.
Every day.
High-performing organizations, and I've been in some, and I'm working for a few right now, those high-performance organizations treat feedback as normal.
Not exceptional.
Direct.
Not diplomatic.
Developmental and descriptive.
Not judgmental.
And constructive.
Not destructive in its impact.
And most importantly, safe.
But not comfortable.
There is an important difference.
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Let's turn to psychological safety.
The foundation.
Hier ist es warum viele Feedback Initiatives quietly fail.
Das bedeutet, dass Menschen nicht zufrieden werden, ohne Angst zu sprechen.
Dissent is invited and discussed and not subtly penalized.
And this is not created through posters or value statements.
It's created in moments.
When someone challenges you, how do you respond?
When someone makes a mistake, what happens next?
If the answer is defensiveness, silence or blame, Your feedback culture is dead on the blocks.
But if the answer is curiosity, respect and clarity, coupled with tangibly genuine intent to help or learn, then you create the space where feedback can actually exist.
The leader's role.
So you in your role, no matter whether you're a first-time leader or a senior manager or you are in the C-suite, maybe you're the CEO running an entire global company.
Whatever your role as a leader, let's be clear.
Feedback culture does not start with HR, where sometimes people point at when things get uncomfortable.
It starts with leadership behavior all around us, starting with us, with you and me.
And three things matter the most.
One, model it visibly.
Be the change you want to be.
Be the values you want to be.
Be the feedback culture you want to see around you.
If you are not asking for feedback or not acting on it in any way, no one else will.
Try the following idea.
What's one thing I do right now?
That makes your work harder.
What's one thing I do right now that makes your work harder?
Then, don't defend when you receive a response.
Just listen, reflect, communicate back and take action.
That's how you spread psychological safety and that is how you create the culture you want.
A second idea for you.
Reward honesty, not harmony.
If people speak up and nothing happens, or worse, they get sidelined, you've just killed your culture.
Feedback is one of the four moments that shapes your culture.
Who do you hire?
Who do you promote?
Who do you let go and how?
And how do you treat feedback?
Especially culture-shaping moments.
This here is one of them.
It's about feedback.
So reward honesty, not harmony.
Yes, also honesty needs to be respectful.
Also honesty needs to ensure that it happens with the impact you want.
And you don't go underboard or overboard.
You don't get destructive or...
Just soften and sugarcoat.
You need the impact you want.
You need the clarity in the message.
But you should show respect in the how, especially when the message is tough.
So reward honesty and not harmony.
If people speak up and offer feedback and nothing happens, or worse, they feel they get torn off.
You've just killed the culture.
People watch what gets rewarded.
Always.
And the third idea, make it safe and make it specific.
Make it safe and make it specific.
Safety creates the permission.
Safety creates the confidence.
Clarity and specificity create the value.
So if you hear statements like, good job, well, useless.
It does not build performance.
It doesn't allow anyone to learn anything.
But if instead you say, good performance and here is what worked and why, that does.
Then you can learn.
Then you're specific.
And then you know the sender of this message is genuine and serious.
So three tips I'd like to share with you that you could reflect.
And if you like them, take them.
And test them to create a culture around you where feedback is the norm and where feedback is regarded as accountability of any leader and helpful in the way it's given.
How to build a true feedback culture.
Number one, model it visibly.
Number two, reward honesty, not harmony.
Number three, make it safe.
The shift from comfort to performance.
And it's really interesting.
On this one very day today, I'm recording in the month of April 2026.
I already had contact with three clients.
For all of them, we are working right now.
Completely different.
Three different industries, three different countries.
One common thread.
The absence of a real feedback culture.
Here are the symptoms.
Some people say, well, we don't talk with each other when it matters.
In the boardroom, in the meeting room, we deny.
So we play artificial harmony.
But we do talk about each other outside the room when it doesn't matter, when it's just gossip.
That's number one.
Number two, we are to hygge.
Hygge.
Es ist ein Scandinavian-Word.
Ich bin nicht sicher, welche Scandinavian-Word es kommt, aber ich weiß, dass es Scandinavian ist.
Und es bedeutet cozy, comfortable.
So, asking uns als eine Leadership Transformation Company, kann Sie bitte helfen uns zu bekommen, mehr högge und mehr honest und mehr ambitious und mehr impactful?
Ja, wir können.
Und wir haben einfach angefangen.
So it's really interesting how this often is relevant in clients' daily lives.
But here's why many leaders still hesitate.
A true feedback culture increases the tension, at least initially.
Why?
Because you're replacing artificial harmony with real conversations.
But that tension may be warm, may be hot.
But it's productive if you just follow the simple tricks and tips of giving and receiving feedback.
It's productive because on the other side of it, you get faster learning, better decisions, stronger accountability.
That's why it pays if you do it.
It does pay.
So I encourage you, think about your feedback culture and think about how you can strengthen it.
So if you are leading a team, Leading a country, leading a company.
Ask yourself, do people tell me what I want to hear or what I need to hear?
Do they coach me to my likes or to my needs?
If all you ever hear is pleasing you, you should be worried.
It's impossible that someone just does everything right on every single day.
It's nonsense.
Only if people also dare to give you things you need, although you don't want them, you should be grateful, you should thank them.
And then you're starting to build a real honest feedback culture.
And even more importantly, if you're a leader, have I created an environment where people around me can safely speak up, can safely offer feedback?
Because the answer to that question defines your culture.
By the way, if you want to establish a stronger feedback culture in your organization and you look for an exchange, then I'd love to invite you to have an initial free phone call, video call with me on the topic.
The link into my calendar is straight in the show notes.
Go in, book a time, and I'd like to listen.
First listen and listen.
And maybe by listening and in our initial exchange, Maybe I can already give you one little thing that helps you move forward.
Interested?
Book a call right now.
And here a quick question.
If you could please briefly participate in the following poll.
How easy do you find giving feedback?
Very easy?
Rather easy?
Rather difficult?
Or very difficult?
Please take three seconds, go into the show notes now and click your answer.
This helps us strengthen our dialogue and exchange.
Thank you in advance.
And in closing, please remember, you don't build a feedback culture by encouraging feedback.
You built it by how you respond to it.
I hope you enjoyed it today.
I thank you for your time.
And I already now look forward to you dialing in again here in the Lightwolf podcast.
Thank you.
Have a great week and see you soon.
Bye.
You're Stefan.