If you are a leader and want to grow as a leader, then feedback from others is a very crucial component to your growth. However, the higher you go up your organization’s leadership chart you will find that few people are willing to give you feedback. It’s one thing to give feedback to a peer or to someone who works for you, but it’s not easy to give feedback to a superior. If the feedback is positive, it comes devalued as flattery. If the feedback is negative, then there is fear the feedback could get you fired. This is why leaders need feedback from others to grow since they rarely get this kind of constructive and honest feedback from those who work for them.
So the key question is, who is giving you feedback? If the only feedback you are receiving is from superiors then you are not really getting all the feedback that is so crucial to your growth as a leader. It’s not easy to let go of one’s ego and tell someone in a lower position than you to give you honest feedback. Feedback that will help you grow. Of course this can only be done in an environment where there is much trust. And of course there can only be trust if the relationship has been developed and built up to a degree. There lies the key.
Do you have enough trust in your employees/juniors/lower ranks to ask them to give you feedback?