In many organisations, leaders are seen as the cultural architects, shaping vision, setting tone, and modelling values. But one of the most overlooked barriers to building a healthy organisational culture isn’t external pressure or lack of resources. It’s the difficulty leaders have with receiving personal criticism.
Even the most confident and experienced leaders can struggle when faced with feedback that challenges their intent, leadership style, or cultural impact. This struggle can have far-reaching effects, not just on personal growth, but on the organisation’s ability to build an engaged, resilient, and high-performing culture.
The Link Between Leadership Identity and Organisational Culture
Leadership and identity are often deeply intertwined. Many senior leaders have spent years, even decades, building their organisations. Their personal values, effort, and credibility are wrapped up in the success of the business. So when feedback arises, especially around issues like employee engagement, communication, or inclusion, it can feel deeply personal.
Feedback such as the below can land not as helpful insights, but as implicit accusations:
- “There’s a lack of psychological safety in meetings”
- “We don’t feel heard”
- “The culture is burning people out”
Leaders may unconsciously equate cultural criticism with a failure of leadership, they may believe that “If the culture isn’t working, does that mean I’ve failed as a leader?”
This mindset often triggers a defensive response: challenging the data, blaming employee perception, or downplaying the feedback altogether. The real risk lies in what happens next – when this defensiveness becomes a barrier to culture change.
When Feedback Is Avoided, Culture Stagnates
Leadership defensiveness doesn’t just affect one person’s development, it impacts the entire organisation.
Here’s how:
- Change efforts stall: Leaders may invest in employee engagement surveys or run workshops but avoid addressing the uncomfortable feedback that requires personal change. The result? Limited cultural progress.
- Employees disengage: When team members sense that raising concerns leads to resistance or denial, they stop speaking up. This stifles innovation and creates a culture of silence.
- Blind spots persist: The most pressing issues – those linked to trust, inclusion, or leadership dynamics – remain untouched.
Put simply, if leaders can’t receive honest feedback, it becomes almost impossible to create a culture where others feel safe to do the same.
Decoupling Criticism from Identity: A Critical Leadership Skill
Effective cultural leadership begins with a fundamental mindset shift, recognising that criticism of the organisational culture is not always a direct critique of personal intent, but it is often a reflection of impact.
Leaders must learn to separate feedback about their behaviour or decisions from their sense of self-worth. This doesn’t mean dismissing emotion or avoiding discomfort. It means seeing feedback – especially difficult feedback – as valuable data.
The most trusted and respected leaders aren’t those who always get it right. They’re the ones who model growth. They listen. They reflect. And they show that learning is more important than appearing infallible.
Practical Steps for Building Feedback-Resilient Leadership
So what can leaders do to build this capacity and lead cultural change more effectively?
1. Develop Greater Self-Awareness
Engage in regular coaching, request 360-degree feedback, or adopt reflective practices such as journaling. These tools can help leaders identify their emotional triggers and typical responses to criticism.
2. Create Safe Channels for Feedback
Ensure there are structured, anonymous, and psychologically safe ways for employees to share honest views. Recognise and reward those who raise tough issues as this sets a clear example that truth is valued.
3. Separate Intent from Impact
A leader can have good intentions and still create unintended negative experiences. Accepting both truths allows for more honest dialogue and learning.
4. Lead by Example
Culture is shaped more by what leaders do than what they say. Show your commitment to learning by visibly acting on feedback, even when it’s uncomfortable.
These behaviours don’t just build individual resilience, they shape an organisational environment where curiosity, accountability, and engagement can thrive.
Transforming Organisational Culture Starts at the Top
At its core, culture is built on trust, safety, and shared understanding. When leaders take feedback personally or deflect it, they signal that growth is off-limits. On the other hand, when they welcome it, they create the conditions for truth to emerge and with it, the opportunity for lasting cultural transformation.
Leadership isn’t about perfection. It’s about creating space for honesty, learning, and change.
If your organisation is struggling to translate employee engagement survey results into action, or if culture change efforts feel stuck, the issue may not be the tools – it may be the mindset. That’s where a culture assessment platform like Cultiv8tiv can help. By surfacing the behaviours and systems behind employee sentiment, leaders can gain actionable insight, not just anonymous scores.
Culture begins with leadership. And leadership begins with listening.