The Principle: Most people say they want feedback…until they hear something they don’t like. Good leaders listen anyway. Don’t get defensive. Don’t make excuses. Listen. The truth may sting, but it gives you a chance to fix something before it costs you customers, employees, or money.
Feedback is a gift.
The Hard Truth
Most people say they want feedback, until they actually get it.
Executive insights đź‘Ą Let me tell you how that played out in my company.
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the Rules matter.
đź“– the book behind the Rule
Thanks For The Feedback, by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen
The hardest part of feedback is receiving it without letting your ego, emotions, or instincts hijack the process. The authors unpack why even well-intended feedback can feel threatening and why our natural reactions often block growth. More importantly, they show how to separate the actual message from the emotional noise, how to dig for the actionable insight inside any critique, and how to stay grounded when your first instinct is to push back. It’s a manual for leaders who want to stop getting in their own way.
Executive Takeaway: Strong leaders don’t filter feedback through their pride, they filter it for clarity. If you can learn to hear the real message behind the discomfort, you unlock growth that most leaders never reach.
“Receiving feedback sits at the intersection of two needs: our drive to learn and our longing to be accepted. That’s why it’s so hard, and so important.”
— Douglas Stone
Most of us say, “I’m open to feedback”, but we still defend, explain, or dismiss what doesn’t fit the image we have of ourselves. The best leaders, however, do the opposite. They treat feedback like a mirror instead of a threat. They don’t wait for perfect timing or sugarcoating. They seek it out, absorb it, and use it to get sharper. Because they know that the feedback you resist the most (the stuff that’s the most uncomfortable), is the feedback you need the most. If nobody is willing to tell you what’s wrong, you have a bigger problem than whatever they’re not telling you. The customer who tells you what’s broken is more valuable than the ten who quietly leave. The employee who tells you the hard truth is more valuable than the room that just nods. Don’t punish people for telling you the truth.
🎓 MASTER Rule No. 42 —Feedback is a gift.
- When to Apply | Red Flags
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October 2026
This Master Class is in development.
Help us build each of the 50 Master Classes, by adding your insights and sharing your entrepreneurial stories.
Class begins Monday, January 4, 2027, with each Rule being built out as we go. Each will contain the study sections listed above and will continue to evolve through your contributions. As business leaders continue to challenge these ideas, the Institute becomes more and more valuable, not because it’s finished, but because it never will be.