When I was younger, I used to dread feedback. I thought it was criticism, an attack on who I was or what I did. Whenever someone pointed out what I could have done better, I’d get defensive. However, as the years passed, I realized something important: feedback, especially the uncomfortable kind, is not an insult or a judgment. It’s a gift.
In business and in life, feedback is how we grow. It’s the mirror that shows us what we can’t see in ourselves. Without it, we repeat the same mistakes, make wrong assumptions, and limit our potential. The truth is simple: you can’t fix what you can’t see.
1. The courage to listen
Many leaders say they want feedback, but few can really handle it. It takes humility to listen without interrupting, explaining, or justifying but the best leaders are learners, not knowers.
My daughter Cheryl, who leads our Michelin Selected House of Lechon, is a stickler for feedback. She uses every channel to gather it—mystery shoppers, feedback forms, and even chest cameras on our staff. Some people find that extreme, but she knows that the more accurate the feedback, the better the improvement. When you welcome honest input from your customers and your people, you build trust. You gain insight you can’t get any other way.
In our management meetings, I often remind the team: “If one person has the courage to say it, many others are thinking it.” Feedback that’s ignored doesn’t disappear. It becomes a frustration that grows quietly in the background.
2. Giving feedback with care
Receiving feedback is hard. But giving it well, kindly, clearly, and constructively is just as important. Done right, feedback can inspire. Done wrong, it can crush a person’s confidence.
Good feedback is specific, timely, and rooted in care. The intent must always be to help, not to humiliate. Over the years, I’ve made it a practice to give people gentle reminders about maintaining eye contact or avoiding filler words like “ahh” when speaking. Small things, but meaningful. A well-timed word, said kindly, can change the direction of a person’s leadership journey.
3. Turning feedback into growth
Feedback only matters when we act on it. When people see that their input leads to real change—policies improved, processes refined, culture strengthened—they feel valued. Their confidence grows because they know their voice matters.
Final thoughts
In our own company, some of our best innovations came from feedback: a customer’s suggestion that improved a product or a teammate’s honest comment that strengthened service. The more open we became, the better we got.
Today, I see feedback as one of the most valuable currencies in leadership. You don’t always have to agree with it, but you should always appreciate it. Growth begins the moment you stop defending yourself and start learning from what others see.