Sean Glaze explains why people share problems with leaders: urgent crises force the issue, or they feel psychologically safe enough to speak up. Leaders should be greedy and grateful for feedback to build the kind of team that brings problems early.
There's only two reasons that people share problems. There are only two reasons that people will take the initiative to share information and begin a collaborative conversation. Only two reasons. The first is something's on fire. There is an urgency. Oh my goodness, things are going to explode. Things are horrible. We got to deal with this right now. There's a really big squish moment happening. The other reason that people share is because they feel safe. And if you want your people to come to you and share problems and share ideas and collaborate more, one of the most powerful things you can do to encourage feedback is to make sure people know that you are greedy and grateful for it.
