How to Lead When You Hear What Leadership Doesn’t Want to Acknowledge

Hi Leaders,

Sometimes your team tells you the truth…
And the people above you don’t want to hear it.

Maybe it’s about culture.
Maybe it’s about a policy.
Maybe it’s about someone with power and poor behavior.

You’ve done the work of listening.
Now you’re holding feedback that’s real, clear…and inconvenient.

So what do you do?

Because the reality is: leadership isn’t tested when everyone agrees.
It’s tested when you’re the only one in the room who knows what’s really going on…and has to decide whether to say it or not.

A quick example

Rea Ann Silva created the Beautyblender, a product that transformed an industry. But when she first shared her idea, the industry dismissed it. No corporate backing. No mainstream approval. Plenty of resistance.

But she also had something else: clear feedback from makeup artists and clients saying, “This isn’t working for us.”

Rea didn’t chase comfort. She listened. Not to the noise at the top, but to the need on the ground. And then she acted.

That’s what Ally Leadership looks like. Not waiting for permission. Not playing it safe. Leading from what’s real, not what’s convenient.

So what happens when you’re in that same middle seat…hearing things leadership doesn’t want to acknowledge, holding feedback no one else wants to elevate?