When Leaders Don’t Act - Culture & Performance Weakens

Original Article by Cynthia Kyriazis | Updated for PL3

Audience: Leaders in PE, VC & Family-Owned Businesses

Overview: The third in a four-part series exploring key culture breakdowns - and how failure to acknowledge and act on workforce needs can stall engagement and damage trust.

When team members speak up - through surveys, one-on-one conversations or staff meetings - they’re offering leaders a window into what’s needed for improved engagement and performance.

But when those needs are ignored, brushed off or never asked for in the first place - it signals something worse than indifference. It communicates that leadership either isn’t listening - or doesn’t care.

And that’s a culture and performance killer!

Just like chronic anxiety undermines performance [see Anxiety - The Silent Culture & Performance Killer], failing to acknowledge or act on staff needs drives disengagement, turnover, and a weakening sense of trust.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Leaders gather data but never follow up:

• Staff suggestions are minimized, sidelined, or never acknowledged

• Feedback mechanisms exist, but nothing seems to change

• Middle managers feel stuck- they hear the requests but lack the authority to respond.

It’s not the survey that matters. It’s what happens next.

When action doesn’t follow insight, staff become disillusioned. Morale drops. Communication weakens. And trust in leadership declines.

What Leaders Can Do

• Close the loop – Let staff know what’s being done with their input, even if the answer is "not now"

• Prioritize requests – Acknowledge not every request will be fulfilled, but show how decisions are made

• Enable middle managers – Give them the tools and authority to act on local feedback

• Establish a clear feedback-to-action process – Make it transparent and consistent.

Takeaways

When employees take the risk to ask for what they need- and leadership fails to respond - it erodes cultural integrity.

Acknowledging and acting on employee input is a key signal of trust, alignment, and psychological safety. It’s not just good practice - it’s necessary leadership. Failing to close this loop leaves your culture stuck in limbo: employees are watching, waiting…and walking away.

Cynthia Kyriazis is the Chief Experience Officer at The Culture Think Tank. Her experience includes executive coaching, consulting, and training. Book a 15-minute chat to discuss your people, performance or profit challenges.