They say when employees start talking about how they feel at work, the culture begins to crumble.

But let’s be honest—if the whispers have started, the culture was already cracked.
Nobody gossips about Sally because she shows up with empathy and support. Nobody drags Rob when he leads with fairness and clarity.

So maybe… just maybe…
The problem isn’t the conversations employees are having—it’s what leadership is not addressing.

Here’s the real kicker: we love to throw around the word family in corporate spaces.
“We’re one big family,” they say.

Except real families talk.
They sit at the table. They hash things out. They cry, they forgive, they grow.

They don’t silence.
They don’t alienate.
They don’t terminate “the one” who speaks up about what everyone else is afraid to say out loud.

If we truly want to evolve as leaders and as a workplace culture, we need to stop labeling employee truth-telling as toxicity.
It’s not the voice that ruins the culture—it’s the refusal to hear it.

Let’s stop fearing feelings. Let’s start leading with them.