What Do WeWork, FTX, Boeing 737 MAX, FIFA, and the COVID-19 Crisis Have in Common?

In this article:

What do WeWork, FTX, Boeing, FIFA, and the COVID-19 crisis have in common?

• Feedback was ignored—and disaster followed.

• The warning signs were there, but leaders dismissed concerns, silenced dissent, and convinced themselves they were right.

• This article explores:

  • How ignoring feedback led to some of the biggest collapses in recent history.

  • The three forces that cause leaders to stop listening.

  • A 10-point checklist to spot leadership failures before they happen.

    
    

Feedback was ignored—and disaster followed.

The warning signs were there—sometimes subtle, often obvious. Concerns were raised, risks were flagged, and people spoke up. Yet, repeatedly, leaders dismissed the feedback, silenced dissent, and convinced themselves they were right—until it was too late.

In our 2026 book, Feedback First, we wrote about how abuse of power and shutting down feedback create the perfect storm for failure.

Time and again, we see the same pattern: when leaders become too dominant and too convinced of their own abilities, they cut themselves off from honest input. Blind spots grow. Bad decisions go unchallenged.

A Decade of Avoidable Disasters

Looking back from today, we see the same patterns repeating. Leadership disasters are rarely caused by a lack of knowledge—they happen because leaders refuse to listen, convinced they already know it all.

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers repeatedly warned about inadequate protective equipment, unsafe conditions, and burnout. Many of these concerns were ignored or even met with retaliation. The consequences were devastating: preventable deaths, overwhelmed hospitals, and a chilling effect on whistleblowers who could have improved the response.

• The Boeing 737 MAX disasters followed a similar script. Engineers raised safety concerns, but leadership prioritized financial targets over human lives. Two fatal crashes later, the company faced a global grounding of its aircraft and billions in losses.

• WeWork’s collapse offers another cautionary tale. Employees and investors raised concerns about reckless spending, unproven profitability, and CEO Adam Neumann’s erratic leadership. However, as long as growth appeared strong, dissent was ignored. After its failed IPO in 2019 revealed the company’s unsustainable business model, WeWork’s valuation plummeted from $47 billion to under $10 billion. Neumann was forced out and eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2023.

• Sam Bankman-Fried's refusal to heed warnings and feedback was a key factor in FTX's collapse. Employees, executives, and advisors raised concerns about poor financial controls, risky practices, and ethical issues, but he dismissed them, prioritizing rapid growth and control over accountability and risk management. This overconfidence and disregard for criticism ultimately led to operational failures, the misuse of customer funds, and one of the largest financial scandals in history.

• The FIFA corruption scandal exposed another dimension of leadership breakdown. For years, officials engaged in bribery, vote-rigging, and financial misconduct, while those in power protected their own interests rather than challenging unethical behavior. It took a massive international investigation to reveal the extent of the corruption, leading to dozens of arrests and resignations.

These weren’t just missteps or poor decisions. They were entirely preventable disasters—avoidable if those in charge had been willing to listen.

Why Leaders Keep Ignoring Feedback

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."— Lord Acton

If ignoring feedback leads to disaster, why does it keep happening? Three forces are at play.

1. Power Corrupts

Power breeds overconfidence, making leaders less receptive to criticism. It creates a sense of distance from others, lowering empathy and making it harder to see different perspectives. Over time, leaders may start to see their followers—especially those who disagree with them—as obstacles rather than people. This dehumanization makes it easier to dismiss, silence, or even bully them.

Power also weakens self-restraint—what psychologists call inhibition—the ability to pause, reflect, and question one’s own impulses before acting. Without these internal checks, leaders interrupt more, listen less, and take bigger risks, convinced they are untouchable.

2. The Inner Circle Becomes an Echo Chamber

As leaders rise, advisors stop acting as truth-tellers and become gatekeepers. Loyalty starts to matter more than competence. No one wants to be the bearer of bad news.

In many organizations, agreeing with the boss isn’t just expected—it’s a basic survival strategy. The inner circle quickly learns that challenging authority is risky while

is often rewarded. Leaders unconsciously reinforce this behavior by seeking validation over truth, but flattery comes at a cost: it cuts leaders off from reality, leaving them surrounded by approval instead of facts.

3. The Myth of Heroic Leadership

As followers, we tend to admire and trust leaders who project confidence, control, and decisiveness—even when curiosity and critical thinking would serve them better.

Larger-than-life leaders provide a sense of stability in times of uncertainty, making people reluctant to question them. Admitting mistakes is often seen as a weakness rather than a strength. The more they are revered, the harder it becomes for them to acknowledge errors or change course.

These forces are not new. What has changed is the scale of the risks leaders face when they stop listening. The stakes are higher, and the consequences of ignoring feedback are more devastating than ever.

10 Ways to Spot Trouble

Leadership failures don’t happen overnight. They build up, one ignored warning at a time. Here are 10 clear signs that trouble is ahead:

1️⃣ Leaders Stop Listening

📌 Example: WeWork’s Adam Neumann dismissed investor concerns about reckless spending. Only after the company’s valuation collapsed did he face consequences.

2️⃣ Fear Silences the Truth

📌 Example: Healthcare workers raising safety concerns during COVID-19 faced retaliation, discouraging others from speaking out.

3️⃣ The Inner Circle Becomes an Echo Chamber

📌 Example: FIFA officials protected their own positions rather than confronting corruption, allowing unethical behavior to flourish unchecked.

4️⃣ Power Breeds Overconfidence

📌 Example: FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried ignored warnings from employees and advisors, convinced he could operate without oversight—until it all collapsed.

5️⃣ Leaders Grow Detached from Reality

📌 Example: Boeing leadership prioritized financial goals over engineers’ safety concerns—until two 737 MAX crashes exposed fatal flaws.

6️⃣ Flattery Replaces Facts

📌 Example: At WeWork, employees who raised concerns about Neumann’s leadership were dismissed, as the culture rewarded loyalty over accountability.

7️⃣ Admitting Mistakes Is Seen as Weakness

📌 Example: Governments that refused to revise COVID-19 policies in response to new evidence worsened the crisis.

8️⃣ Charisma Overshadows Competence

📌 Example: Sam Bankman-Fried’s carefully curated public persona convinced investors he was a visionary—until the reality of FTX’s financial mismanagement was exposed.

9️⃣ Short-Term Wins Are Prioritized Over Long-Term Health

📌 Example: Boeing’s rush to compete with Airbus led to safety shortcuts, culminating in the 737 MAX catastrophe.

🔟 Ethical Shortcuts Become the Norm

📌 Example: FIFA’s bribery and vote-rigging scandals became a way of operating—until global investigations forced a reckoning.

Conclusion: Why Feedback Still Comes First

The same patterns that led to disasters in the past continue today. The warning signs were there for WeWork, FTX, Boeing, FIFA, and COVID-19—but they went unheard.

Leaders who ignore feedback, surround themselves with yes-men, and silence dissent create blind spots that inevitably lead to their downfall—taking everyone down with them. History has proven this time and time again, whether through reckless financial decisions, toxic corporate cultures, or outright fraud.

The best leaders do not fear feedback—they seek it out. They challenge themselves, invite honest conversations, and create cultures where speaking up is safe.

Because, in the end, the leaders who listen are the ones who last.