3 Feedback Lessons from David Solomon’s Tenure at Goldman Sachs: What the controversy around internal dissent reveals about leadership in high-performance cultures

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon is no stranger to transformation. Since taking over the top job in 2018, he’s reshaped the iconic investment bank with a modern, forward-leaning agenda, shedding legacy traditions and pushing into new markets. But in recent months, it’s not the firm's strategy that's drawn scrutiny. It’s the way Solomon has responded to internal criticism and dissent.

After a rocky expansion into consumer banking, most notably the $2.2 billion acquisition of GreenSky in 2021, Goldman faced mounting losses and reputational strain. That consumer push, once touted as a major growth vector, ultimately became a cautionary tale. In 2024, Goldman announced a sharp pivot: winding down much of its consumer lending arm and focusing instead on core institutional strengths. The decision was financially sound. According to reports, the company’s stock rose by 48% and profits recovered significantly in the months following the retreat (New York Post).

On paper, it looked like a comeback. But internally, the cracks were growing.

As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Solomon allegedly launched internal probes to root out dissent after news of internal discontent leaked to the press. Several high-ranking executives, some of whom had voiced concerns about the firm's direction, were reportedly pushed out or chose to resign. These departures weren’t isolated. They pointed to something deeper: a culture under stress and a leadership model under question.

So what can leaders learn from this high-profile, real-world example? Here are three core lessons that apply to anyone navigating feedback and alignment in complex, high-pressure environments.

1. Feedback Isn’t a Threat. It’s a Lifeline!

Leadership during change is never easy, but it becomes exponentially harder when feedback is treated as disloyalty.

Instead of using internal criticism as a learning opportunity, Solomon reportedly sought to control the narrative. As The Wall Street Journal detailed, the CEO authorized investigations to trace leaks to the media, rather than addressing the substance of the concerns internally. Some executives believed the firm had moved too fast and too aggressively into unfamiliar terrain, and voiced those concerns. Rather than opening a dialogue, they were sidelined.

When leaders silence dissent, they don’t eliminate problems. Instead, they bury them. The issues remain; the trust erodes. And eventually, the people leave.

In high-performance cultures, feedback isn’t just helpful, it’s survival-critical. It surfaces blind spots, tempers overconfidence, and enables course correction before damage sets in. Leaders who understand this treat feedback, even uncomfortable feedback, not as a challenge to their authority but as an early warning system.

Leadership takeaway: Build a culture where tough feedback travels upward. Your greatest critics might just be your most loyal advisors if you’re willing to listen.

2. Aligning the Mission Means Aligning the Messengers

Change requires alignment and not just of goals, but of people. If your leadership team doesn’t feel included in the vision, you may have a compliance problem, not a commitment one.

During the fallout from Goldman’s consumer pivot, multiple senior partners left the firm. As reported by the New York Post, Solomon was said to have expressed anger toward those who departed, viewing their exit as a betrayal rather than a signal of cultural misalignment. Veteran leaders like Jim Esposito and Ed Emerson, who were respected insiders, stepped away amid reports of growing centralization and top-down decision-making.

Goldman Sachs was historically known for its strong “partnership” ethos: a culture of collective decision-making, open debate, and consensus-driven strategy. That system fostered resilience, especially during volatile financial cycles. But according to insiders, Solomon's leadership approach increasingly replaced that consensus culture with centralized control.

In doing so, he may have gained speed, but lost cohesion.

When key voices are excluded or disregarded, the message is clear: alignment is expected, not earned. And in that kind of environment, feedback dries up, not because things are working, but because people stop trying.

Leadership takeaway: Alignment isn’t imposed. It’s cultivated. Include your senior voices in the process. Make them feel like co-creators, not passengers.

3. Financial Performance Doesn’t Excuse Feedback Blind Spots

Goldman’s stock rebound and return to profitability are clear wins, but performance alone doesn’t excuse breakdowns in communication or culture.

In fact, one of the most dangerous traps for leaders is using strong results to justify unhealthy behaviors. The message becomes: “It worked, so it was right.” But leadership isn’t just about outcomes, it’s about how those outcomes are achieved and what they cost in the process.

Organizational culture is slow to build and quick to break. A culture of psychological safety, where people can challenge ideas, ask hard questions, and speak truth to power, can’t survive in an atmosphere of fear, punishment, or silence. The long-term effects of a suppressed feedback culture are subtle: slower innovation, higher turnover, and a leadership bench that starts to pull away.

Solomon may have steered Goldman through a strategic correction, but if the cost was a fractured leadership team and a more insulated C-suite, the organization will feel those effects long after the balance sheet recovers.

Leadership takeaway: Don’t confuse results with resilience. Great leadership builds performance and trust, not one at the expense of the other.

Final Reflection: Pressure Reveals the Culture

David Solomon’s tenure offers a real-time case study in what happens when feedback and leadership collide in the public eye. It’s not a cautionary tale about failure; it’s more nuanced than that. In fact, that’s exactly why it matters.

Because the most important leadership lessons don’t come from catastrophe. They come from complex decisions. Mixed results. Moments where what “works” in the short term may undermine what’s sustainable in the long term.

And the real leadership question is this:

What happens when the feedback you need is the feedback you least want to hear?

If you answer with openness, you’ll grow your organization and yourself.
If you answer with control, you may still win. But you’ll win alone.

And leadership was never meant to be a solo act.

This article was also featured on Medium and Substack.

About the Author

Clayton Thompson,  Ph.D., is a Colonel in the U.S. Air Force with over 20 years of leadership experience. He is the author of the upcoming book RA-RA Feedback: It’s Not a Moment. It’s a System! for building trust, accelerating growth, and creating a leadership advantage.