This isn't a dictatorship, it's a partnership. What can I do to change/help you?
Most of my team is quiet on this sort of thing. Perhaps it's cultural? (Is this common for individuals who grew up in eastern Europe?)
I kinda feel like I'm watching a glassblower and getting asked "So what do you think?". I could say if I like the piece or not, but I don't know the first thing about glassblowing to give effective criticism.
It really depends on the needs of the individual contributor. For example, if you know what needs to be done, and you're blocked for one reason or another, let me know.
The key here, and the point of my original post, is communication. Any kind. Sure, some managers don't listen, but also some direct reports don't speak their mind.
What I found works best is giving them advanced notice of what type of feedback is expected and when. Schedule a one on one a week in advance. Let them know what you are looking for. Don't combine it with anything else.
The worst thing you can do (and what almost everyone does) is tack it on to the end of a yearly performance review.
I've had managers who either consciously or otherwise had given me the impression that they're find with their management style and aren't really interested in changing it. That's fine and doesn't necessarily make them a bad manager, but going out of my way to provide "feedback" to them would have only harmed my career.
I've had a couple managers who explicitly told me on multiple occasions that they wanted feedback on their performance and if I thought they were doing anything wrong, inefficiently, stupid, etc., they wanted to know about it.
I've also had a couple in the middle, and for those it's much safer to just keep quiet. It's pretty high risk/low reward in that scenario.
It's definitely something to read up on if you end up managing people from abroad; I can't recommend any books but I believe there's a few.