Validation is the pat on the back that you did a good job (irrespective of whether you truly did do a good job).
Feedback is the understanding that you didn’t do a good job, but now you know where to focus next time to not only do a good job but surpass what you did.
Not everyone wants feedback, even when they are begging for it, they want validation because they did a lot to get there – regardless of whether it was right or wrong.
The tricky part of the leader is to crave a team that wants feedback, just not from you, but from their team, so it becomes an evolving piece of the culture where everyone is constantly improving and getting better and not just giving high-fives to each other.
