Many CEOs and leaders think that silence is indeed golden, that consensus is bliss. It is - sometimes. But more often what it signifies is that there are no respected processes for surfacing concerns and dissent.

The truth won't set us free until we develop the skills and the habit and the talent and the moral courage to use it.

We know - intellectually - that confronting an issue is the only way to resolve it. But any resolution will disrupt the status quo. Given the choice between conflict and change on the one hand, and inertia on the other, the ostrich position can seem very attractive.

Once you have power, you are inevitably surrounded by people who have their own agendas and will tell you whatever advances them.

If the company depends entirely on you - your creativity, ingenuity, inspiration, salesmanship or charisma - nobody will want to buy it. The risk and the dependency are too great.

There is no more powerful weapon for change than honesty.

Silence is the language of inertia.