Leaders know the importance of having someone in their lives who will unfailingly and fearlessly tell them the truth.

What job is worth the enormous psychic cost of following a leader who values loyalty in the narrowest sense.

If I had to reduce the responsibilities of a good follower to a single rule, it would be to speak truth to power.

First and foremost, effective leaders must continuously strive to make themselves smarter and better at making judgments.

Encourage reflective backtalk: Leaders know the importance of having someone in their lives who will unfailingly and fearlessly tell them the truth.

Find the appropriate balance of competing claims by various groups of stakeholders. All claims deserve consideration but some claims are more important than others.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines crucible as "a place, time, or situation characterized by the confluence of powerful intellectual, social, economic, or political forces; a severe test of patience or belief; a vessel for melting material at high temperatures." A crucible was the vessel in which medieval alchemists attempted to turn base metals into gold. That the alchemists inevitably failed in their audacious attempts doesn't denigrate the power of the crucible as a metaphor for the circumstances that cause an individual to be utterly transformed.