FIX THE SILENCE, BUILD REAL TRUST

You share a strategy you’re proud of with your team. It’s clear, grounded, maybe a little bold. But the room? No questions or pushback. Just nods with no real feedback.

Later, you hear secondhand about concerns that never made it into the meeting. And you’re left thinking: Why didn’t anyone speak up?

That silence? It’s not apathy. It’s self-protection. People hold back when disagreement feels risky — or pointless.

But here’s the thing: Disagreement is essential to great Work. It sharpens thinking, builds trust, and helps your company grow stronger over time.

Read more in Why Your Team Isn't Speaking Up (And What to Do About It).

Want to fix the silence? Start here:

• Model the difference between listening and agreement.
• Value ideas based on substance, not status.
• Build cultures on respect, not deference.
• Make feedback a habit, not a surprise.

Because when speaking up feels safe, trust deepens. And with trust, people stop holding back. They lean in, ask questions, and do the kind of work that actually moves the company forward.

PERSPECTIVES

“A hallmark of a healthy creative culture is that its people feel free to share ideas, opinions, and criticisms.” — Ed Catmull, Former President of Pixar

MARK MY WORDS

I’ve had moments where I walked out of a meeting thinking we were aligned only to find out later there were doubts no one brought up. 

Early on in my career, I assumed silence meant buy-in. But over the years, I’ve  learned it often means the opposite — hesitation, doubt, or even fear.

If people don’t feel safe disagreeing with you, especially when you’re in a leadership position, they’ll stop contributing. Not because they don’t care but because it doesn’t feel worth the risk. And when real feedback loops break down, entropy moves in fast.

I tell my team they don’t have to agree with me, but I do need to know what they see. Disagreement isn’t dysfunction. It’s how we build trust.

I know I can be intense. Most founders are. But if people aren’t speaking up, I check how I’m showing up. Because if the truth isn’t safe in your culture, trust doesn’t stand a chance.

GOT A MINUTE?

What makes work meaningful
I spent five years writing Work 9.0 because I deeply believe this: You can’t fully self-actualize without doing meaningful Work. 

In this short clip, I talk about:

• Why Work is essential to becoming who we’re meant to be
• What it means to genuinely enjoy building something that matters
• How we can create environments where people love to Work

[Watch Now]

ONE MORE FOR THE ROAD

In case you missed it, here’s more from Founder’s Framework:

Pace at Spec: The Standard for High-Performing Teams

Heroics don’t scale. Learn why "pace at spec" is the performance standard your team actually needs, and how to build a rhythm that keeps quality and speed aligned.

[Read Now]

In honor of the late Ozzy Osbourne, “Paranoid” captures the internal tension that builds when people don’t feel safe speaking up. Silence isn’t calm — it’s pressure. And pressure builds until it breaks.