Insight certainty 4/5 debate potential 2/5

Thomas Zurbuchen: Pain-averse leaders cause organizations to hide critical risks

Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen · #127 Best of 2021: Conversations of the Year · Dec 21, 2021 · at 45:40

NASA Science Mission Directorate head Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen explains why emotional fragility and pain aversion in leadership degrade organizational transparency and risk reporting.

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“Some leaders don't sleep well if they have problems. You know, so they have pain aversion. It's a big leadership weakness, like, you know, to not be able to carry worries with them, you know, and those worries pulling them down so, you know, that the whole organization behaves in a way that they never bring a worry to you. You still have them, but you don't know them, right? So you get surprised”

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