he would know if something were amiss because, he wrote, “I
am fully engaged in this company. I pay attention and I know
what goes on throughout it.” There is a name for that kind of
responsive, responsible behavior. It’s called leadership.
One of the most important things that Sidney, like all great
leaders, does is to cultivate a culture of candor. I had been writ-
ing about leadership for many years before it struck me that
there was a vital aspect of any organization’s success that had
been overlooked—not great leadership, but great followership.
Sidney keeps a plaque on his desk that reads: “In every business
there is always someone who knows exactly what is going on.
That person should be fired.” Sidney’s plaque is ironic, of
course, and he is committed to listening to, even inviting, in-
formed dissent. But, in too many organizations, those who
speak unwelcome truths arefired or at least marginalized.
One tragic example involves the Challenger explosion. On
January 28, 1989, the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded
shortly after launch, killing all on board—six astronauts and the
first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe. It was the worst space
disaster in American history, made even more heartbreaking by
the presence of the crew’s families, and it need not have hap -
pened. Only the day before, Roger Boisjoly, an engineer with
NASA supplier Morton Thiokol, had warned his superiors that
there was a serious flaw in the spaceship’s O-rings. Boisjoly’s
fate was that of so many modern-day Cassandras whose well-
informed alarms are ignored. Boisjoly’s reward for his coura -
geous efforts to prevent the disaster was the end of his career.
Since then, he has made his living lecturing on whistle blowing
and other ethical issues, in large part, because he was unable to
get another job in aerospace. One hard-won bit of advice he
gives would-be whistle blowers—make sure you have another
job lined up first.Introduction to the Revised Edition, 2003xxi0465014088_fm.qxd:0738208175_fm.qxd 12/2/08 2:52 PM Page xxi