Honesty is not a value to put on the wall. It is a behaviour, a skill and a choice leaders must practise every day. Dom Thurbon is an entrepreneur, researcher, writer and speaker who has spent nearly 20 years helping leaders and organisations change behaviour through disruption. He has built and sold two global businesses, worked as a partner at EY, co-founded Alchemy Labs and written several publications.

Dom explains why truth is so difficult inside organisations, how silence becomes a form of dishonesty, and why leaders must go first. He reveals how cultures gradually drift away from honest conversations, often without anyone intending it. The result is frustration, disengagement and problems that grow larger because nobody feels safe enough to speak up.

Dom says that honesty is not simply a value to aspire to but a skill that must be learned and practised. He challenges leaders to stop seeing themselves as passengers in culture and instead recognise their role in creating it, one conversation, one decision and one behaviour at a time.

Takeaways

• Truth is not a value; it is a skill leaders practice.
• Silence often causes more damage than outright dishonesty ever does.
• People frequently choose acceptance and belonging over difficult honest conversations.
• Every interaction teaches others what behaviour is acceptable and rewarded.
• Small problems become major failures when truth is repeatedly ignored.
• Leaders create honest cultures by demonstrating vulnerability and going first.
• No news rarely means good news; it often signals fear.
• Honest organisations are built through behaviours, not values statements alone.

Follow Dominic Thurbon
https://domthurbon.com/

Dominic’s book
To Be Honest: How making truth happen builds better businesses, lives and societies https://amzn.com/1923186434

Books recommended
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Pat Lencioni https://amzn.to/43Sruho
Determined: Life Without Free Will by Robert Sapolsky https://amzn.to/440O87a

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