The Relief of Truth in Luxury

Every organisation says it wants honesty until it arrives.

I’ve just completed an organisational and cultural diagnostic, and what always strikes me with this type of project is how truth feels heavy right before it feels light. The founder knows something’s off but can’t quite name it. The team feels it too but keeps the peace. Everyone adjusts around the silence until someone external steps in and says what’s been quietly obvious for months.

The moment truth surfaces, the tension breaks. Not because it’s new information (everyone already knew) but because it’s finally allowed to exist in daylight. That’s the real shift. Energy moves again. People reconnect.

The deeper reason this work matters is that self-protection is the most invisible culture of all. And leaders who can face that without flinching create organisations that actually evolve, not just perform success.

Leaders who instruct me on to come into their organisations and call it all out, that’s courage. A trait at the heart of great leadership.

Are your founders brave enough to give the relief of truth?