What Happens When Vision Outruns Accountability?

Dear Friends,

Tesla’s board just sent a message: they’re all in on Elon Musk.

Amid slowing sales, regulatory setbacks, and an increasingly risky bet on robotaxis, you’d think the company might hedge a bit. Instead, its chair denied reports that Tesla was considering other CEO options. The takeaway? This is still Elon’s show.

But that decision raises a deeper question about leadership and risk. Because Tesla’s greatest vulnerability right now isn’t competition. It’s culture.

In companies that prioritize safety — not just the physical kind, but strategic and reputational as well — one trait stands out: psychological safety. The best leaders create environments where people are encouraged to speak up, challenge assumptions, and flag problems early. Cynthia Carroll did it at Anglo American. Paul O’Neill transformed Alcoa by making worker safety the cornerstone of his strategy.

We’ve seen this kind of culture lead to disaster before — just ask Boeing. It’s a cautionary tale of what happens when a company silences dissent, cuts corners, and puts short-term returns above long-term trust. The result? Tragedy, lawsuits, and a once-golden reputation in freefall.

Musk has said the right things about openness and accountability, but his track record tells a more troubling story — from whistleblowers alleging retaliation, to lawsuits, to reports of a safety culture eroded by fear.

Now he’s betting the future of the company on autonomous vehicles — a move that requires extraordinary trust from both employees and the public. But trust can’t be commanded. It has to be earned. And it starts with how leaders lead.

More on this in my latest piece on Bloomberg Opinion. Read the full article here.

– Gautam

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