At the Navy Fighter Weapons School (aka “Topgun”) and the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron (aka “Blue Angels”), everyone knows it is their responsibility, their duty to speak up if they disagree, if they see an issue that needs resolved. This certainly applies in the air and equally on the ground as they move rapidly through their hectic schedules of meetings, briefings, and flying.

The fifth question asked when judging someone’s trustworthiness is “Do I understand you?” It’s difficult to trust someone who you don’t understand.

Nearly all of us have strapped-in to a Mach 2 world. We’re busy, we’re frantic, we’re self-absorbed. The answer: be clear, concise, and direct.

There is a guy on my team who scores well on four of the five C’s of trustworthiness: character, commitment, competence, connection, and communication.

The problem — He’s slow to respond to emails, phone calls, voicemails.