Most of my career has been in or around the C Suite, which has given me the chance to observe dozens of different types of consultants and advisors and hundreds, literally hundreds, of public relations practitioners and attorneys, all giving advice.

When trouble comes, trust in leadership is often the first casualty. I define trust as the absence of fear, because when trust is severely damaged or gone, it is replaced by uncertainty and doubt. Sustaining trust requires the systematic participation and example through communication and behavior by leadership. Even in the most adverse circumstances, we expect leaders to be trustworthy and act ethically. We are disappointed when they fail.

I first discovered Dan Ciampa when his book, “Taking Advice, How Leaders Get Good Counsel and Use It Wisely,” came out in 2006. This is an amazing book about helping leaders find good sources of outside advice. Dan has spent his career in, around, on, and being a hands-on corporate leader. He is a perfect example of a fascinating practitioner.

A remarkable practitioner you should know, David Grossman, Founder and Chief Executive of The Grossman Group based in Chicago. He first came to my attention when I heard him speak about his work in internal communications and leadership development at McDonald’s. In the following conversation, he talks about a variety of interesting topics and ideas, particularly his intellectual and professional commitment to developing authentic leaders in our profession.

Once a crisis occurs, the bloviating begins, mostly by PR people. Most of these uninformed comments leave the erroneous impression that if you do maybe three things right, quickly, the problem is over before it begins. It’s sort of like when you were a kid, seeing a show where people were shot for the first time, and saying, “Why didn’t they just quickly jump out of the way the moment they heard gun fire?” The moment you know it’s a crisis, you have, in fact, been shot.

Great defeats in politics often come from the inside out, and are rarely caused by a better competitor, social or legacy media, critics, government interference or intervention or a strong adversary.

Brace yourselves, May is Bonuscide Month. We will see the obscene salaries of anybody who’s anybody in corporate life in the U.S. and around the world.

On March 24, 2016, Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau released a YouTube announcement about police treatment of citizens as County Attorney Mike Freeman releases his decision on how to proceed with the potential indictment of two police officers. If the city, including its police force, wants peace in the community, it has to wage peace in the community at every opportunity. Here is one way.

Please welcome Emmanuel Tchividjian, ethics officer for New York City firm Ruder Finn. I have known Emmanuel for the better part of two-decades. Over the years we have written things together, done various programs together, staged ethics events together. I think you’ll find him one of the most settled and pragmatic people you will ever meet. I’ve learned so much from him over the years.

Just for a minute, pretend you’re five years old, your mom is sharing a very charming, perhaps often repeated piece of motherly advice:

“Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words will never hurt you.”

OK, OK. You can come back now. The truth is, that after age five, this charming advice becomes a lie and remains a lie for the rest of your life. Some words and behaviors can actually terrorize.