Table of Contents

The Demand

This week, you demonstrate — not promise — that speaking up is safe. If you only say “my door is always open” without proving it at cost to yourself, the cast has already calculated that silence is the safer choice, and that calculation happens every day whether you notice or not.

The Work

  1. Identify the last time a cast member brought you a difficult observation or criticism. Recall exactly how you responded — with curiosity or with defensiveness.
  2. This week, actively solicit one difficult observation from a cast member who has not spoken up before. Ask directly: what’s something you’ve noticed that you haven’t told me?
  3. When they answer, respond with curiosity, out loud, regardless of how the observation lands. Do not defend, explain away, or minimize in that moment.
  4. Follow up within the week on whatever they raised — show them the observation led to a real action, not just a listening exercise.
  5. Model the professionalism standard on the other side: if a cast member raises a concern by escalating to aggression, name the distinction between raising a concern and making a demand, calmly, in the moment.

Before this week ends, you have demonstrated safety once, at cost to yourself, with a specific cast member and a specific follow-through.