"Courage is the ability to speak out when no one else will" - Futurist Jim Carroll

No one seems to be willing to speak up while the damage is being done. Courage has disappeared. Corporate leadership seems to be excelling at mastering the art of being a wimp.

Sure, several top business leaders are 'expressing concern' about how tariff policies might affect companies and the broader economy. But few are willing to do anything. Meanwhile, all the uncertainty from the whiplash of insanity leads to a vortex of crashing consumer confidence, wild volatility, and the likelihood of an economic downturn.

Public comments are weak at best. Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase recently changed his view on tariffs, noting that "uncertainty is not a good thing" and suggesting businesses may need to adjust their operations. With that, his team has increased their recession probability estimate from 30% to 40%. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink told CNN that "the economy is weakening as we speak" due to current policies, causing both individuals and business leaders to hesitate and reduce activity.

But aside from a few weak comments like this, few are speaking up. There is no courage. The fact is, while many other CEOs have expressed similar concerns privately, it seems few are willing to speak up. The lack of courage is palpable. This became the subject of an article in the Wall Street Journal the other day.

Consider the article.

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How business leaders talk about the Trump administration in private has been markedly different than what they are game to say in public. The dissonance was on full display here this week. 

Early on Tuesday, dozens of corporate executives and others assembled at a Yale CEO Caucus not far from the White House just as news emerged that the Trump administration planned to potentially double tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada. Those in the room responded with a mix of groans and shocked laughter. 

“There was universal revulsion against the Trump economic policies,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, who organized the invite-only summit that included corporate bosses such as JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon, billionaire Michael Dell and Pfizer’s Albert Bourla. “They’re also especially horrified about Canada.” 

That sentiment wasn’t apparent hours later, when many of the same chief executives from the Yale event attended a question-and-answer session with President Trump at the Business Roundtable. There, the exchange was largely cordial and executives didn’t ask the president any pointed questions about his tariff strategy, according to people familiar with the event. 

They're all silent. Scared of their shadows. These are the leaders taking the world into the future. 

**#Courage** **#Leadership** **#Silence** **#Economy** **#Risk** **#Uncertainty** **#Tariffs** **#Innovation** **#Action** **#Accountability**

https://jimcarroll.com/2025/03/daily-inspiration-leadership-failure-courage-is-the-ability-to-speak-out-when-no-one-else-will/