There’s a question I ask every leader I coach, usually somewhere in the first few sessions, and almost without exception it produces a pause that tells me everything.

The question is this: When did you last say something true that cost you something? 

Not true in the sense of factually accurate. True in the sense of honest. Honest about what you actually think, what you actually see, what you actually believe needs to change. True in the way that requires courage rather than just clarity.

The pause that follows isn’t nothing. It’s a leader meeting themselves.