The entire Acumen community gets together with their leadership teams ever quarter to connect, get sharper, challenge the status quo, and be inspired by others ideas and best practices.

It’s interesting to see how an instant culture is created at the table. I’m sure you’ve had this experience at an event. While you sit at the circle table, the presenter asks you to introduce yourself which you do politely with handshakes and smiles.  At some point, there are two quiet minutes to think about the speaker’s content followed by an open discussion at the table.

When it’s time for discussion, everyone is a positive, head nodding, a drive to listen well, honor each other’s ideas, and share personal experiences. Everyone is for and with each other at that table.

That isn’t the way it goes in your executive meetings though. Those are fraught with politics, hard decisions, blind spots, and the ability to affect many people in your company and the bottom line – therefore added pressure. All this can create a truth vacuum in the room.

Do you have a truth bomber on your team?

A truth bomber is someone who can cut through all the complexity and get to the heart of the issue directly. The bomb clears a way to tackle the real problem, challenge, or opportunity.

At our first quarter event, we recognize the people in our accelerator community who are the truth bombers of their mastermind teams as voted on by their peers. This is such an important role that we want to award the person who makes everyone better and is honest with grace but with an edge.

The “Sharper Edge” award is for the person who is quick to challenge biases, assumptions, and throw the BS flag.

This person is not reluctant to ask tough questions and bring attention to blind spots.

This person is unafraid to challenge the status quo or “six-ton sacred cows.”

In short, this person helps to sharpen others as iron sharpens iron.

Does your culture embrace a sharper edge? If not embrace, can you tolerate it?

Do you have this person on your team? If not, why not?

Although it doesn’t always feel good when it goes off, a well-timed truth bomb moves the business forward and makes everyone in the room better.

Here’s to the truth bombers!