When No One Pulls the Plug
- Ulrika Gustafson
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
What Astroworld, Boeing, and Founder-Led Teams All Get Wrong About Power, Safety, and Silence
By Ulrika Gustafson, LL.M. PCC
I watched the Astroworld documentary the other night. The chaos was horrifying - but what struck me most wasn’t what happened. It was what didn’t.
Security was overwhelmed. Medics were begging for help. Audience members were screaming for the show to stop.
And still - no one pulled the plug.
That moment - when people know something is dangerously wrong but stay frozen in place - isn’t just a tragedy of poor logistics. It’s the consequence of a leadership culture that quietly conditions people not to act. Not to speak. Not to interrupt momentum.
And it’s not unique to music festivals. It’s happening inside high-stakes organizations every single day.
Boeing Didn’t Just Fail Technically - It Failed Culturally
Take Boeing.
While the recent crash in India is still under investigation, we’ve seen this story unfold before - with devastating clarity.
The 737 Max disasters in 2018 and 2019 didn’t just reveal flaws in the software. They revealed flaws in the system. Safety engineers raised concerns. Experts flagged risks. But warnings were muted, buried, deprioritized.
Why?
Because by that point, Boeing’s culture had shifted. From engineering-led excellence to shareholder-driven velocity. And when pressure rises and power consolidates, truth becomes expensive.
When it’s safer to stay silent than to say “we’re not ready” - the system is already breaking down.
Silence Isn’t Rare. It’s Just Invisible - Until Something Breaks.
I’ve coached inside founder-led startups, global banks, biotech giants, and public companies with reputations for excellence.
Here’s what I see again and again:
Meetings where everyone nods - but no one really agrees.
Strategies pushed forward - despite clear signs they aren’t ready.
Talented people keeping their real opinions for private 1:1s - never the leadership table.
And every time I hear a leader say, “I want people to challenge me,” I ask:
Do you really? Or do you just want challenge that doesn’t disrupt your timeline, your ego, or your narrative?
Because if dissent isn’t protected - it’s not real.
The Founder Trap: When Loyalty Replaces Accountability
Founder-led organizations are especially vulnerable.
They often move fast, reward loyalty, and center decision-making in one strong personality.
But in these systems, challenge can become betrayal. Risk signals get reframed as negativity. And if you’re the one saying “pause,” you’re suddenly “not a team player.”
I once worked with a senior executive who privately told me:
“I knew the plan was wrong. But no one wanted to be the one to push back. Not this close to launch. Not after all the momentum we’d built.”
That executive wasn’t weak. They were smart. They were loyal. And they had learned - like many do - that silence is sometimes the safest option.
The Real Danger: When Responsibility Is Blurred, No One Acts
At Astroworld, no one knew who had the power to stop the show.
Was it the artist’s team? The venue? The production crew? Everyone assumed someone else had control. And by the time anyone could take action, it was too late.
I’ve seen the same diffusion of accountability inside executive teams:
“That’s not my call.”
“We flagged it last quarter, but it got shelved.”
“The CEO wants this, so we’re moving forward.”
This kind of passivity isn’t just tactical. It’s cultural. It’s what happens when leaders build systems that reward deference over dialogue.
And eventually, someone always pays the price.
The System Doesn’t Break All at Once - It Erodes in Silence
The biggest myth in leadership is that failure shows up as one big event.
It doesn’t.
It shows up in moments no one notices:
When the sharpest thinker stops pushing back.
When a senior exec starts pre-filtering the truth.
When challenge gets softened. Then skipped. Then gone.
It’s not dramatic. It’s slow. It’s subtle. And then, suddenly, the damage is visible - and irreversible.
What Real Leadership Looks Like Under Pressure
Real leadership isn’t about driving results at all costs.
It’s about building systems that hold under pressure.
That means:
Creating explicit protocols for pausing or pulling the plug - and honoring them.
Training your team to name risk early - and protecting them when they do.
Structuring power so that it’s shared - not hoarded in a way that silences correction.
Silence doesn’t keep the machine running. It delays the crash.
Final Question
Who on your team knows they have the right - and the responsibility - to say, “Stop. We’re not ready.”
That’s the question that separates leadership from performance. That’s the question that tells you whether your culture will hold - or quietly fracture under pressure.
/Ulrika
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