WTF Wednesday. When Tires Fail.

Several years ago, when I was still in the phase of life where I was transporting children everywhere, I did the thing no one wants to do.

I was turning right onto a street in our neighborhood and somehow cut the wheel too sharp and slammed my tire into one of those street drains.

Not a gentle graze.

A full-on assault.

Adrenaline hit. Curse words flew.

From the backseat, my daughter calmly observed:

“Wow, Mom. You hit that hard.”

Thank you, child. Very helpful.

I kept driving.

Then I hear:

“Mom… your tire is going flat.”

Me: “No it’s not.”

Her: “Um. Yes it is.”

Me: “It’s fine.”

Her: “I’m literally sitting over the tire you hit and I hear hissing.”

Me (confidently delusional): “I don’t think you’re hearing what you think you’re hearing.”

Her: “I still hear hissing. And this side of the car feels lower.”

At this point, even I could no longer gaslight the situation.

I pulled over.

Got out.

And that tire looked like it had been through a paper shredder.

I turned around.

She was staring at me with the smug confidence only a teenage daughter can possess.

Me: “Huh. I guess it is flat.”

To this day, she still gives me grief about how long it took me to believe her.

And honestly? Fair.

But here’s the leadership part.

How often do we dismiss what we don’t want to hear?

Not because it isn’t true.

But because accepting it means we have to stop, reassess, and maybe admit we were wrong.

Your team says:

• “This timeline isn’t realistic.”

• “That rollout isn’t landing well.”

• “There’s something off here.”

  
  

And instead of getting curious, we say:

• “It’s fine.”

• “You’re overreacting.”

• “I don’t think you’re seeing what you think you’re seeing.”

  
  

Meanwhile…

The tire is literally hissing.

When leaders ignore hard information, we don’t just miss data.

We erode trust.

Psychological safety isn’t about being nice. It’s about rewarding people for telling you what you don’t want to hear.

Because if your employees stop pointing out the hissing?

The blowout is coming.

And unlike my daughter, your team doesn’t owe you unlimited retries.

Listen sooner.

Pull over faster.

Thank the person who noticed the problem before you did.

Even if they’re sitting in the backseat.

~Steph