Question 1 1. It’s 3 a.m. on a bridge call. You spot the likely root cause, but the room is loud, senior people are talking over each other, and you’re not fully certain. What do you do?
Stay quiet until I’m certain — I don’t want to be wrong in front of leadership. Wait until someone senior asks me directly before offering it. Take a breath, then state what I see and how confident I am. Blurt it out fast so I’m heard over the noise.
Question 2 2. Six hours into a ransomware recovery, the team is finally winning the fight to restore a critical file server. As the lead, your instinct is to…
Keep everyone focused on the win — momentum matters most right now. Ask what that server depends on, and whether the real damage is somewhere we’re not looking. Trust the team’s focus — they know these systems better than I do. Add more people to the file-server effort to finish it faster.
Question 3 3. You have to decide whether to take the entire environment offline to stop the spread. You have roughly 70% of the picture. You…
Ask for one more scan so I can be sure before committing. Make the call now on what I know, and adjust as I learn more. Escalate it and wait for someone above me to decide. Hold off until the team reaches consensus.
Question 4 4. The CEO demands the customer-facing platform back first, tonight. You know it depends on systems that are still down. You…
Do what the CEO said — bring the platform up first. Restore the foundations it depends on first, and explain to the CEO why that’s faster overall. Split the team to attempt both at the same time. Bring the platform up and hope the dependencies hold.
Question 5 5. An executive on the call asks how bad it is — and you genuinely don’t fully know yet. You say…
“Honestly, I don’t know if we can recover from this.” “Here’s what we know, what we don’t, and what we’re doing — I’ll update you at the top of the hour.” “Everything’s under control.” Avoid answering until I have something certain to report.
Question 6 6. It’s hour 34. Your best engineer refuses to rest and is still making critical changes. You…
Let him keep going — that dedication is exactly what we need. Insist he hands off and rests; exhausted judgment causes the worst mistakes. Ask him to be careful, but let him keep working. Keep the whole team on until the work is finished.
Question 7 7. A week later, in the debrief, someone is framing the story in a way that misplaces the credit and the blame. You…
Stay quiet — the truth will speak for itself. Calmly offer an accurate account of what actually happened. Let it go to avoid conflict. Maybe raise it privately afterward, if it seems worth it.
Show me my weakest pillar → Answer all 7 questions to see your result.
