Aaron PritzCEO, Reveal Risk · Cybersecurity Executive | CEO of Reveal Risk | Pharma and Healthcare Focus | Author & Speaker | Board Advisor

Hot Takes with Legendary CISO Andy Ellis

Name: Hot Takes with Legendary CISO Andy Ellis
Uploaded: 2025-09-23T16:01:36+00:00
Duration: 52 s
Channel: Aaron Pritz
Description: In this spoken monologue, the speaker explains the leadership principle "disagree but commit" through a vivid lifeboat story. A young lieutenant, armed…

23 Sept 2025 · 1 min

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In this spoken monologue, the speaker explains the leadership principle "disagree but commit" through a vivid lifeboat story. A young lieutenant, armed with a gun and food, faces a hostile bosun's mate and other crewmen who threaten to seize the supplies. As the lieutenant becomes delirious, he hands the gun to the bosun's mate, saying "Take over, bosun," and relinquishes his contrarian stance. When he awakens, the bosun protects the food from the crew, embodying the shift from opposition to execution. The speaker uses this moment to illustrate that true commitment may reveal that the initial disagreement was unnecessary, emphasizing the importance of moving from debate to decisive action in leadership contexts.

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disagree but commit. And then sometimes when you commit, you realize you didn't actually disagree. It's the story of like this, a shipwreck, and there's a lifeboat that has this young lieutenant who has the gun and the food. And there's this bosun's mate and like 2 or 3 other crewmen that are basically like, the bosun's leading this, this like, I'm gonna throw you off the boat as soon as you pass out and we're gonna take the food. Give it to us now. Like, who are you, young kid? And like, so this very, it's a short story in which like this, this officer gets more and more delirious. And as he's about to pass out, he steps forward to the bosun's mate and he turns the gun around, hands it to him, and he says, "Take over, bosun." And when he wakes up, the bosun is standing over him and the food, protecting it from the rest of the crew members. It's this moment when you realize my job is not to be the contrarian anymore. Now my job is to go execute. And so like, for me, that's the epitome of disagree but commit. And then sometimes when you commit, you realize you didn't actually disagree.