The best leaders I've worked with drive people into discussion by going around the table and asking each to state his or her commitment or dissent. These leaders make it okay to disagree if someone is not comfortable with what's being proposed. In fact, they seek it out. Getting dissent out in the open is critical in this work. It is the dissenters who spread more dissent after the meetings that tear the workplace apart.

There was much to be proud of.

Customers vote with their feet and decide if they will stay or leave based on their perception of how much we value them and how we treat them. And more are leaving every day just because of our inability to do the basic blocking and tackling of delivering our products and services to them. Getting customers to love you has got to start with showing them the respect they deserve by making it painless and eventually a joy to do business with you.

The leaders are holding people to these results,

There are no warlike people, just warlike leaders.

People underestimate the degree to which having leaders who can get along makes a big difference. But there aren't any huge expectations that somehow relations between Germany and the United States will be transformed overnight or approach anything like the way they were before the Cold War ended.