Use this network as a source of authentic feedback. Hold it up as a mirror to yourself. Find gentle ways to discuss hard truths. Leaders don't always face pleasant choices. In the end, just do it.
People respect decisive leadership, even when they disagree with a particular course of action.
The more that you show a bias for action, the more likely the people around you will be to tell you the truth. Chuck House spent nearly 30 years at Hewlett-Packard, where he was the company's first corporate engineering director. His second career involves working with software startups. He is also president of the Association for Computing Machinery. We should look into it.