Dragon Sickness

Dragon Cities: How Radical Transparency Transforms Leadership

Today I want to share a concept that completely changed the way I lead: dragon sickness. The term comes from The Hobbit, where Thorin Oakenshield becomes consumed by fear, control, and possessiveness once he regains his treasure. He stops trusting his people, isolates himself, and behaves defensively. That same pattern happens in construction leadership more often than we admit. Superintendents, project managers, engineers we can all fall into the trap of hoarding information, resisting accountability, pushing people away, and protecting our “mountain.” It’s fear-based leadership, and it destroys trust.

The Hobbit Story and Why It Matters in Construction

In the movie, Thorin becomes overtaken by dragon sickness, suspicion, control, secrecy, and fear of losing what he has. That metaphor resonates deeply with how many leaders behave on job sites. We hold tight to our schedules, our plans, our authority, our apps, our spreadsheets, and our reputation. We get defensive. We don’t let people in. We avoid transparency because we don’t want to look bad. And just like in the film, this fear poisons relationships and blinds us from seeing the bigger picture: people matter more than control.

My First Experience With Radical Transparency

Early in my career, I came from a culture where transparency wasn’t valued. You didn’t report non-critical issues, you didn’t loop in leadership, and you certainly didn’t copy half the company on emails. When I switched companies, everything felt wrong. The project manager shared openly, copied the entire team, notified leadership of every incident, and embraced transparency at every level. I resisted it hard. I got annoyed. I pushed back. But slowly I realized I wasn’t protecting my job, I was protecting my ego.

The Turning Point

The real shift happened when our safety director confronted me for ignoring her requests. She made it clear: if you won’t act on safety issues, you can’t lead here. That was the wake-up call. Shortly after, a fire truck passed through our site to respond to an unrelated incident. I didn’t report it. Ten minutes later, the project director called asking why he heard about it from the owner instead of me. His words changed everything: “Jason, I’m not the project executive right now, I’m a member of your team. You need to tell me what’s happening so we can support you.” That moment destroyed the illusion that withholding information protects us. It doesn’t. It isolates us.

Radical Transparency Is the Cure

Once I embraced transparency, my stress dropped. Owners trusted us more because they always knew what was going on. Teams improved because everyone could contribute solutions. Problems got solved faster because multiple minds were involved. And I learned that sharing problems doesn’t make you look weak  hiding them does. Every project has problems. Every day. Forever. The goal is not to pretend they don’t exist. The goal is to surface them quickly, widen the circle, and fix them together.

How to Kill Dragon Sickness in Leadership

The cure is simple, but it isn’t easy. Share early. Share often. Loop in leadership. Notify owners of anything important. Copy teammates on communication. Walk other jobs. Invite people onto your site. Let fresh eyes see what you may be blind to. Stop worrying about looking perfect. Start focusing on doing the right thing. The leaders who ask for help grow faster, perform better, and carry far less stress. Transparency builds trust, and trust builds winning project teams.

Key Takeaway

Dragon sickness thrives in secrecy and fear. Radical transparency frees you, strengthens your team, and transforms your leadership. Share problems early, widen the circle, and stop carrying the burden alone.