For me Hicks suffers from narcissism. He has a need to preserve his self esteem leading to the compromise of error disclosure. The psychological, ethical and legal effects of business errors and the extent to which a need to constantly assert his competence can cause otherwise capable, and even exceptional, professionals to fall into narcissistic traps. Most professionals of any ilk work on cultivating a self that exudes authority, control, knowledge, competence and respectability. It's the narcissist in us all - we dread appearing stupid or incompetent. He will hang around.