As pilots, we ask for only one thing from our management; the positive support and tools we need to do our jobs. We used to be told that our decisions, no matter how conservative, would be supported if we acted in good faith. This is no longer the case.
And, in the good old days, if you made a bad call, the chief pilot would suggest that next time you might want to do things a little differently. But, he would finish with 'that's just a suggestion, you were there, I wasn't, it was your call to make'.
Now, if you get some inflight maintenance problem you are supposed to get a kumbaya phone patch with maintenance, dispatch and a 'subject matter expert'. And, get this, if they tell you something wrong and you make an 'incorrect' decision, it's your fault because you trusted them. You're still hung out to dry by the feds since you are, of course, the PIC.
The old pilot and the dog joke about the future of flight deck automation has more truth than we realized in these times of blame and liability.
Fortunately, I don't think I have ever felt commercial pressure on a safety decision. I've had a coworker suggest we divert to a certain airport because he's a commuter and there are more jumpseats home there. Not exactly what I want on the CVR tape if it is ever pulled.
I realize many of the senior folks here have a hard time grasping why the Sky God Captain act no longer plays well in the U.S. As noted in some of the posts above, CRM has evolved cockpit leadership into a more democratic rule by committee in these enlightened times. The captain is the 'facilitator', he or she (or perhaps neither, a couple are always in transition where I work) promotes active sharing of information and identification of threats. Or something like that.
Anyway, we can always make the customary excuses about how management is mean and we took a pay cut so we're not going to do anything extra. However, I would argue that some of us need to pay a little more attention to flying the plane and less to some video game on the iPhone when we are the PF. Or, it will bite us.