Leadership
Leadership That Listens: Talk Last, Learn More
When the week gets noisy, I like quick, high-signal reminders. Two short Simon Sinek clips reinforce a simple truth: effective leadership starts with listening first and leading with empathy—not control. Below are the videos and a practical playbook you can use with your team this week.
Watch: 2 Short Videos
Credit: Simon Sinek — quick, grounding reminders worth revisiting.
Why “Talk Last” Works
- Better ideas: if leaders speak first, the room anchors to one view. Speaking last keeps options open.
- Psychological safety: people contribute more when they feel heard, not judged.
- Useful truth: you discover what your team actually sees, knows, and needs.
A 30-Minute Listening-First Meeting
Objective: gather input, decide, leave with owners
- 0–3 min — Frame outcomes: “By the end, we’ll decide X and assign owners.”
- 3–10 min — Round-robin input (you last). Prompts: “Options? Risks?”
- 10–18 min — Cluster themes/constraints on a board. Ask: “What did we miss?”
- 18–25 min — Draft the decision together; name trade-offs explicitly.
- 25–30 min — Confirm owner, next step, and date. Summarize in one sentence.
Prompts That Pull Better Answers
- “What’s the smallest step that moves us forward this week?”
- “If this fails, what will have been the reason?”
- “What’s the 80/20 version we could test?”
- “Who else needs to be in the loop before we ship?”
Run Great 1:1s (GROW Framework)
G — Goal
“What outcome do you want in the next 90 days?”
R — Reality
“What’s true today? What’s blocking progress?”
O — Options
“What are 3 ways to move forward? What’s the simplest?”
W — Will
“What will you do before next 1:1? How will we measure it?”
Listening Systems (beyond meetings)
- Decision log: a lightweight doc with context → options → choice → owner → date.
- Quarterly retros: keep “start / stop / continue” lists and track deltas over time.
- Office hours: a recurring 30–60 min slot for open questions and demos.
- Anonymous pulse: a 3-question monthly check (clarity, pace, inclusion).
When the Room Is Quiet
- Bring two concrete examples to react to—avoid blank-page freeze.
- Use 2–2–1: 2 minutes solo notes → 2 minutes pair share → 1 minute report-out.
- Offer a menu of starting tasks (research, outreach, prototyping) so people can opt-in.
- Keep a mini-deck ready: problem, success criteria, constraints, timeline.
Leader Anti-Patterns to Avoid
- HiPPO effect: the highest-paid opinion dominates. Solve by speaking last and inviting dissent.
- Solutioneering: prescribing tasks before the problem is clear. Spend 5 minutes aligning on the problem.
- Drive-by feedback: comments without context. Ask for the goal, constraints, and “done” definition first.
- Cheap yes: saying yes without time or owner. Every “yes” needs a plan, or it’s a “no.”
Measure Team Health (Simple Signals)
- Safety: do juniors speak in meetings? (track share of voice)
- Clarity: can everyone state the current goal in one sentence?
- Velocity: are we shipping small increments weekly?
- Load: are priorities fewer than five per person?
- Retention: do people choose to stay and refer others?
Templates: decision note, meeting close-out, retro
Decision Note
Context: why now • Options: A/B/C • Choice: B • Trade-offs: X/Y • Owner: Name • Next step: Action by MM/DD
Meeting Close-Out
Decision: … • Owner: … • Due: … • Risks: … • Comms: who/when
Retro (Start / Stop / Continue)
Start: … • Stop: … • Continue: … • One experiment for next sprint: …
Takeaways
- Talk last. Invite ideas before you influence the room.
- Lead with empathy. People give their best when they feel safe and respected.
- Leave with owners. Every decision needs a name, a next step, and a date.
- Write it down. Decisions compound when they’re visible and revisited.
Try the agenda this week, then iterate with your team’s feedback.