Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building and gola GV.
Speaker 1: This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host
Speaker 1: Paul Fellovledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode six oh two. Today we're talking about something
Speaker 2: that sounds uncomfortable on purpose, conducting a pre mortem to
Speaker 2: avoid disaster. Now, most leaders love post mortems or debriefings
Speaker 2: or a hotwash. Something goes sideways, The team gathers, everyone
Speaker 2: points at what happened, lessons learned, action items written down,
Speaker 2: and then life moves on. That feels responsible, it feels organized.
Speaker 2: It also happens too late. A pre mortem flips that
Speaker 2: entire idea on its head. A pre mortem asks a
Speaker 2: simple but powerful question before you launch, decide, announce, or
Speaker 2: execute anything important. Imagine it failed completely, publicly, expensively. Now
Speaker 2: explain why that question alone has saved more teams, careers,
Speaker 2: and organizations than any glossy strategy deck ever will. Here's
Speaker 2: why this matters. Leaders are wired for optimism. You do
Speaker 2: not get promoted by assuming things will fall apart. You
Speaker 2: rise by believing you can make it work. That belief
Speaker 2: is useful, but unchecked optimism blinds leaders to weak points,
Speaker 2: silent risks, and uncomfortable truths sitting right in front of them.
Speaker 2: A pre mortem forces you to look at your plan
Speaker 2: from the future, standing in the wreckage, asking what you missed.
Speaker 2: This isn't negativity, This is leadership maturity. Picture a leadership
Speaker 2: team rolling out a major change, new software, a new structure,
Speaker 2: or a new policy or a new direction. Everyone nods,
Speaker 2: everyone agrees. Silence fills the room. That silence is not alignment.
Speaker 2: That silences fear, politeness, or even exhaustion. A pre mortem
Speaker 2: breaks that silence safely. You say, fast forward six months.
Speaker 2: This failed. Our reputation took a hit. Our people are frustrated,
Speaker 2: our budget is bleeding. Why did this fall apart? Now
Speaker 2: something interesting happens. People speak up. The quiet concerns come out.
Speaker 2: The issues that were parked in side conversation's surface. The
Speaker 2: risks you felt but could not articulate, suddenly have language,
Speaker 2: and that is leadership gold. Here's a key rule. You
Speaker 2: do not run a pre mortem to assigned blame. You
Speaker 2: run it to expose reality. If people think honestly will
Speaker 2: be punished. The exercise fails. The leader sets the tone.
Speaker 2: By inviting criticism of the plan, including their own decisions.
Speaker 2: You might hear things like the timeline was unrealistic, training
Speaker 2: was rushed, we underestimated resistance, the vendor oversold, communication was confusing,
Speaker 2: and accountability was unclear. None of that feels good to hear.
Speaker 2: All of it is cheaper to hear now than later.
Speaker 2: A strong pre mortem has structure, not chaos. First, set
Speaker 2: the scenario. Be specific, not someday. This might fail. Say
Speaker 2: it clearly, it is six months from now and this
Speaker 2: initiative failed hard. Second, and give people space to think independently.
Speaker 2: Ask them to write down reasons quietly before discussions start.
Speaker 2: This prevents groupthink and stops the loudest voice from dominating
Speaker 2: the room. Third, collect everything without debate, no defending, no explaining,
Speaker 2: no fixing. Yet your job is to listen. Fourth, sort
Speaker 2: the risks. Some are controllable, some are warnings, some are
Speaker 2: red flags that may stop the project entirely. And here
Speaker 2: is where leadership courage shows up. If a pre mortem
Speaker 2: reveals a fatal flaw, you do not power through anyway
Speaker 2: just to save face. You pause, adjust, or pull the plug.
Speaker 2: That's not weakness. That is accountability in real time, and
Speaker 2: this is where red key leadership shows up again. Routine
Speaker 2: decisions can survive optimism, high consequence to se decisions require discomfort.
Speaker 2: A pre mortem is a red key move because it
Speaker 2: forces leaders to own outcomes before they happen and let
Speaker 2: me be blunt. Most disasters were predictable, not perfectly, but enough.
Speaker 2: Someone saw it coming, someone mentioned it quietly, someone felt
Speaker 2: uneasy and ignored it. Pre mortems give those instincts a voice.
Speaker 2: They also build trust. When your team sees you asking
Speaker 2: what could go wrong, they know you care about doing
Speaker 2: it right, not just looking right. That credibility carries weight
Speaker 2: long after the meeting ends. You can use this tool anywhere,
Speaker 2: strategic planning, hiring decisions, promotions, mergers, crisis preparation, even personal
Speaker 2: leadership choices. Ask yourself, if this backfires, what did I overlook?
Speaker 2: That question alone sharpens judgment. This is also a time
Speaker 2: discipline tool. Seven intentional minutes spent running a pre mortem
Speaker 2: can save months of cleanup, stress, and damage control. That
Speaker 2: is the entire philosophy behind this podcast. Leadership is not
Speaker 2: about predicting the future. It is about respecting risk enough
Speaker 2: to prepare for it. The leaders who avoid disaster are
Speaker 2: not lucky, they are honest early. So here is your
Speaker 2: challenge for this week. Pick one upcoming decision that matters,
Speaker 2: and before you act, run a pre mortem. Invite people
Speaker 2: in talk with them, sit with the discomfort, and adjust
Speaker 2: the plan if you have to. You're not looking for perfection,
Speaker 2: you are looking for blind spots. How strong leaders stay
Speaker 2: standing while others are explaining what went wrong. This has
Speaker 2: been the seven Minute Leadership Podcast and I thank you
Speaker 2: for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot
Speaker 1: com