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<v Speaker 1>Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of

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<v Speaker 1>performance through strong human relations, team building, and Goala giving.

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<v Speaker 1>This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host

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<v Speaker 1>Paul Fellavoledo.

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<v Speaker 2>Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>It's episode seven two. Today. I want to talk to

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<v Speaker 2>you about something called long table groups. And if you've

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<v Speaker 2>never heard that term before, you might already be part

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<v Speaker 2>of one and don't even realize it. A long table

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<v Speaker 2>group is exactly what it sounds like. Imagine a massive

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<v Speaker 2>dinner table stretching across a room, and around that table

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<v Speaker 2>are people from different industries, backgrounds, ages, skill levels, and experiences.

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<v Speaker 2>Some are business owners, some are frontline workers, some are artists,

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<v Speaker 2>some are executives, are struggling, and some are winning. What

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<v Speaker 2>connects them is not job titles. It's conversation, it's shared growth,

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<v Speaker 2>it's trust, It's the willingness to pull up a chair

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<v Speaker 2>and learn from each other. And I think long table

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<v Speaker 2>groups are becoming one of the most valuable leadership assets

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<v Speaker 2>in modern society. And here's why. The old leadership model

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<v Speaker 2>taught people to protect information, guard your contacts, keep your

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<v Speaker 2>playbook secret, don't let anyone know your strategy. That world

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<v Speaker 2>is fading. The leaders who are growing the fastest today

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<v Speaker 2>are the ones sitting at long tables. They're exchanging ideas,

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<v Speaker 2>they're sharing lessons, they're learning from people outside their own industry,

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<v Speaker 2>and they all understand something very important. Your next breakthrough

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<v Speaker 2>may come from someone who doesn't even work in your field,

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<v Speaker 2>and I've seen this firsthand throughout my career. I've learned

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<v Speaker 2>leadership life lessons from aviation, from scuba diving, from emergency management,

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<v Speaker 2>from hospitality, from business owners, restaurant managers, and military veterans,

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<v Speaker 2>and from podcast listeners around the world. And none of

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<v Speaker 2>those lessons came from sitting isolated in a corner office

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<v Speaker 2>pretending that I had all the answers. They came from

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<v Speaker 2>sitting at long tables. Think about it this way. A

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<v Speaker 2>short table is usually made up of people exactly like you,

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<v Speaker 2>same industry, same thinking, same viewpoint, same habits. The problem

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<v Speaker 2>with short tables is they create echo chambers. Everybody starts

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<v Speaker 2>sounding the same, everybody agrees too quickly. Innovation dies quietly there.

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<v Speaker 2>Long tables are different. Long tables challenge your thinking. At

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<v Speaker 2>a long table, a pilot may explain checklist discipline to

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<v Speaker 2>a CEO A paramedic may explain calm decision making under

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<v Speaker 2>pressure to a school principle. A restaurant owner may explain

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<v Speaker 2>customer service better than an MBA professor, and a twenty

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<v Speaker 2>two year old employee may explain technology trends faster than

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<v Speaker 2>a senior executive team. That's where growth happens. And here's

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<v Speaker 2>the deeper lesson. Long table groups are not networking groups,

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<v Speaker 2>and I think people confuse those two things. Networking groups

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<v Speaker 2>often become transactional. People walk into the room asking what

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<v Speaker 2>can I get? Long table groups ask what can we

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<v Speaker 2>build together? And that's a completely different mindset. One is

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<v Speaker 2>self serving, the other is community driven. One is based

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<v Speaker 2>on extraction, the other is based on contribution. And leaders

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<v Speaker 2>who understand this become magnetic. People want to be around

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<v Speaker 2>them because they create environments where learning moves in all directions,

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<v Speaker 2>not top down, not bottom up, every direction and when

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<v Speaker 2>that matters, because leadership today is changing rapidly. The world

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<v Speaker 2>is moving too fast for one person to know everything.

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<v Speaker 2>AI is changing, business technology is changing, communication, workplace expectations

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<v Speaker 2>are changing, Generational thinking is changing, Customer expectations are changing.

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<v Speaker 2>You cannot survive in isolation. Anymore. You need long tables.

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<v Speaker 2>You need people around you who see things differently. One

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<v Speaker 2>of the biggest mistakes leaders make is building rooms filled

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<v Speaker 2>with copies of themselves. And that becomes dangerous because blind

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<v Speaker 2>spots multiply. And I'll give you an example. In aviation,

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<v Speaker 2>pilots use something called crew resource management. The idea is simple.

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<v Speaker 2>The captain is not supposed to ignore the co pilot.

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<v Speaker 2>The copilot is not supposed to stay silent. Everybody in

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<v Speaker 2>the cockpit is responsible for safety. Why, because one per

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<v Speaker 2>person alone can miss something. Organizations work the same way.

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<v Speaker 2>Long tables create shared awareness, shared intelligence, shared problem solving.

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<v Speaker 2>And here's another important point. Long table groups help leaders

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<v Speaker 2>stay humble. That matters more than people realize, because leadership

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<v Speaker 2>isolation creates distortion. When leaders stop exposing themselves to different perspectives,

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<v Speaker 2>they slowly drift away from reality. They start believing their

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<v Speaker 2>own press releases, they stop listening, they stop adapting, and

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<v Speaker 2>eventually they become disconnected from the people they lead. Long

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<v Speaker 2>tables prevent that because they expose you to friction, and

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<v Speaker 2>friction is healthy. Healthy. Friction sharpens ideas, it tests assumptions,

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<v Speaker 2>It forces you to explain your thinking. Clearly. That's how

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<v Speaker 2>leaders improve. Now let me tell you something else that

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<v Speaker 2>makes long table grips powerful. They create emotional endurance. Leadership

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<v Speaker 2>can feel lonely sometimes, especially when you're carrying responsibility every day,

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<v Speaker 2>especially when people expect answers from you constantly, and when

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<v Speaker 2>you feel pressure to always appear strong. Long tables remind

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<v Speaker 2>leaders that they're not alone. You hear somebody else talk

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<v Speaker 2>about burnout. You hear another leader discuss failure. You hear

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<v Speaker 2>somebody admit that they made a terrible decision and learn

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<v Speaker 2>from it. That creates perspective, and perspective is powerful. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 2>leaders don't need advice. Sometimes they need proof that other

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<v Speaker 2>people are fighting similar battles. That's what long tables provide.

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<v Speaker 2>Now Here is the challenge. Long tables do not happen automatically.

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<v Speaker 2>Leaders have to intentionally build them. You have to seek

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<v Speaker 2>out people outside your bubble. You have to become curious again.

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<v Speaker 2>You have to stop believing leadership development only happens through

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<v Speaker 2>formal training. Some of the greatest leadership lessons happen over coffee,

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<v Speaker 2>over launch at conferences, inside of podcasts, at trade shows,

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<v Speaker 2>at airport bars, inside late night conversations after difficult days.

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<v Speaker 2>That's where real leadership gets transferred human to human, experience

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<v Speaker 2>to experience in story to story. And if you want

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<v Speaker 2>to build your own long table group, here's a few

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<v Speaker 2>simple starting points. First, invite people from different industries into

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<v Speaker 2>your circle. Second, ask better questions instead of trying to

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<v Speaker 2>impress people. Third, spend more time listening than talking. Fourth,

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<v Speaker 2>stop viewing every interaction as a transaction, and fifth, contribute

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<v Speaker 2>value before asking for value. That last one matters. The

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<v Speaker 2>best long table members are contributors, not takers. They bring ideas, encouragement, resources, connections, energy, perspective.

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<v Speaker 2>Those are the people who strengthen the table because at

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<v Speaker 2>the end of the day, leadership is not about sitting

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<v Speaker 2>alone at the head of the table. It's about building

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<v Speaker 2>a longer one. So the leaders who will thrive in

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<v Speaker 2>the future are not the ones with the loudest voice

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<v Speaker 2>or the biggest office. They are the ones connected to

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<v Speaker 2>the strongest long tables, the ones willing to learn continuously, listen, deeply,

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<v Speaker 2>and share openly. So ask yourself this question tonight, who

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<v Speaker 2>is sitting at your table and who needs an invitation?

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<v Speaker 2>That single decision a completely change your leadership future. This

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<v Speaker 2>has been a seven Minute Leadership podcast, and I thank

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<v Speaker 2>you for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>For more Paul fell of Alito podcasts, visit Paul fellaalito

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<v Speaker 1>dot com