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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 golajving. This

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

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<v Speaker 1>fella Aledo.

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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 eighty seven. Today's episode is called the

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<v Speaker 2>Unseen Work of Real leaders Leadership has a public side.

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<v Speaker 2>People see the speeches, the awards, the promotions, the ribbon cuttings,

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<v Speaker 2>the successful projects, and the celebrations. Those moments are visible.

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<v Speaker 2>They're photograph posted online and talked about around the office.

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<v Speaker 2>Then there's another side of leadership, the side that almost

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<v Speaker 2>nobody sees. It's the work that happens before sunrise, after

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<v Speaker 2>everyone has gone home, during sleepless nights, and inside conversations

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<v Speaker 2>that never leave the room. That is where real leadership lives.

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<v Speaker 2>The greatest leaders I've known rarely received applause for their

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<v Speaker 2>most important work. I've watched leaders stay late to make

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<v Speaker 2>sure that payroll was correct because they knew one miss

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<v Speaker 2>paycheck could create hardship for an employee's family. Nobody thank them.

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<v Speaker 2>I've seen leaders rewrite a disciplinary conversation ten times because

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<v Speaker 2>they wanted to hold someone accountable while protecting their dignity.

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<v Speaker 2>Nobody saw that effort. I've watched leaders quietly remove obstacles

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<v Speaker 2>before their team ever realized there was a problem. Nobody

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<v Speaker 2>knew there had ever been a crisis. That is leadership

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<v Speaker 2>the unseen work. Think about in Iceberg. Everyone sees the

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<v Speaker 2>small piece above the water, very few things about the

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<v Speaker 2>enormous structure hidden underneath. Leadership works the same way the

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<v Speaker 2>visible success is supported by thousands of invisible decisions, preparation, planning, thinking, listening, learning,

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<v Speaker 2>recovering from mistakes, having difficult conversations, taking responsibility when things

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<v Speaker 2>fall apart. People often say they want to become leaders.

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<v Speaker 2>What many really want is the recognition that sometimes comes

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<v Speaker 2>with leadership. Very few volunteer for the invisible work that

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<v Speaker 2>earns that recognition. Real leaders spend enormous amounts of time

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<v Speaker 2>thinking about tomorrow while everyone else is focused on today.

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<v Speaker 2>They ask questions nobody else is asking. What could go wrong?

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<v Speaker 2>Who needs encouragement, what skill is missing, who is quietly struggling?

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<v Speaker 2>What happens six months from now if we ignore this

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<v Speaker 2>problem today. Those questions rarely appear on a performance evaluation.

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<v Speaker 2>They don't produce immediate praise, they do produce stronger organizations.

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<v Speaker 2>One of the biggest myths in leadership is that hard

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<v Speaker 2>work is always visible. It isn't. Some of your most

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<v Speaker 2>valuable contributions may never get recognized. You may spend weeks

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<v Speaker 2>coaching someone who eventually succeeds. Everyone congratulates the employee. Nobody

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<v Speaker 2>knows about the coaching sessions. You may spend months building

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<v Speaker 2>relationships between departments, and eventually collaboration improves. People assume it

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<v Speaker 2>happened naturally. You may make hundreds of tiny improvements that

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<v Speaker 2>prevent future failures because nothing went wrong. Nobody realizes what

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<v Speaker 2>you prevented. The absence of disaster often go unnoticed. That's

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<v Speaker 2>the challenge. Leadership requires you to find satisfaction in work

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<v Speaker 2>that may never receive recognition. If your motivation depends on applause,

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<v Speaker 2>leadership becomes exhausting. If your motivation comes from seeing other

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<v Speaker 2>people succeed, the unseen work becomes meaningful. I've learned this

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<v Speaker 2>throughout my career in emergency services. When an ambulance arrives

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<v Speaker 2>at a difficult scene and everything runs smoothly, people often

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<v Speaker 2>believe it simply happened. They don't see the years of training.

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<v Speaker 2>They don't see the equipment inspections. They don't see the

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<v Speaker 2>policy reviews. They don't see the drills. They don't see

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<v Speaker 2>the uncomfortable conversations after previous mistakes. They only see the result.

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<v Speaker 2>Leadership is no different. Every call organization has leaders doing

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<v Speaker 2>invisible work behind the scenes. And here's something else worth

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<v Speaker 2>thinking about. The unseen work also shapes your credibility. Your

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<v Speaker 2>employees may never know every decision you make. They always

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<v Speaker 2>notice patterns. They notice consistency, They notice fairness. They notice

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<v Speaker 2>whether you keep your promises. They notice whether you prepare

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<v Speaker 2>before meetings. They notice whether you stay calm when pressure arrives.

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<v Speaker 2>They notice whether you own your mistakes. Those are invisible

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<v Speaker 2>habits that become visible reputations. That's why I often say

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<v Speaker 2>your reputation is built in the margins, not during the keynote,

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<v Speaker 2>not during the company picnic, not during the annual meeting.

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<v Speaker 2>It's built in the ordinary Tuesday afternoon, when nobody else

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<v Speaker 2>is paying attention. It's built in the decision you make

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<v Speaker 2>when taking the easy path would be invisible. It's built

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<v Speaker 2>when nobody is watching. And one of my favorite question

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<v Speaker 2>essians for leaders, is this what leadership work are you

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<v Speaker 2>doing today that nobody will ever know about. Maybe you're

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<v Speaker 2>mentoring someone quietly. Maybe you're reading a leadership book instead

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<v Speaker 2>of watching another television show. Maybe you're improving a policy

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<v Speaker 2>before it creates confusion. Maybe you're calling an employee who's

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<v Speaker 2>having a difficult week. Maybe you're apologizing for a mistake

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<v Speaker 2>before someone asks you to. Those moments rarely become LinkedIn posts.

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<v Speaker 2>They are the foundation of exceptional leadership. And here's the irony.

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<v Speaker 2>The leaders who chase visibility often lose credibility. The leaders

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<v Speaker 2>who chase excellence eventually become visible, not because they were

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<v Speaker 2>looking for attention, because their results became impossible to ignore.

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<v Speaker 2>Leadership has never been about collecting compliment. It's about creating

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<v Speaker 2>conditions where other people can perform at their very best.

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<v Speaker 2>That requires invisible effort, patient effort, consistent effort, daily effort,

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<v Speaker 2>seven minutes at a time. So today I'd encourage you

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<v Speaker 2>to embrace the unseen work. Prepare when nobody asks you

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<v Speaker 2>to study, when nobody expects you to coach people without

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<v Speaker 2>expecting recognition. Fix problems before they become headlines. Protect your

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<v Speaker 2>culture when nobody realizes it's under attack. Because one day

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<v Speaker 2>someone will say something remarkable about your organization. They'll tell

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<v Speaker 2>you how professional your team was, how calm they are

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<v Speaker 2>under pressure, how well everyone works together. They'll complement your culture,

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<v Speaker 2>they'll praise your people, they'll admire your results, and they'll

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<v Speaker 2>never fully understand the thing thousands of invisible leadership decisions

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<v Speaker 2>that made all of it possible. And that's okay. Real

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<v Speaker 2>leaders were never working for the applause. They were working

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<v Speaker 2>for the outcome. So as you go through your week,

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<v Speaker 2>ask yourself one simple question, what unseen leadership work can

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<v Speaker 2>I do today that makes tomorrow better for someone else.

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<v Speaker 2>You may never receive credit for it, you may never

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<v Speaker 2>hear a thank you. That doesn't make the work any

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<v Speaker 2>less important. In fact, it probably means you're doing exactly

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<v Speaker 2>what real leaders do. And if you want more free

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<v Speaker 2>leadership resources, head over to Paulfelovalito dot com and click

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<v Speaker 2>on free Stuff. I have over twenty five free leadership

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<v Speaker 2>documents you can download and start using today. This has

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<v Speaker 2>been the seven minute leadership podcast, and I thank you

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<v Speaker 2>for listening.

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

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<v Speaker 1>of Alito dot com