Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building and golachieving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Felloaldo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode six sixty four. Let me give you something
Speaker 2: that will challenge the way you lead starting today. Most
Speaker 2: leaders talk too much. Not because they're bad leaders, not
Speaker 2: because they are trying to dominate. They talk too much
Speaker 2: because they believe that leadership is about having the answer
Speaker 2: in real time. They think if they are not speaking,
Speaker 2: they are not leading, and that belief is quietly destroying
Speaker 2: their authority. Silence creates something I call the power gap,
Speaker 2: and most leaders are terrified of it. The power gap
Speaker 2: is that moment after a question is asked, after a
Speaker 2: decision is challenged, or after tension hits the room and
Speaker 2: nobody speaks. That space feels uncomfortable. It feels like something
Speaker 2: is broken. So what do most leaders do. They rush
Speaker 2: in to fill it. They explain more, They soften their position,
Speaker 2: They talk their way into being understood, and in doing that,
Speaker 2: they give away their leverage. Because when you fill every silence,
Speaker 2: you remove the need for anyone else to step up.
Speaker 2: Silence forces ownership. When you stop talking, people start thinking.
Speaker 2: When you stop explaining, people start engaging. When you stop
Speaker 2: rescuing the conversation, people start revealing who they really are.
Speaker 2: Silence is not passive. Silence is pressure. So let me
Speaker 2: walk you through a real leadership moment you're in at
Speaker 2: you present a plan, someone pushes back, not aggressively, but
Speaker 2: enough to challenge you. The average leader responds immediately. They defend,
Speaker 2: they clarify, They try to win the room. A strong
Speaker 2: leader does something different. They pause, They let the comment
Speaker 2: sit in the air, They look at the person, they
Speaker 2: give them space to continue, and then they say something simple,
Speaker 2: tell me more, and then they go silent again. Now
Speaker 2: the other person has to step into that space. They
Speaker 2: have to expand their thought, They have to explain themselves
Speaker 2: more clearly. And here's what happens next. They either strengthen
Speaker 2: their position or they expose the weakness in it. Either way,
Speaker 2: you win as a leader. Silence turns reactions into data.
Speaker 2: Now let's take this one level deeper. Silence also reveals confidence.
Speaker 2: If you need to constantly speak, explain, or justify yourself,
Speaker 2: people start to question your certainty They may not say
Speaker 2: it out loud, but they feel it. But when you're
Speaker 2: comfortable with silence, when you can let a room sit
Speaker 2: for a few seconds without jumping in, it signals something powerful.
Speaker 2: It tells people you're not rattled. It tells people you're thinking.
Speaker 2: It tells people you are in control of yourself, and
Speaker 2: in leadership, control of yourself is everything. There is another
Speaker 2: side to this that most leaders miss. Silence exposes truth.
Speaker 2: Think about the last time someone gave you a weak answer.
Speaker 2: Maybe it was an employee explaining why something didn't get done.
Speaker 2: Maybe it was a leader trying to justify a bad decision.
Speaker 2: If you jump in too fast, you let them off
Speaker 2: the hook. But if you stay silent, something interesting happens.
Speaker 2: They keep talking, and the more they talk, the closer
Speaker 2: they get to the truth. Silence removes the escape hatch.
Speaker 2: People will often correct themselves, reveal gaps, or admit what
Speaker 2: really happened. If you give them enough space, Your job
Speaker 2: as a leader is not to fill that space. Your
Speaker 2: job is to hold it. Now, let's talk about something
Speaker 2: that will hit close to home. Silence in conflict. When
Speaker 2: emotions rise, most leaders speed up, They talk faster, they interrupt,
Speaker 2: They try to regain control with words. That is the
Speaker 2: exact moment where silence becomes your strongest move. When someone
Speaker 2: is emotional, your words will not land the way you
Speaker 2: think they will. They are not listening for logic, they're reacting.
Speaker 2: But silence changes the tempo. It slows the moment down.
Speaker 2: It gives the other person space to burn off that
Speaker 2: initial reaction. It allows you to observe instead of react,
Speaker 2: and when you finally do speak, your words carry more
Speaker 2: weight because they're not competing with noise. Silence is not avoidance,
Speaker 2: it is control of timing. Now I want to give
Speaker 2: you a practical move you can start using today. The
Speaker 2: next time you ask a question, count to three in
Speaker 2: your head before saying anything else, not one, not two,
Speaker 2: a full three. It will feel long, it will feel awkward.
Speaker 2: You will want to jump in. Just wait. Watch what happens.
Speaker 2: People will fill that space. They will give you better answers.
Speaker 2: They will think instead of react, and you'll start to
Speaker 2: see something shift. You will feel the room begin to
Speaker 2: work harder. That is leadership. In another move, when someone
Speaker 2: gives you an answer that feels incomplete, do not correct
Speaker 2: them immediately, pause, look at them, then ask one follow up,
Speaker 2: question what am I missing, and then go silent. You'll
Speaker 2: be amazed at what comes next. Now, let me bring
Speaker 2: this home. Silence is not about saying less. It's about
Speaker 2: saying what matters, in letting it land. Too many leaders
Speaker 2: talk to be heard. Strong leaders speak with purpose and
Speaker 2: then step back. They let their words do the work,
Speaker 2: They let their team do the thinking. They let the
Speaker 2: moment breathe. Because leadership is not measured by how much
Speaker 2: you say. It's measured by what happens after you stop talking.
Speaker 2: If your team depends on your voice for every answer,
Speaker 2: you have built a fragile system. If your team can think, respond,
Speaker 2: and act in the space you create, you've built something
Speaker 2: strong and that starts with silence. So here is your
Speaker 2: challenge today. Find one moment where you would normally jump
Speaker 2: in and just do the opposite. Pause, hold the space,
Speaker 2: let the silence work. You will feel the discomfort that's
Speaker 2: part of all of this, But inside that discomfort is
Speaker 2: where your next level of leadership lives. And if you
Speaker 2: want more free leadership resources, head over to Paulfolovalito dot
Speaker 2: com and click on free Stuff. I have over twenty
Speaker 2: five free leadership documents you can download and start using today.
Speaker 2: This has been the seven Minute Leadership Podcast and I
Speaker 2: thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot
Speaker 1: com