WEBVTT

1
00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:07.040
<v Speaker 1>Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of

2
00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:11.160
<v Speaker 1>performance through strong human relations, team building, and goal achieving.

3
00:00:11.640 --> 00:00:15.039
<v Speaker 1>This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host

4
00:00:15.359 --> 00:00:17.640
<v Speaker 1>Paul Fellovaledo.

5
00:00:21.879 --> 00:00:25.800
<v Speaker 2>Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.

6
00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:30.239
<v Speaker 2>It's episode seven twenty seven. Today we're talking about something

7
00:00:30.280 --> 00:00:34.560
<v Speaker 2>that sounds smart, feels safe, and quietly causes more leadership

8
00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:40.920
<v Speaker 2>mistakes than most people realize. Decision support tools. We're talking

9
00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:49.320
<v Speaker 2>about dashboards, reports, surveys, spreadsheets, metrics, personnel assessments, heat maps, consultants,

10
00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:54.079
<v Speaker 2>and risk calculators. These tools are everywhere, and before anyone

11
00:00:54.119 --> 00:00:58.560
<v Speaker 2>misunderstands me, I love tools. I'm an EMS chief. I

12
00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:02.799
<v Speaker 2>use technology, I use reporting, I use analytics, I teach leadership,

13
00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:07.519
<v Speaker 2>I fly airplanes and use checklists. I believe systems matter.

14
00:01:08.319 --> 00:01:12.400
<v Speaker 2>But there is a dangerous line that leaders cross. There

15
00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:16.319
<v Speaker 2>comes a moment where the tool stops supporting the decision

16
00:01:16.719 --> 00:01:20.480
<v Speaker 2>and starts becoming the decision. And that's where leaders get

17
00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:24.439
<v Speaker 2>into trouble because leaders over trust tools. For one reason,

18
00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:30.480
<v Speaker 2>tools reduce emotional discomfort. When a leader says the report

19
00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:34.239
<v Speaker 2>told me to, it feels safer than saying I made

20
00:01:34.280 --> 00:01:39.519
<v Speaker 2>the call. The spreadsheet becomes armor, the dashboard becomes permission,

21
00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:46.760
<v Speaker 2>the software becomes accountability protection, and leadership quietly disappears. Think

22
00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:51.879
<v Speaker 2>about this. Imagine a hospital executive looking at staffing software.

23
00:01:52.400 --> 00:01:56.920
<v Speaker 2>The software says staffing levels are acceptable green across the board.

24
00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:02.799
<v Speaker 2>Everyone looks happy. Turnovers average over time is manageable. Case closed,

25
00:02:03.359 --> 00:02:08.919
<v Speaker 2>Except nobody walked the floor. Nobody noticed people stopped eating lunch,

26
00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:14.560
<v Speaker 2>Nobody noticed senior staff stopped mentoring, Nobody noticed employees started

27
00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:19.360
<v Speaker 2>using more sick time, nobody noticed people physically showed up

28
00:02:19.479 --> 00:02:23.759
<v Speaker 2>but mentally checked out. And six months later, everyone asks

29
00:02:24.199 --> 00:02:28.719
<v Speaker 2>how did we miss this? Because the tool was measuring output,

30
00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:33.560
<v Speaker 2>the leader failed to measure reality. That's the first decision

31
00:02:33.639 --> 00:02:40.319
<v Speaker 2>support tool. Leaders over trust metrics without context. Numbers feel objective,

32
00:02:40.400 --> 00:02:44.560
<v Speaker 2>numbers feel clean, but numbers are lagging indicators. By the

33
00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:48.319
<v Speaker 2>time your dashboard shows a problem, your people may have

34
00:02:48.400 --> 00:02:54.800
<v Speaker 2>been living it for months. AI in recommendation engines are second.

35
00:02:55.280 --> 00:02:58.520
<v Speaker 2>I teach leaders about AI, and I think it's one

36
00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:01.199
<v Speaker 2>of the most important technology gees we will ever see.

37
00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:05.039
<v Speaker 2>But leaders are developing a dangerous habit. They ask AI

38
00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:08.919
<v Speaker 2>a question, AI gives an answer, and they stop thinking

39
00:03:08.960 --> 00:03:13.639
<v Speaker 2>and that's backwards. AI should increase human thinking, not replace it.

40
00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:17.759
<v Speaker 2>If you ask AI, how should I restructure my department,

41
00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:21.280
<v Speaker 2>and it gives you a polished answer, that answer still

42
00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:25.840
<v Speaker 2>does not know your culture, your personalities, your history, the

43
00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:29.599
<v Speaker 2>politics of the workplace, your unofficial leaders, your one employee

44
00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:33.919
<v Speaker 2>who quietly holds the place together. Tools cannot see what

45
00:03:34.120 --> 00:03:38.560
<v Speaker 2>humans feel. That's why the future is not AI versus leaders.

46
00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:43.560
<v Speaker 2>It's leaders who think, paired with tools that accelerate. In Third,

47
00:03:43.919 --> 00:03:50.039
<v Speaker 2>our employee surveys, and this one gets uncomfortable. Organizations love surveys,

48
00:03:50.319 --> 00:03:56.919
<v Speaker 2>anonymous feedback, engagement scores, satisfaction indexes again all useful, but

49
00:03:57.639 --> 00:04:03.319
<v Speaker 2>leaders sometimes treat surveys like election results. Sixty percent unhappy,

50
00:04:03.439 --> 00:04:10.080
<v Speaker 2>forty percent happy. Decision made. People answer surveys emotionally. People

51
00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:16.519
<v Speaker 2>answer surveys politically. People answer surveys differently based on timing.

52
00:04:16.800 --> 00:04:20.959
<v Speaker 2>A rough Monday can produce very different results than a

53
00:04:21.000 --> 00:04:25.920
<v Speaker 2>great Friday. Surveys only tell you where to investigate, not

54
00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:30.079
<v Speaker 2>where to conclude. And fourth is benchmarking, and this one

55
00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:34.079
<v Speaker 2>traps experienced leaders. You hear the top companies are doing this.

56
00:04:34.279 --> 00:04:39.680
<v Speaker 2>Our competitors moved this direction. The industry standard is okay,

57
00:04:39.720 --> 00:04:43.399
<v Speaker 2>but are they successful or are they famous? Those are

58
00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:47.240
<v Speaker 2>not the same thing. Some leaders copy practices from organizations

59
00:04:47.279 --> 00:04:52.920
<v Speaker 2>they admire without understanding whether those practices actually created the success.

60
00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:57.000
<v Speaker 2>You cannot copy someone else's operating manual if you don't

61
00:04:57.079 --> 00:05:01.560
<v Speaker 2>understand their runway conditions. That's ava thinking. Two pilots can

62
00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:06.800
<v Speaker 2>fly the same aircraft and arrive at different outcomes because weather, experience, fuel,

63
00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:11.759
<v Speaker 2>and conditions. Leadership works the same way. Fifth is forecasting.

64
00:05:11.959 --> 00:05:18.639
<v Speaker 2>Forecasting tools are incredible. Economic projections, growth models, operational planning,

65
00:05:18.800 --> 00:05:25.839
<v Speaker 2>risk scoring all useful, but forecasts create a dangerous illusion certainty.

66
00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:30.319
<v Speaker 2>People start speaking in future tents this will happen. No

67
00:05:30.839 --> 00:05:38.959
<v Speaker 2>forecasts are educated guesses. Leadership exists because uncertainty exists. If

68
00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:44.519
<v Speaker 2>everything were predictable, organizations would run themselves. The tool gives probability,

69
00:05:44.959 --> 00:05:51.079
<v Speaker 2>the leader accepts responsibility. That distinction matters. And here's the

70
00:05:51.160 --> 00:05:54.519
<v Speaker 2>leadership move. I want you to remember. For every decision

71
00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:58.680
<v Speaker 2>support tool that you use, ask three questions, what is

72
00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:03.240
<v Speaker 2>this tool not seeing? Who disagrees with this output? In

73
00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:08.439
<v Speaker 2>what real world observation would prove this wrong? Those three

74
00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:12.120
<v Speaker 2>questions keep leaders in the cockpit because the tools should

75
00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:16.800
<v Speaker 2>never become the captain. You are the captain. The dashboard

76
00:06:17.079 --> 00:06:21.720
<v Speaker 2>does not own consequences. The spreadsheet does not apologize, The

77
00:06:21.759 --> 00:06:26.959
<v Speaker 2>software does not rebuild trust, the AI does not explain layoffs,

78
00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:29.600
<v Speaker 2>and the report does not stand in front of employees.

79
00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:36.240
<v Speaker 2>You do. That's leadership decisions. Support tools are incredible. Use them,

80
00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:41.040
<v Speaker 2>build them, learn them, master them. Then remember something important.

81
00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:48.959
<v Speaker 2>Leadership starts where the dashboard ends. So the next time

82
00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:55.120
<v Speaker 2>you make a decision, pause for ten seconds before accepting

83
00:06:56.079 --> 00:06:59.959
<v Speaker 2>what that tool tells you. Walk the floor, observe people,

84
00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:06.319
<v Speaker 2>make the call, and ask one uncomfortable question, Challenge one assumption.

85
00:07:07.399 --> 00:07:12.279
<v Speaker 2>Leadership was never meant to be outsourced. The tools can

86
00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:17.240
<v Speaker 2>support your decisions, but they should never become your decision.

87
00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:20.920
<v Speaker 2>This has been the seven minute leadership podcast, and I

88
00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:21.959
<v Speaker 2>thank you for listening.

89
00:07:22.079 --> 00:07:26.040
<v Speaker 1>For more, Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot

90
00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:26.560
<v Speaker 1>com