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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 Fellovledo.

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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 twenty four. Today we're talking about a

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<v Speaker 2>question that quietly destroys careers, organizations, teams and opportunities. Who

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<v Speaker 2>freezes when the stakes go up, Because if we're honest,

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<v Speaker 2>we all know someone. Maybe they're brilliant in meetings, maybe

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<v Speaker 2>they have the certifications, maybe they have the years of experience.

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<v Speaker 2>Maybe they're funny at lunch and confident when nothing important

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<v Speaker 2>is happening. Then the pressure shows up. The major customer

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<v Speaker 2>threatens to leave, the employee files, the complet the media calls,

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<v Speaker 2>the team meeting gets emotional, the equipment fails, the project

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<v Speaker 2>missus deadline, the emergency happens, and suddenly the person everybody

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<v Speaker 2>thought was a leader becomes a spectator. They freeze. You

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<v Speaker 2>know what fascinates me. Freezing rarely looks dramatic. Hollywood taught

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<v Speaker 2>us freezing means standing still with your eyes wide open.

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<v Speaker 2>Leadership freezing is usually much quieter. Leadership freezing sounds like

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<v Speaker 2>let's gather more information. Maybe we should wait. I need

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<v Speaker 2>another week. What do you think Let's revisit this next month.

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<v Speaker 2>I don't want to upset anybody, or I'm sure it

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<v Speaker 2>will work itself out. That is often freeze behavior dressed

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<v Speaker 2>up as professionalism. I learned something years ago in emergency services.

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<v Speaker 2>People do not rise to the occasion. People fall to

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<v Speaker 2>their level of preparation. That sentence changed my life because

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<v Speaker 2>I stopped expecting courage to magically appear. Courage is usually

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<v Speaker 2>a prepared response. When pressure arrives, your habits show up

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<v Speaker 2>before your intentions do. Think about an airplane. You don't

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<v Speaker 2>want your pilot learning under pressure. You want checklists, training,

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<v Speaker 2>repetition procedures. You want thousands of tiny, calm decisions before

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<v Speaker 2>the one big decision. Leadership is no different. I want

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<v Speaker 2>to tell you about something I've observed over years of leading.

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<v Speaker 2>There are people who perform amazingly when stakes are low.

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<v Speaker 2>They volunteer opinions, they challenge ideas, they contribute, But when

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<v Speaker 2>consequences become attached to the decision, they disappear. Suddenly, they

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<v Speaker 2>become invisible, and it's not because they're bad people. Usually

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<v Speaker 2>it comes from one of four places. First is the

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<v Speaker 2>fear of being wrong. Some leaders would rather be safely

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<v Speaker 2>in visible then visibly incorrect. Second, fear of judgment. People

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<v Speaker 2>think if they make the wrong decision, everyone will remember

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<v Speaker 2>that forever. Third is lack of experience. Pressure exposes weak reps. Fourth,

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<v Speaker 2>identify protection. They built a reputation around appearing smart instead

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<v Speaker 2>of becoming capable. And here's the difficult part. Leadership eventually

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<v Speaker 2>puts you in moments where somebody has to own the decision.

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<v Speaker 2>In Silence becomes a decision. Waiting becomes a decision. Avoiding

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<v Speaker 2>becomes a decision. I remember hearing a story about a

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<v Speaker 2>business executive years ago. His company had a major operational issue.

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<v Speaker 2>Everybody sat around the table, analyzing two hours past charts, debates, questions,

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<v Speaker 2>and finally one person stood up and said, are we

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<v Speaker 2>solving this or documenting our fear? That room changed instantly.

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<v Speaker 2>Sometimes leadership is not finding the perfect answer. Sometimes leadership

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<v Speaker 2>is interrupting paralysis. Now, before you misunderstand me, this is

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<v Speaker 2>not about recklessness. I'm not telling you to become loud

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<v Speaker 2>and pulsive. For dramatic good leaders slow down. Frozen leaders stop.

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<v Speaker 2>There is a difference One of the most powerful questions

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<v Speaker 2>you can ask yourself is what gets smaller when pressure

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<v Speaker 2>gets bigger? Does your communication get smaller? Does your confidence

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<v Speaker 2>get smaller? Does your decision speed get smaller? Does your

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<v Speaker 2>ownership get smaller? Because those patterns tell you exactly where

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<v Speaker 2>your leadership work is. And here's an exercise I want

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<v Speaker 2>you to try. Think of the last three moments where

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<v Speaker 2>stakes increased, Write them down. Now answer these questions. What

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<v Speaker 2>did I feel? What did I avoid? What did I delay?

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<v Speaker 2>What would be the best verse version that myself would

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<v Speaker 2>have done? That gap is your next leadership lesson. And

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<v Speaker 2>if you lead people, pay attention to something else. Watch

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<v Speaker 2>who changes under pressure? Do not judge your team by

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<v Speaker 2>routine days. Watch deadline days, Watch conflict, watch uncertainty, watch setbacks.

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<v Speaker 2>Pressure reveals operating systems. I've seen quiet employees become giants.

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<v Speaker 2>I've seen loud leaders disappear. I've seen new people step

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<v Speaker 2>into moments that experienced leaders walked away from. Pressure has

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<v Speaker 2>a funny way of introducing people. This is one reason

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<v Speaker 2>I talk so much about intentional leadership. You cannot build

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<v Speaker 2>courage during the storm. You build it during ordinary days.

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<v Speaker 2>Every difficult conversation every uncomfortable decision, every promise kept, every

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<v Speaker 2>moment you say what needs said, every time you act

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<v Speaker 2>before confidence arrives. Those are deposits. Then one day the

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<v Speaker 2>stakes go up and you realize you're not freezing anymore.

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<v Speaker 2>You're functioning, not because you became fearless, because you became practiced.

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<v Speaker 2>So here's your challenge this week. Find one thing you've

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<v Speaker 2>been avoiding because the stakes feel high. Make the call,

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<v Speaker 2>schedule the meeting, give the feedback, send the email, make

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<v Speaker 2>the decision. Because leadership is not measured by how you

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<v Speaker 2>operate when everything feels safe. Leadership gets measured in the

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<v Speaker 2>moments where your heart rate goes up and people start

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<v Speaker 2>looking at you. And when that moment arrives, do not

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<v Speaker 2>ask yourself if you feel ready, ask yourself whether you've

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<v Speaker 2>prepared enough to move. So, if you take nothing else

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<v Speaker 2>from today, remember this pressure does not create leaders Pressure

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<v Speaker 2>reveals them. When the stakes go up. Your routines, your habits,

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<v Speaker 2>and your preparation walk into the room before you do.

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<v Speaker 2>Build those now, seven intentional minutes at a time. And

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<v Speaker 2>if you want more free leadership resources, head over to

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<v Speaker 2>Paulflovalito dot com and click on free stuff. I have

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<v Speaker 2>over twenty five free leadership documents you can download and

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<v Speaker 2>start using today. This has been the seven minute leadership podcast,

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<v Speaker 2>and I thank you for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>For more Paul Fello Alito podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com