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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 Fellavledo.

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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 six fourteen. There's an old saying in leadership

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<v Speaker 2>listen twice, speak once. Most people hear that and nod

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<v Speaker 2>their head. Then they walk into a meeting and do

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<v Speaker 2>the exact opposite. They interrupt, They finish sentences, they preload

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<v Speaker 2>their response while someone else is still talking. They talk

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<v Speaker 2>to be heard, not to understand. Let me tell you

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<v Speaker 2>a quick story. Years ago, I was sitting in a

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<v Speaker 2>room with a leader everyone respected, and during the meeting,

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<v Speaker 2>people kept talking over each other opinions where flying ego

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<v Speaker 2>was bouncing all around the room. This leader stayed quiet,

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<v Speaker 2>and when the room finally slowed down, someone asked, what

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<v Speaker 2>do you think? He paused, took a breath, and then

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<v Speaker 2>said something that landed like a hammer, clear, calm and direct.

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<v Speaker 2>It reframed the entire conversation in about twenty seconds, and

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<v Speaker 2>that moment stuck with me. Not because he spoke brilliantly,

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<v Speaker 2>because he waited Listening twice and speaking once is not

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<v Speaker 2>about being passive. It's about discipline, it's about restraint. It's

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<v Speaker 2>about understanding that leadership presence is not measured by airtime,

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<v Speaker 2>and most leaders struggle with this for one reason. Silence

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<v Speaker 2>feels uncomfortable. Silence feels like weakness. Silence feels like you're

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<v Speaker 2>losing control of the room. The reality is the opposite.

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<v Speaker 2>Silence is where control lives. When you talk less, people

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<v Speaker 2>lean in. When you listen, more, people reveal more. When

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<v Speaker 2>you slow down your response, your words carry weight. And

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<v Speaker 2>here's the trap many leaders fall into. They confuse speed

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<v Speaker 2>with competence. They think fast answers make them look sharp.

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<v Speaker 2>They think immediate responses show confidence. What they often show

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<v Speaker 2>instead is impatience or insecurity. Listening twice means you are

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<v Speaker 2>gathering information on two levels. First, you were listening to

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<v Speaker 2>the words, facts, concerns, requests, opinions. Second, you are listening

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<v Speaker 2>to what is underneath tone, emotion, hesitation, what someone is

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<v Speaker 2>not saying. That second layer is where leadership lives. I've

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<v Speaker 2>watched leaders miss this repeatedly. An employee says everything's fine,

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<v Speaker 2>The leader hears the words and just moves on. A

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<v Speaker 2>leader who listens twice. Here's the pause, the flat tone,

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<v Speaker 2>the lack of eye contact. They know everything is not fine.

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<v Speaker 2>Speaking once means your response is intentional, not reactive, not defensive,

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<v Speaker 2>not performative. It means when you speak, you're adding clarity,

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<v Speaker 2>not noise. So let's make this actionable. First, stop interrupting,

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<v Speaker 2>even when you think you know where someone is going.

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<v Speaker 2>Especially then, interrupting is a signal that you value your

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<v Speaker 2>voice more than their input. Over time, people stop bringing

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<v Speaker 2>you real information. Second, count to three before responding. Literally,

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<v Speaker 2>let the other person fin let the silence breathe. That

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<v Speaker 2>pause does two things. It shows respect, and it gives

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<v Speaker 2>your brain time to process instead of react. Third, repeat

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<v Speaker 2>back what you heard before you respond, not to sound polished,

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<v Speaker 2>but to confirm understanding what I'm hearing is. This prevents

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<v Speaker 2>misfires and shows you're actually listening, not just waiting to talk. Fourth,

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<v Speaker 2>ask one more question than you think you need. Good

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<v Speaker 2>leaders answer questions, great leaders ask better ones. One well

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<v Speaker 2>placed question often does more than a long explanation. And

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<v Speaker 2>here is the hard truth for leaders who struggle with this.

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<v Speaker 2>If you're always the loudest voice in the room, you're

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<v Speaker 2>probably the least informed. Your team knows things that you

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<v Speaker 2>don't see. Problems before dashboards, do they feel shifts before

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<v Speaker 2>reports catch up. Listening twice is how you access that intelligence.

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<v Speaker 2>This is also a red key leadership moment. High consequence

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<v Speaker 2>leadership shows up in conversations, mistcused, rush responses. Poor listening

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<v Speaker 2>decisions create downstream problems that look like culture issues, morale problems,

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<v Speaker 2>or even trust breakdowns. They often start with a leader

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<v Speaker 2>who did not slow down long enough to hear what

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<v Speaker 2>truly mattered. Think about your last difficult conversation. Did you

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<v Speaker 2>listen to respond or did you listen to understand? Did

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<v Speaker 2>you speak to fill space or did you speak to

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<v Speaker 2>move things forward. Leadership is not a debate to win.

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<v Speaker 2>It is a responsibility to carry. The leaders people trust

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<v Speaker 2>most are not the ones who always have the answer.

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<v Speaker 2>They're the ones who make people feel heard, understood, and

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<v Speaker 2>taken seriously. When you listen twice and speak once, your

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<v Speaker 2>words land harder, your decisions get better. Your team stops

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<v Speaker 2>posturing and starts telling the truth. That is how trust

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<v Speaker 2>is built quietly, consistently, intentionally. So as you head into

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<v Speaker 2>your next meeting, your next one on one, or even

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<v Speaker 2>your next hard conversation. Remember this, You do not need

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<v Speaker 2>to dominate the room to lead it. You need to

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<v Speaker 2>understand it. Listen more than you talk, Let your words

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<v Speaker 2>earn their place when you finally speak. Make it count.

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<v Speaker 2>This has been the seven minute Leadership Podcast, and I

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<v Speaker 2>thank you for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.