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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 golajiving. 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. Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute

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<v Speaker 1>Leadership Podcast. It's episode four twelve. Let's set the stage.

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<v Speaker 1>You're in a meeting. Maybe it's with your executive team,

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<v Speaker 1>your department leads, or a project task force. The usual

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<v Speaker 1>voices dominate, the power players, the ones with titles, influence,

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<v Speaker 1>and confidence, and you You're not one of them yet,

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<v Speaker 1>so you sit there, unsure when to speak or if

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<v Speaker 1>you even should. I'm here to tell you, yes, you should,

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<v Speaker 1>and I'm going to give you real tactical ways to

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<v Speaker 1>control to meetings even when you're not the loudest or

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<v Speaker 1>most powerful person in the room. This episode is for

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<v Speaker 1>anyone who's ever felt invisible at the table, or worse

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<v Speaker 1>like your silence is mistaken for apathy. Let's talk about

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<v Speaker 1>how to make your minutes matter. Number one, Preparation beats position.

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<v Speaker 1>Before you even walk into the meeting, do your homework,

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<v Speaker 1>read the agenda, know what's being discussed. Then do this

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<v Speaker 1>simple trick write down one thoughtful question one data point,

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<v Speaker 1>and one insight. You can contribute to each topic. Why

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<v Speaker 1>because contribution doesn't require charisma, it requires context. And when

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<v Speaker 1>you come prepared with a fact or a fresh perspective,

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<v Speaker 1>you instantly elevate yourself from participant to value ad power

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<v Speaker 1>players bring You bring preparation, and trust me, preparation gets noticed.

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<v Speaker 1>Number two, ask anchor questions. If you're worried about overstepping,

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<v Speaker 1>focus on asking smart questions, not vague ones, not just

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<v Speaker 1>curious questions. I'm talking about anchor questions, questions that help

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<v Speaker 1>center the conversation or uncover what's being missed. Here's a

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<v Speaker 1>few examples. What's the biggest risk if we don't act

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<v Speaker 1>on this, or how does this decision impact our frontline team?

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<v Speaker 1>Or has anyone looked at this from the customer's point

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<v Speaker 1>of view? You see what I'm doing there. You're not

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<v Speaker 1>just speaking. You're guiding the room to deeper thinking and

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<v Speaker 1>that earns respect. Number three be the connector another high

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<v Speaker 1>level move. Become the connector of ideas in the room.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's say someone in finance presents a budget concern and

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<v Speaker 1>someone in operations is focused on delivery timelines. If you

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<v Speaker 1>chime in with something like it sounds like we're wrestling

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<v Speaker 1>with how to protect delivery speed without blowing the budget.

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<v Speaker 1>Could we map that out visually. You've just elevated the conversation.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't need to be the originator of the idea.

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<v Speaker 1>Being the one who sees the bigger picture is just

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<v Speaker 1>as valuable. Number four. Use the plus one technique. This

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<v Speaker 1>one is a classic. Let's say a senior leader makes

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<v Speaker 1>a great point and you genuinely agree. Instead of staying quiet,

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<v Speaker 1>jump in with a plus one and ad a layer.

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<v Speaker 1>And the example is I completely agree with what Mark

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<v Speaker 1>said about customer response time. One thing I'd add from

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<v Speaker 1>my experience last week on the help desk, clients don't

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<v Speaker 1>just want fast answers, they want context. Maybe we could

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<v Speaker 1>build a quick reference guide for the team. Now you've

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<v Speaker 1>done two things. You've validated a power player and you've

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<v Speaker 1>brought ground level intel to support the strategy. And that's

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<v Speaker 1>the sweet spot. Number five. Don't talk just to talk.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's be honest. Some people speak in meetings just to

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<v Speaker 1>hear themselves. Don't do that. Silence can be powerful when

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<v Speaker 1>it's intentional, but silence because of fear, that's a missed opportunity.

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<v Speaker 1>If you only speak once in a meeting, make it count.

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<v Speaker 1>One well timed insight question or bridge between two ideas

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<v Speaker 1>can have more impact than someone rambling for ten minutes.

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<v Speaker 1>Meetings are not measured in minutes spoken, They're measured in

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<v Speaker 1>value delivered. Number six. Follow up is the secret sauce.

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<v Speaker 1>Here's the move that most people forget. Follow up after

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<v Speaker 1>the meeting. If you had an idea that didn't get

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<v Speaker 1>airtime or something clicked in your head after the meeting ended,

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<v Speaker 1>send a quick follow up email something like, Hey, I

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<v Speaker 1>was thinking more about the discussion around onboarding. I had

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<v Speaker 1>an idea I didn't get a chance to share. What

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<v Speaker 1>if we ran a two week mentor shadowing rotation boom?

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<v Speaker 1>You just stayed in the conversation after the conversation and

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<v Speaker 1>guess what, leaders notice who's still thinking after the meeting ends.

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<v Speaker 1>So if you're not a power player at the table yet,

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<v Speaker 1>it doesn't mean you're powerless. Titles don't equal influence. Contribution

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<v Speaker 1>equals influence. So prepare like it matters, Speak when it counts,

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<v Speaker 1>ask anchor questions, connect the dots, add value, and follow up.

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<v Speaker 1>You don't need to be the loudest in the room

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<v Speaker 1>to be the most respected. You just need to show

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<v Speaker 1>that when you speak, it's worth hearing. This has been

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<v Speaker 1>the seven minute Leadership podcast, and I thank you for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>For more Paul fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot

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<v Speaker 1>com