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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 Fellavaledo.

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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 nineteen. Today's episode comes directly from a

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<v Speaker 2>listener message I received from Charlotte in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

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<v Speaker 2>First off, Charlotte, thank you. Messages like yours mean more

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<v Speaker 2>to me than you probably realize. One of the coolest

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<v Speaker 2>things about this podcast is hearing from leaders around the

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<v Speaker 2>world and realizing that leadership struggles are often universal, different countries,

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<v Speaker 2>different industries, different cultures, same human problems. And Charlotte asked

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<v Speaker 2>a fantastic stick question, how do leaders strike the balance

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<v Speaker 2>between transparency, confidentiality and information sharing. When should leaders inform

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<v Speaker 2>the team and when should they not? That question, right there,

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<v Speaker 2>separates casual management from serious leadership because one of the

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<v Speaker 2>hardest parts of leadership is realizing that you often know

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<v Speaker 2>more than you can say, and if you handle that poorly,

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<v Speaker 2>your organization starts to fracture. So I want to start

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<v Speaker 2>with this truth. Leadership is not secrecy. Leadership is not gossip.

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<v Speaker 2>Leadership is not radical transparency either. Real leadership is controlled communication,

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<v Speaker 2>and there's a massive difference. I've watched organizations collapse because

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<v Speaker 2>leaders shared too little information. People felt excluded, suspicious, disconnected,

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<v Speaker 2>and eventually distrustful. And I've also watched organizations implode because

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<v Speaker 2>because leaders shared too much information, internal discussions leaked, sensitive

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<v Speaker 2>personal matters spread across the organization. Strategic conversations became public

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<v Speaker 2>before decisions were finalized, and employees became anxious because they

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<v Speaker 2>were given partial information without context. Both extremes create damage.

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<v Speaker 2>One creates darkness, the other creates chaos. Your job as

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<v Speaker 2>a leader is to manage the flow of information responsibly.

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<v Speaker 2>And think about flying an airplane for a minute. Passengers

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<v Speaker 2>deserve information, They deserve honesty, They deserve calm communication. But

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<v Speaker 2>imagine if the pilot came over the intercom every ninety

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<v Speaker 2>seconds and shared every mechanical fluctuation, every instrument reading, every

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<v Speaker 2>concern being discussed in the cockpit. People would panic. And

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<v Speaker 2>now imagine the opposite, massive turbulence, strange noises, diversion to

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<v Speaker 2>another airport, and the pilot says out absolutely nothing. People

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<v Speaker 2>would panic there too. The best pilots communicate clearly, calmly,

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<v Speaker 2>and intentionally, and leadership works exactly the same way. One

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<v Speaker 2>of the biggest mistakes leaders make is confusing transparency with

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<v Speaker 2>unrestricted access. Your employees do not need access to every discussion.

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<v Speaker 2>They do not need access to every executive disagreement. They

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<v Speaker 2>do not need access to every disciplinary conversation. They do

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<v Speaker 2>not need access to private HR issues, and they do

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<v Speaker 2>not need access to legal strategy. That's not secrecy. That

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<v Speaker 2>is responsibility. There are things leaders are ethically obligated to protect.

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<v Speaker 2>Confidentiality matters, and I think modern leadership culture sometimes struggles

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<v Speaker 2>with this because social media has conditioned people to expect

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<v Speaker 2>instant access to everything, but leadership requires filters. Here's the

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<v Speaker 2>framework I use. Before sharing information, ask yourself for questions. First,

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<v Speaker 2>is it true? Second? Is it necessary?

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<v Speaker 1>Third?

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<v Speaker 2>Is this the right timing? And fourth does sharing this

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<v Speaker 2>help the mission or hurt the mission? That fourth question

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<v Speaker 2>matters a lot because some information creates clarity, some information

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<v Speaker 2>creates confusion, some information creates fear, some information creates distraction.

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<v Speaker 2>Not every truth needs immediate distribution. Sometimes leaders share information

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<v Speaker 2>too early because they feel pressured to look transparent, and

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<v Speaker 2>that can backfire badly. For example, imagine leadership is discussing

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<v Speaker 2>a possible restructuring. Nothing is finalized, nothing is approve, no

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<v Speaker 2>decisions have been made. Then a leader tells employees, hey,

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<v Speaker 2>there may be layoffs coming, but we don't know. And

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<v Speaker 2>what happens next? Rumors explode, Productivity drops, employees panic, people

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<v Speaker 2>start updating resumes, The culture shifts overnight, and the worst part,

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<v Speaker 2>the thing being discussed may never happen. Leaders have to

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<v Speaker 2>understand that information carries emotional weight. Words move people. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>let's flip the situation. Sometimes leaders wait too long to communicate,

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<v Speaker 2>and that creates another problem. Silence creates stories, and humans

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<v Speaker 2>are experts at filling information gaps with fear. When employees

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<v Speaker 2>feel ignored or intentionally left in the dark, they begin

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<v Speaker 2>building narratives. They must be hiding something. They don't trust us.

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<v Speaker 2>This place is falling apart, and once that emotional distrust begins,

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<v Speaker 2>it becomes very difficult to repair. So what's the balance.

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<v Speaker 2>The balance is this, share what people need in order

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<v Speaker 2>to perform, prepare and trust. Protect what must remain private, incomplete,

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<v Speaker 2>or ethically confidential. That's the line. One thing I've learned

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<v Speaker 2>over nearly three decades in emergency services. Is that timing

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<v Speaker 2>matters as much as content. During a major incident, we

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<v Speaker 2>often cannot release every detail immediately, not because we're hiding things,

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<v Speaker 2>because accuracy matters. Leaders damage credibility when they communicate emotionally

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<v Speaker 2>instead of operationally. Sometimes the most responsible answer a leader

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<v Speaker 2>can give is I'm aware of the situation. We're still

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<v Speaker 2>gathering information. I will update everyone when we can do

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<v Speaker 2>so accurately. That is not weak leadership. That is discipline leadership.

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<v Speaker 2>And another important piece here is understanding levels of leadership.

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<v Speaker 2>Different leadership levels require different levels of information access. Your

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<v Speaker 2>executive team may need strategic information, your supervisors may need

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<v Speaker 2>operational information, your frontline employees may need tactical information. That's

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<v Speaker 2>not favoritism. That is organizational structure. I think where leaders

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<v Speaker 2>get into trouble is when they start using confidential information

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<v Speaker 2>as power currency. And that's dangerous. You've seen these leaders before,

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<v Speaker 2>the ones who hint at secret information to appear important,

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<v Speaker 2>the ones who selectively leak things to manipulate people, the

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<v Speaker 2>ones who create inner circles and outsider groups, and that

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<v Speaker 2>destroys culture. Fast information should never become a social weapon.

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<v Speaker 2>Great leaders create trust through consistency, and if your team

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<v Speaker 2>knows you communicate honestly, protect confidentiality appropriately, and avoid games,

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<v Speaker 2>they will usually give you grace during uncertain moments. And

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<v Speaker 2>here's something else leaders need to hear. Transparency does not

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<v Speaker 2>mean emotional dumping. Your employees are not your therapists. There's

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<v Speaker 2>a difference between being human and emotionally flooding your team

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<v Speaker 2>with stress, fear, and executive level burdens that they cannot control.

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<v Speaker 2>Sometimes leadership means carrying weight quietly, not forever, not dishonestly,

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<v Speaker 2>but responsibly. There are moments when your team needs stability

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<v Speaker 2>more than access, and one of the best leadership communication

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<v Speaker 2>habits you can develop is proactive updates, Even small updates matter.

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<v Speaker 2>People handle difficult truths better than uncertain silence. If employees no,

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<v Speaker 2>we don't have final answers yet, but we have not

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<v Speaker 2>forgotten about this issue and another update is coming Friday.

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<v Speaker 2>That alone reduces anxiety. Communication creates psychological stability, And Charlotte,

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<v Speaker 2>I think your question really gets to the heart of

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<v Speaker 2>something deeper. Leadership communication is not about saying everything. It

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<v Speaker 2>is about saying the right things at the right time,

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<v Speaker 2>to the right people, for the right reasons. That's the art.

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<v Speaker 2>The best leaders are not the loudest communicators. They are

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<v Speaker 2>the clearest communicators. They know when to speak, they know

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<v Speaker 2>when to wait, They know what belongs in the room,

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<v Speaker 2>and they know what belongs outside the room. That balance

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<v Speaker 2>takes maturity, it takes discipline, and honestly, sometimes it takes

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<v Speaker 2>standing alone with information that cannot yet be shared while

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<v Speaker 2>still carrying the responsibility of leading everyone forward. That's leadership.

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<v Speaker 2>So Charlotte, thank you again for sending that message from Colombo,

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<v Speaker 2>Sri Lanka. Questions like yours are exactly why this podcast exists.

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<v Speaker 2>Leadership is rarely black and white. Most of the time,

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<v Speaker 2>it lives in the gray areas where judgment, trust, timing,

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<v Speaker 2>and responsibility all collide together. To everyone listening today, remember this.

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<v Speaker 2>Your words as a leader shape culture long before policies do.

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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.