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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 goal achieving.

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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. Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute

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<v Speaker 1>Leadership Podcast. It's episode six seventy four. High change environments

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<v Speaker 1>are where leaders get exposed. Not in the calm, not

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<v Speaker 1>in the routine, not even when everything is predictable. It's

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<v Speaker 1>when things are moving fast, when information is incomplete, when

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<v Speaker 1>pressure is high, in the margin for error shrinks. That

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<v Speaker 1>is where leadership either shows up or falls apart. And

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<v Speaker 1>here's the reality most leaders missed. Risk does not increase

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<v Speaker 1>because of change alone. Risk increase because leaders lose control

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<v Speaker 1>of clarity during change. Let me say that again. Risk

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<v Speaker 1>goes up when clarity goes down. If you want to

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<v Speaker 1>reduce risk in high change environments, your job is not

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<v Speaker 1>to slow everything down. Your job is to create clarity

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<v Speaker 1>faster than the environment is creating chaos. That is the game. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>how do you actually do that in the real world,

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<v Speaker 1>Not in a textbook, not in a leadership seminar, but

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<v Speaker 1>on the floor where decisions matter. First, you anchor to

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<v Speaker 1>what does not change in every environment. No matter how chaotic,

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<v Speaker 1>there are constants, your mission, your standards, your expectations for behavior.

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<v Speaker 1>If those start shifting every time things get busy or stressful,

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<v Speaker 1>you've already lost control. When people feel instability, they look

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<v Speaker 1>to leadership for something solid. If all they see is reaction,

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<v Speaker 1>they will start making their own rules. That is where

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<v Speaker 1>risk explodes. So your first move as a leader is simple.

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<v Speaker 1>Reinforce the non negotiables over and over again. What matters

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<v Speaker 1>today still matters tomorrow, even if everything else is changing,

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<v Speaker 1>and second, shorten your decision cycles. In high change environments,

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<v Speaker 1>slow decision making is dangerous, not because you need to rush,

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<v Speaker 1>but because delayed decisions create a vacuum. And when there's

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<v Speaker 1>a vacuum, people fill it with assumptions, rumors, and guesswork.

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<v Speaker 1>That is where mistakes happen. You're not trying to make

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<v Speaker 1>perfect decisions. You're trying to make timely decisions with the

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<v Speaker 1>best information available right now. Then you adjust. This is

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<v Speaker 1>where red key leadership comes into play. You need to

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<v Speaker 1>recognize the moments where the decisions actually matter. Not everything

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<v Speaker 1>is a red key moment, but when it is, you

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<v Speaker 1>step in, you own it, and you move Leaders who

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<v Speaker 1>hesitate in those moments create risk for everyone around them. Third,

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<v Speaker 1>communicate in layers, not blasts. Most leaders think communication means

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<v Speaker 1>sending one big message in moving on. That does not

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<v Speaker 1>work in high change environments. People do not absorb information

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<v Speaker 1>the first time. They need repetition, they need reinforcement, They

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<v Speaker 1>need context. So you communicate the same message in different

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<v Speaker 1>ways at different times to different groups, and you keep

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<v Speaker 1>it simple. If your message is complicated, it will get

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<v Speaker 1>distorted before it reaches the second person. Simplicity reduces risk

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<v Speaker 1>because it reduces misunderstanding. Fourth, watch for drift. This is

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<v Speaker 1>one of the most dangerous things in leadership, and it

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<v Speaker 1>happens quite Standards start to slip, small shortcuts get accepted,

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<v Speaker 1>people begin to interpret policies differently, not because they're trying

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<v Speaker 1>to do the wrong thing, but because the environment feels unstable.

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<v Speaker 1>That drift is where risk builds. Your job is to

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<v Speaker 1>spot it early. You walk the floor, you listen, you observe,

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<v Speaker 1>You correct in real time, not in a meeting next week,

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<v Speaker 1>not in a report right now, Because once drift becomes

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<v Speaker 1>the new normal, pulling it back is ten times harder. Fifth,

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<v Speaker 1>control your own emotional signal. In high change environments, your

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<v Speaker 1>team is watching you more than they are listening to you.

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<v Speaker 1>If you look overwhelmed, they feel overwhelmed. If you look uncertain,

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<v Speaker 1>they feel uncertain. That does not mean you pretend everything

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<v Speaker 1>is perfect. It means you show controlled confidence. You can

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<v Speaker 1>say we're dealing with a lot right now, here's what

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<v Speaker 1>we know, here's what we're doing, and here's what I

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<v Speaker 1>need from you. That tone matters because people do not

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<v Speaker 1>need a perfect leader, they need a steady one. Sixth,

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<v Speaker 1>create microstructure inside macro chaos. When everything feels out of control,

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<v Speaker 1>you give people small, clear, manageable tasks. You define roles,

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<v Speaker 1>you define responsibilities. You define immediate priorities, not ten steps

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<v Speaker 1>ahead right in front of them. This reduces cognitive overload

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<v Speaker 1>and keeps people focused on execution instead of speculation. And

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<v Speaker 1>that is how you stabilize performance when everything else feels unstable. Seventh,

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<v Speaker 1>learn in real time. Most leaders wait until everything is

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<v Speaker 1>over to review what happened. That's too late. In a

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<v Speaker 1>high change environment, you need to be adjust as you go.

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<v Speaker 1>What is working, what is not, What needs to change

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<v Speaker 1>right now. This is not a formal after action review.

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<v Speaker 1>This is live leadership, and it requires humility, because sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>the plan you walked in with is not the plan

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<v Speaker 1>that will get you through. The best leaders are not

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<v Speaker 1>the ones who stick to the original plan no matter what.

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<v Speaker 1>They're the ones who recognize when it's time to pivot

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<v Speaker 1>and do it without hesitation. So now let me tie

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<v Speaker 1>this all together. Reducing risk is not about eliminating uncertainty.

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<v Speaker 1>That's impossible. It's about managing how your team moves through uncertainty,

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<v Speaker 1>Clarity over chaos, speed without hesitation, consistency overdrift, presence over panicked.

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<v Speaker 1>If you can do those things, you do not remove

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<v Speaker 1>risk completely, but you control it. And that is what

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<v Speaker 1>leadership is really about. Control what you can influence, what

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<v Speaker 1>you cannot control, and never allow the environment to dictate

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<v Speaker 1>your standards, because in the end, high change environments do

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<v Speaker 1>not break organizations. Unprepared leadership does. So as you head

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<v Speaker 1>into your next shift, your next meeting, or even your

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<v Speaker 1>next decision, ask yourself one simple question, am I creating

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<v Speaker 1>clarity right now? Or am I adding to the noise?

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<v Speaker 1>That one question will change how you lead in high

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<v Speaker 1>change environments. Even if you can win that moment, you

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<v Speaker 1>can win the next one and the next one. And

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<v Speaker 1>that is how you lead when it matters most. This

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<v Speaker 1>has been the seven Minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank

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<v Speaker 1>you for listening. For more Paul fell of Alito Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>visit paulfellowalito dot com