Hi {{ subscriber.first_name }}, Before we jump in: we're closing the founding member window for WCL21 at the end of this month. If you're a CEO running a mid-market or growth-stage company and want a private space to pressure-test decisions with peers who understand the weight, reply with "WCL21" and I'll share what's included and how it works. And now… let’s talk about who needs to talk first. The Leader Who Talks First There's a habit I see in almost every leadership team I work with. The CEO walks into a meeting. The team presents a problem. And before anyone else has a chance to think...the CEO speaks first. Not because they're arrogant. Usually because they're trying to help. They've been thinking about this problem. They have a perspective. They want to move things forward. But the moment the CEO speaks first, the meeting is over. The rest is performance. Why this kills innovation When the most senior person in the room shares their view before anyone else, something subtle and devastating happens: the room reorganises around that view. People stop thinking about what they believe and start thinking about how to align with what you just said. Half-formed ideas get swallowed. Dissenting perspectives get quietly shelved. And the team walks out having confirmed the CEO's thinking rather than challenged it. I was speaking recently with Santiago Iñiguez De Onzoño — President of IE University, Thinkers50 award winner, and author of Dante in the Workplace — and he named this pattern with a clarity that stuck with me. He said that leaders who speak first don't just dominate the conversation. They give up innovation entirely. Because innovation requires the collision of different perspectives. And that collision can't happen when one voice has already set the direction. The deeper issue This isn't really a meeting problem. It's a pride problem. Santiago's book draws on Dante's seven deadly sins to diagnose modern leadership failures. And pride, the need to be seen as the smartest person in the room, is the one I encounter most often in my work with CEOs. It rarely looks like arrogance. It looks like competence. It looks like decisiveness. It looks like a leader who "adds value" in every conversation. But the cost is hidden. Your team learns that their job is to validate, not to think. The information reaching you gets thinner and more filtered. And over time, you end up leading an organisation that reflects your thinking back to you — which feels like alignment but is actually an echo chamber. Aristotle called the antidote to pride humility, not weakness, but the discipline of knowing what you don't know. Santiago put it in modern terms: humility in leadership means listening before you submit your own judgment. It means being genuinely open to the possibility that someone in the room sees something you missed. In my experience, the CEOs who practise this aren't the soft ones. They're the ones whose teams bring them problems early, challenge assumptions openly, and execute with real conviction because the direction was built collectively, not handed down. What to do about it This is simple to understand and difficult to practise. But here's where to start: Speak last. In your next leadership meeting, hold your view until everyone else has spoken. Not as a trick. As a discipline. You'll be surprised how much sharper the conversation gets when people aren't anchoring to your position. Ask before you tell. Replace "Here's what I think" with "What are you seeing that I might be missing?" That single question changes the power dynamic in the room without surrendering any authority. Reward the dissent. When someone pushes back on your thinking, thank them publicly. Not because it feels good, but because it teaches the room that honesty is safer than agreement. And that's the culture where your best ideas will actually surface. The question Next time you're in a meeting, notice: are people responding to the problem, or responding to you? If it's you...you spoke too early. The strongest leaders don't fill the room with their voice. They create the conditions for the room to fill itself. 🎧 Full conversation with Santiago Iñiguez de Onzoñoi on The World Class Leaders Show podcast — links below. 🎧 Watch on YouTube Andrea Petrone The CEO Whisperer - CEO Coach and Strategic Advisor - Keynote Speaker - Author Two more things: 1. I have room for two new 1:1 coaching clients this quarter. If you’re a CEO or C-suite leader facing a transition, a high-stakes decision, or a moment where the pressure has outpaced your support — reply with “COACHING” and a line about what you’re navigating. If it’s a fit, I’ll set up a call. 2. If your company has a leadership off-site, summit, or executive retreat coming up and you want someone who works with CEOs every day — not from a stage, from the room — reply with "SPEAKING" and share the event type, audience, and timing. I'll come back to you personally. |