Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.

Have you ever been in a meeting where someone — highly intelligent, educated 🤓 — was explaining something, and you just weren’t getting it?

Maybe it was too technical, filled with acronyms and jargon.

Maybe they dove into details without giving context.

Maybe they were simply talking too fast.

​No matter how brilliant someone is, when they’re not clear they compromise their ability to build trust and influence others.

😳 Because when someone feels stupid, who do they unconsciously blame?

The person who “makes” them feel that way.

😵‍💫 When someone doesn’t get it, what do they do?

They tune out.

And confused minds don’t translate ideas into action.

So in a world of information overwhelm, intelligence and technical expertise are not enough.

What’s more important? Creating clarity for others.

That’s what my client Ryan did in scaling a highly technical, $300M business.

Through our work together, he saw that the quickest way to step up as a leader was to be the one to ensure clear communication in the teams.

So, in meetings, he would say things like this:

• “Hey J, if I had to repeat back what you just said, I don’t think I could. Can we go over that again?”
• “Hey J, would you mind going over what those terms mean for those who don’t have our level of background on this topic?”
• “Hey J, I just want to make sure we’re all on the same page here before we move onto the next topic. What I thought I heard was XYZ.”

This approach is not efficient: initially, it slows things down.

It takes courage to be the one who “doesn’t get it.”

And as Ryan says: “It takes a lot of situational awareness of other stakeholders, the temperature of the conversation and how to properly steer it.”

But by making sure the group was engaged, he was able to turn around a dysfunctional team in less than 90 days, and almost triple team output.

What do you think about this approach? Are you up for trying it at your next meeting?

When you’re ready to level up your leadership, here’s how I can help:

👉🏻 The High-EQ Founder, a cohort-based course where founders turbo-charge their leadership communication skills in just six weeks. Learn more here.

👉🏻 A 1:1 executive coaching engagement. Schedule a “Create From The Future” call here. We’ll map out a game plan to uncover your full potential as a leader.