Susan Drumm argues that leaders who hide their thinking and strategy breed mistrust. Teams fill information gaps with their own stories, especially under pressure. Leaders build followership by showing their reasoning, not just their expertise.
If you got 5 backup plans, but your team doesn't know the first one, you're not a strategic leader, you're a ghost. You think before you speak, you protect your time, you don't overshare because clarity matters. But when you hold your cards too close, your team gets left out of the game. They don't know what you're thinking. They can't read your intent. And that gap grows into mistrust, especially under stress. When you pull back to gather more data to get it right, the team is still waiting, but now they're they're actually also worried. Expertise doesn't build followership. Visibility does. You don't have to talk more, but you do have to let them in. Not just into the plan, but into your thinking, your intentions, your why. Because when your team understands your logic, they trust your lead. And when they don't, they fill in the blanks. And that story rarely helps you. Want to see the pattern that's keeping you on the sidelines? Start by taking my Leadership Superpower and Roadblock Assessment.
Why the Biggest Doors Open When You're Not in the Room | Michael Roderick & Susan Drumm
The Simple Audit That Adds a Human Touch to Every Customer Interaction #shorts
