Lead In 30 Podcast

Take A Stinkin' Position! Stop Being So Invisible!

• Russ Hill

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Stop being invisible in meetings. Stop decreasing your value in the company. Have a take! Offer an opinion. Give some insight. 

In this episode Lone Rock Leadership co-founder Russ Hill takes a position! He claims the most valuable people in any organization aren't those who simply show up. They're the ones who listen carefully, then boldly state: "I think we should sell this division" or "We need to delay this product launch by six months." These clear positions immediately engage others, creating momentum where before there was only stagnation.

This episode explores why decisiveness matters so deeply in leadership and how it separates forgettable team members from indispensable ones. We dive into the neuroscience behind why our brains naturally search for opinions to react to, and why concise, position-based communication outperforms rambling explanations every time.

You'll learn the powerful "Listen, Position, Listen" framework that transforms how others perceive your leadership. Plus, discover why the shortest comments often carry the most weight, and why preparation before meetings dramatically increases your impact. Most importantly, you'll understand the critical balance between having strong opinions and remaining flexible enough to change course when new information emerges.

For leaders evaluating team performance, this episode provides clear signals to identify who's truly adding value versus who's merely occupying space. Whether you're leading a small team or an entire organization, mastering the art of taking positions will fundamentally transform your effectiveness and influence.

Ready to stop being forgettable and start driving real progress? Listen now, then share this episode with someone whose leadership journey matters to you.

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About the podcast:
The Lead In 30 Podcast with Russ Hill is for leaders of teams who want to grow and accelerate their results. In each episode, Russ Hill shares what he's learned consulting executives. Subscribe to get two new episodes every week. To connect with Russ message him on LinkedIn!



Speaker 1:

Absolutely nobody follows a maybe, Silence or shrugs. They aren't memorable or notable. If you want to lead, you've got to pick up the flag. Let's talk about your indecision, your lack of a position in this episode.

Speaker 2:

This is the Lead in 30 podcast with Russ Hill you cannot be serious. Strengthen your ability to lead in less than 30 minutes.

Speaker 3:

Lead through change. Choose to be powerful, make decisions faster and with. Buy in. Check out the new 30 day leadership courses now available from Lone Rock Leadership. You can watch the preview videos right now at lonerockio.

Speaker 1:

They are the four areas that every single organization struggles with. How do we know that? Well, because it's not our first rodeo, like when you've been on thousands of flights and over. You know, just between the founders of our firm, the three of us that co-founded Lone Rock Leadership, we've counted more than 9,000 meetings oh my gosh, that is so painful to say More than 9,000 meetings that we've been in with clients all over the globe, all over Europe, all over Asia, north America, and obviously, these last few years, virtually. And when you interact with organizations whether it's a restaurant chain or a manufacturing client, or it's a health care company, a hospital system, insurance, whatever it is when you interact with them, that often you see the pain points that are universal, and that's what we built those four courses around. Welcome in to the Lead in 30 podcast pain points that are universal and that's what we built those four courses around. Welcome into the lead in 30 podcast. In less than 30 minutes, we'll give you a framework, a best practice, something to implement in the way that you lead others. If you upgrade, if you upgrade your ability to lead, it impacts every aspect of your life. There's no finish line and, by the way, the market is constantly changing, right, the customers are changing, our employees are changing, the competitors are changing, and so we've got to constantly be adjusting the way that we lead others. Otherwise we're going to be left behind, right, and so that's what we talk about in this podcast.

Speaker 1:

My name is Russ Hill. I coach, consult senior executive teams at some of the world's biggest companies, and it's such a privilege to do it. I'm one member of the team at Lone Rock Leadership. You can find out more about our firm and these four areas that we built courses around. There's lead in 30, the foundational course.

Speaker 1:

Adapt in 30,. Leading people through change because you think you work in a lake when the reality is. Adapt in 30,. Leading people through change because you think you work in a lake when the reality is you work in an ocean. There are a constant. It's so funny. You see these members of teams and they're like oh my gosh, we just got pounded by this wave called a restructuring, or pounded. We got hit broadside by this wave called a tariff. We got broadsided by this wave called a hybrid work, or people changing the way that they want to work. Oh, how are we going to handle it? This is a massive wave and everybody on the team like we're all waiting for that water to calm down again, like it's a shock that a wave actually hit us. Well, guess what happens in the ocean. Guess what happens in the ocean. Guess what's coming Another wave. Because you don't work in a calm lake this is not your favorite lake. At 5 am, still calm, glassy water. What you work in, the environment you work in, is the ocean, wave after wave after wave of constant change. That is the mortal condition. That is the mortal condition, that is the human condition. And so leading through change.

Speaker 1:

Can you tell I'm kind of passionate about it. It's uh, by the way, it's one of the courses that we offer off the shelf adapt in 30. That's just generating a ton of noise because it's so relevant. The other courses are decide in 30 and um and power in 30. You ever felt powerless? Yeah, it leads to people surrendering because you don't think you have any control, when reality is that's a decision that you make.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I'm not gonna. I got a lot of passion around these. We've we've spent a lot of time building these out. The frameworks and models aren't new. We've been using them with executive teams forever, but. But we started with clarity, alignment, movement and a lead in 30. We hit the market with that for the last four years, and now we're ready to give you some of the other frameworks and models that we've been using with executive teams that generate significant movement. Lonerockio is where you can find out more about it.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so I want to share with you an unlock, a best practice, a tip that will have profound impact, and many of you already are good at this and a lot of you suck at it, okay, and so I want to just bring your attention to it. You cannot be indecisive. You could not be indecisive as a leader. Now, what I'm not advocating is that you're unmovable, that you're stubborn, that you're arrogant, that you have all the answers. No, that's not it either. But what I am saying is there is tremendous value in you taking a position when constantly like that is the job of a leader to have a position, to have a take to, to, to, to um, offer insight. So here's the sequence for this. Well, let me tell you why this is on my mind. As we're growing our firm, we're constantly looking for new people or new spots to hire, and we're really big.

Speaker 1:

If you listen to this podcast on a regular basis. You know I am a big believer in the who more than the what. Every time that you start digging in as an executive, as an owner, as a leader, as a manager, into figuring out the what, you're going down a rabbit hole that is going to waste an insane amount of time. As soon as you find and let me explain for those of you that are like what in the crud are you talking about, russ? Um, what I'm, what I'm what I'm.

Speaker 1:

What I mean by this is when you discover that there is an additional skill, task, a need inside your organization or your department and you go and you think, okay, well, I'm gonna go explore, I'm gonna go search youtube videos, I'm gonna go look for whatever it is. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go spend a week, a month, a weekend, whatever, digging into how to do this. You, you, a lot of times. Now there are instances where that's needed, but if that requires more than a few minutes, more than a few hours, then you're wasting time. Go find the who. Who knows how to do this? Who can bring this competency, this expertise, to our executive team? Who can bring this to our department? Who can bring this to our firm or our practice or our plant or whatever the who is critically important department. Who can bring this to our firm or our practice or our plant or whatever? The who is critically important and, by the way, not part of this episode, but I'll throw it out, since it's related is you getting good on what you are on?

Speaker 1:

Your expertise is what significantly impacts your value in the marketplace. When you don't know what you're good at, you can't articulate it, you haven't thought through that. Then you've got limited value. You're a generalist in the market that pays for specialists to some degree. There there's um, there are limits to that. But you there's definitely areas where you want to have expertise in, because that makes you extremely marketable. You are the best in doing this particular area. For instance, in the area of executive consultants and I say this with humility because we have a lot to learn but there's nobody better than our firm. There's nobody better. Nobody's done it more.

Speaker 1:

Now, if you're looking for strategic consultants or you know you want to go, you want someone to give you binders of information on whether or not you should close that plant or you should restructure whatever. That is not our area of expertise. That's McKinsey, that's Boston Consulting Group. There are big dogs out there and smaller players that offer that up. That's not what we do. We're not the data scientists, we're not the people that are going to analyze all that. That just hurts my brain. But there are companies that are really good at that. But what they are not good at is what we do, which is go in and work with the team and executive team and get them. Get them to be way more effective, get them to be high performing and, by the way, you can't do that with just limited interaction. You've got to dig in. And so when we have organizations, clients, that allow us to dig in, and we've got frequent cadence and they're movable, we can bring enormous value. I know our value in the marketplace. There's nobody better at identifying the core deficiencies in mid-level managers than we are. Why? Because we've done it a ton.

Speaker 1:

Let me give you an example of this real quick, and then I'm going to get back to decision. I had a, and maybe I've shared this recently in a podcast. I can't keep up with all the content we put out, so forgive me if you've heard this recently, but so we've got a neighbor and Kelly came. Kelly came over, uh, when I was having issues with the boat. I'm not as sure this I know. I've told this story recently, I just don't know if it was in a podcast episode or not. Um, and and so the boat was having issues and Kelly came over and I I fired up the boat. I think I did tell this in a podcast episode, so I'll make it brief.

Speaker 1:

Um, I fire up the boat engine and Kelly listens to it for like 10 seconds and says you need new spark plugs. I'm like, how do you know that? Because he's worked on thousands of engines, he owns auto repair shops. That's his area of expertise. If he can articulate to the market like, his value goes up tremendously in that space. Same is true for you. Okay, so let me let me get into how this applies to decision making, okay.

Speaker 1:

So, um, when, when we're building the firm this is why it's on my one of the reasons why it's on my mind and we're looking for people with expertise in particular areas, and because we have a need, and so we'll contact somebody we'll say, hey, we'll do this or do that, or help us with this, or what do you have, and so often they will just view themselves as data collectors or they show up on a zoom call or in person or whatever else, and they listen and they're like, oh, okay, well, it could be this, or you know, you know what do you want? Or okay, whatever, I'm like no, I want you to listen to me and then offer a position. Hey Russ, what you need in this area is that whoa, okay, let me think about that. I think you're right, or I think you're crazy. And and and and. But you take a position which brings efficiency to the conversation. It makes you notable.

Speaker 1:

The people I don't remember, the people I'm not interested in bringing onto the team, the people who don't really have an impact, are the people that are just kind of present. They're in the meeting, they're in the conversation. This was me when I first got into management. I thought my job was, you know, I was to execute and there's value to that, but it's not nearly as high as the people who have opinions. Again, I'll put the disclaimer that I'm not looking for you to have like a radical opinion on everything and you can't actually execute. That's not what I'm talking about, because those people are annoying and they don't bring value. You know people that are just super opinionated on everything and there's no data to back it up, or their opinion is it's just, it doesn't make sense.

Speaker 1:

And so let me give you kind of a framework to how this is how this works. We teach it is listen, position, listen right of a framework to how this is how this works. We teach it is listen, position, listen right. And I want to expound, expound on that. But here, here's what I want you to do. Here's where you bring value Um and and where I want to get to the core of what I'm, what I'm trying to teach or or highlight here.

Speaker 1:

When you go to a meeting, I want you listening to the conversation, I want you observing what's going on, and typically there are multiple points of view that start to present themselves. We should sell no, we should buy. We should go faster no, we should go slower. We should hire him no, we should get rid of him or not bring him on board. We should expand that product offering no, we need to wait to do it. There You'll you'll hear some positions, some different um points of view presenting themselves, and, as you're listening to this, I want you to think through your own position, and the way I do this is I write it down. I've got a notebook like old-fashioned, like sheets of paper you ever seen those things? And I'm writing it down.

Speaker 1:

By the way, stop using your laptop in meetings. You look like you're answering emails. If you're taking notes on what's happening in the meeting, I can't tell, and if everybody else is using their laptops, I don't care. Be the outlier. Put it down. A sheet of paper or an iPad if you want it to be digital, or some kind of digital note taker where you've got a physical pen like a writing object that makes you look like you're engaged. Everyone in the meeting, object that makes you look like you're engaged. Everyone in the meeting. On laptops, you look like you're not listening and the reality is most of you aren't and it's why this meeting is a waste of time, because I've got nobody's attention Be present, and if everyone feels the need to be on a laptop in a meeting, then your meetings way too long and it's not concentrated, and that's a belief that you need to tackle. I can't stand it.

Speaker 1:

These meetings we go to with clients sometimes if it's our first meeting with someone, we don't take too harsh of a stand on it, but by the second or third meeting there's nobody on a laptop. Why? Because you won't survive the meeting At the pace we're going to, to go, at the level of engagement we demand at, at how often we're asking for your opinion. It's these meetings where we present, like, what a waste of time. We'll now hear from marketing for an hour and a half and everyone will lose their mind. Or now it's time for this function to report out and they're going to take the next two hours. Please remove all sharp objects from the room. Like, are you kidding me? Send me the deck. This is how Amazon does it. Right, send that out in advance. And then, when we get to the meeting, ask for my question, ask for questions. And if nobody read it, then they're not interested. We're wasting time anyway.

Speaker 1:

Um, can you tell I've got some energy on this? So you're listening, not using a laptop. You're writing down some thoughts. This is what Mike said that stood out to me. This is what Linda said that stood out to me. I think that and, and, and. You're trying to. You're trying to put it into a list of one, two or three things. So you're formulating some opinions when we and then, at a certain point not three hours, in, maybe 20 minutes, in maybe 10 minutes into the meeting, you're going to offer an opinion. You're not going to say, oh, I think that's interesting for an opinion. You're not going to say, oh, I think that's interesting. Oh, yeah, I really think this is important. No, you're going to take a position. Hey you all, this is a I I've really, I think this is the right conversation, that this is what it might sound like. Hey you all. I think this is a really good conversation. I, I, I, um. I've been listening to what we're talking about here and I I really appreciate the different perspectives.

Speaker 1:

I think that we should sell this division of the company. I think that we need to delay launching this product six months. I think we aren't acting with enough urgency in this area. I think that we are headed the wrong direction. Take a position. When you do that, your value in the organization, on the team in the room, goes up enormously. If your position is well thought out, if you've got some sound reasoning and I do not want you to take four minutes to say one sentence diarrhea of the mouth diminishes your value. I'm sorry, I don't know what I was to say that you all um, um, being, uh, like being wordy, uh, what? What's a better, more um, professional way for me to say that don't, don't, don't spew nonsense. That's why you've got the notebook. You're writing it out a sentence. I think we should sell this plant.

Speaker 1:

I believe we should move slower and so be ready with a concise statement and you can add some color, some commentary, some context or narrative around it, but be limited in it. What I am not advocating here is you taking a position and taking 10 minutes to say something. No one has any idea what you just said. If you're going to tell a story, keep it to a minute throughout all the other details. Get to the meat of it. The shorter your comments, the stronger your comment. Okay, then do what I'm doing right here Hesitate, pause, emphasize certain words, give time for the brain to process, make a statement, then let it sink in. When you speak this way, it's so much more powerful than when you speak like this and you're constantly talking about it. And then I want to tell you a story about where Mike was doing whatever, and we went to that whatever. You lost me. So you speak in that kind of a way you all, this has been a really good conversation way. You all, this has been a really good conversation.

Speaker 1:

I, um, I, I think that, um, that there's been some great data presented, and I just wanted to offer my perspective. Listening to the debate, I've spent some time thinking about this. I think we should delay any action in this area for six months, and the reason that I, um, I say that I know that's controversial and I know I'm laughing on purpose. I'm highlighting because it's kind of heavy. I I know that to some of you, you're thinking what that's insane, but here's why I'm advocating that we delay any action on this for six months. The reason is, I think we don't have enough data, and so what strikes me is that we need to. You see how this is going. That's powerful.

Speaker 1:

Do you know how many people that we talk to just in our firm I'm just making this personal, like, just really close to home that I am initially impressed by, and then we meet with them, or we talk with them, or we get them in a meeting and they don't take positions. I don't want you to take a position just to take a position. Okay, um, I want you to, I want you to think through it and I want you to weigh in, because it makes you more valuable. You have insight. That is what people follow.

Speaker 1:

Clarity we react our brains, the way our brains work. The science behind this is, when you just say a lot of dribble it, my brain doesn't really do anything. But the way that the brain works is, as you're speaking, my brain is searching, my ears are filtering everything you're saying, looking for opinions. Watch this, try it out. It's totally true. And I'm looking for an opinion. I'm looking desperately. I do it subconsciously, you do it all the time. I'm searching for something that I agree with. I'm searching for something I disagree with and I'm anxious to react to it. That's, that's how you engage brains. What causes us all to check out is really a lack of a position, lack of an interesting perspective, lack of a concise narrative that my brain can follow.

Speaker 1:

So the takeaway, what I want you thinking about, is how often are you taking positions? Are you just the silent observer in a meeting? Are you showing up and just you know, kind of observing your present? You're there in your organization, you offering ideas? Are you offering solutions? Are you saying, hey, I think there's a different way we could be doing this. Oh really, what is it? Well, you know, I've been thinking about this wow, that's what we need. What we need is somebody who's thinking about this, who's been studying it, who's been contemplating it, who's been pondering about it, who's been asking our customers about it, who's been thinking about it and having conversations on the side, who's gathered some data, who thinks we ought to do it this way instead of that way, who's got a position. I want you on my team. If you take positions and you state them in a concise, effective way and you're movable, that is the recipe for success, for value add.

Speaker 1:

What you have in most organizations and most teams is people who are just present. They just really don't have any ideas. They don't have a um, an opinion on these things. They haven't thought through it, they don't really know where they stand. They're just kind of here or on the other end of the extreme, the the other extreme is people who take a position, have an opinion on everything and they're not movable. Like get, get those people out of here. Like I've got no interest in them, right, I'd rather them than the milk toast.

Speaker 1:

People that are just kind of dude. Do you have a pulse? Like hello, like anything going on in there? Like, do you even care about this? Do you have any passion around it, are you? Because yeah, so I want you to. I want you to first consider what I'm saying as it applies to you and how you're showing up and then, secondarily, I want you to analyze your team and the people you have on the team who are just present. Get rid of them, move on. They're like, unless they're in some position where you need them, like that, you just need need a body, you just need something, a pulse, like just go execute and do this, whatever. Otherwise, upgrade, upgrade with someone that's got a position, somebody that that, that that's movable, somebody who's got passion around what it is we're doing, somebody who's got expertise, somebody who thinks about this, who cares about it, somebody who's driven, somebody who's got expertise, somebody who thinks about this, who cares about it, somebody who's driven, somebody who's wants, wants to to make things happen in this area, somebody who's ideating on it and thinking about it and, and you know, just in innovating, like my gosh, what could we accomplish with more of them? What I don't want is just the milk toast, like I.

Speaker 1:

I'm so embarrassed at the way that I showed up in those early days of me being in management. What was I thinking? I think it was a lack of confidence, quite honestly. I think it was a lack of knowing this, all of this stuff that I'm talking about and um, and realizing that when you take a position, you're advancing the conversation Doesn't mean you think you're right. Do you know how many times I offer a position, an opinion? I don't even know if I agree with it, I'm just stating it.

Speaker 1:

I was on a call. Just to end with this. I was on a call a few minutes ago with somebody that that we brought on board to do some stuff for us, and I went into the call. I spent some time last night before I went to bed taking a position. So I opened up a document and this, whatever I took, I, I. It took me 20 minutes to 15 maybe, and I took like five or six positions.

Speaker 1:

I think we should do this, I think we should do that, I think we should do this, we should do that. So when the call began, I said, hey, do you mind if I share my screen? Here are some ideas. And then this person just reacted to that. Do you know how much more efficient that is, how strong that is compared to? Hey, welcome to the call. Yeah, I just wanted to have a discussion with you and I really don't have any idea. What, whatever. Do you have any ideas? Or whatever like, oh my gosh, that's so slow and so wasteful. Take a position, I show up with the position. Anyway, you get the point all right, something for you to think about as it pertains to you and as it pertains to the people on your team. That's what's on my mind, that's my position, that's my opinion, that I want you to react to and think about in this episode of the Lead in 30 podcast.

Speaker 2:

Share this episode with a colleague, your team or a friend. Tap on the share button and text the link. Thanks for listening to the Lead in 30 podcast with Russ Hill.