The Manager Track

Free download: Get the Episode 337 cliff notes, with the 4 buckets, the scripts and the rumor check setup: resources.archova.org/337

If you manage people, your team talks about you when you're not in the room. That's true for good managers too. In a UC Riverside study, people spent an average of 52 minutes a day talking about someone who wasn't there, and about three-quarters of it was neutral: people keeping each other up to date.

So whether your team talks about you is already settled. The part worth your attention is what they're saying and what it tells you.

Ramona sees the same pattern with capable managers again and again. A manager gives one person a high-visibility project because that person asked for stretch work in a one-on-one. Nobody else knew about the ask. From where the rest of the team sat, one person got the good project and nobody explained why, so they came up with their own explanation, and it wasn't a generous one.

In Episode 337 of The Manager Track, Ramona explains why teams talk about the boss, how to tell when the talk is feedback you should act on, and what to say (and what to avoid saying) when it reaches you.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• 3 questions that tell you whether the talk is noise or feedback worth acting on
• The 4 buckets the talk usually falls into, and the different response each one needs
• What to say when someone on your team tells you "just so you know, people are saying..."
• 2 common reactions that teach your team to keep conversations away from you
• The rumor check, a 2-minute slot at the end of team meetings that brings hallway conversations into the open

If you've ever heard secondhand what your team thinks of a decision you made, this episode is for you.

Episode page: The Manager Track Podcast

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/cJMWedbkT8A

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Leadership Accelerator, Archova's 12-week program for new and early-stage managers
• Free masterclass on how to lead successfully as a new manager: archova.org/masterclass
• The Confident and Competent New Manager: archova.org/books
• Episode 337 cliff notes: resources.archova.org/337

Links

• Schedule a Leadership Strategy Call with Ramona HERE.
• Grab the free New Manager Toolkit: archova.org/free-toolkits
• Learn how to turn your 1-on-1 meetings from time wasters, awkward moments, status updates, or non-existent into your most important and valuable meeting with your directs all week. Learn more at: archova.org/1on1-course
• Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Other Episodes You Might Like

• Episode 335, How to Handle a Disrespectful Employee as a New Manager
• Episode 324, Managing Former Peers? Have These 4 Conversations First

What's Next?

Learn more about our leadership development programs, coaching and workshops at archova.org.

Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Want to better understand your leadership style and patterns? Take our free quiz to discover your Manager Archetype and learn how to play to your strengths and uncover your blind spots: archova.org/quiz

Are you in your first manager role and don't want to mess it up? Watch our FREE Masterclass and discover the 4 shifts to become a leader people love to work for: archova.org/masterclass

Love the podcast and haven't left a review yet? All you have to do is go to ramonashaw.com/itunes and to our Spotify Page, and give your honest review. Thanks for your support of this show!

If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @ramona.shaw.leadership or DM me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ramona-shaw

* Disclaimer: Shownotes may contain affiliate links. That means that I am awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost to you.

Free download: Get the Episode 336 cliff notes, with all 5 lines, the scripts for hijacked meetings and the landing gear setup: resources.archova.org/336

When a meeting gets stuck, watch who gets it moving again. Often it's someone who has barely spoken, and what they finally say is a question about what the conversation is for.

25 minutes into a 45-minute meeting, 2 people are still debating features, someone has started a side conversation about budget, and nobody has said what the meeting is supposed to produce. From the outside, the fix is easy to see. From inside the room, the instinct is to add your own view to the pile.

New managers do this a lot. Expertise is what got them promoted, so they keep proving their value with content: one more data point, one more update, one more opinion on the detail everyone is already arguing about. That makes them the expert in the room, and the meeting still has nobody leading it.

In Episode 336 of The Manager Track, Ramona explains that leading a meeting comes down to structure: deciding what the conversation is for, who needs to be heard, and how it ends. She shares 5 lines to use in the order they come up, from the opening to the close, and the research behind why each one works.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• The question to ask in the first 2 minutes that tells everyone what's relevant
• Why the senior person should share their view after others, and how to bring in the people who haven't spoken
• A question from strategy professor Roger Martin that gets 2 dug-in people out of a standoff
• How to state your position and name what would change your mind, and why research favors this over playing devil's advocate
• What to say when someone hijacks the meeting or reopens a decision, plus a phrase your whole team can use to land a meeting that's drifting

If your meetings end with everyone nodding and nobody sure what was decided, this episode is for you.

Listen to the episode: https://www.ramonashaw.com/how-to-lead-a-meeting

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/BDh4AtZ94UM

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Leadership Accelerator, Archova's 12-week program for new and early-stage managers
• Free masterclass on how to lead successfully as a new manager: archova.org/masterclass
• The Confident and Competent New Manager: archova.org/books
• Episode 336 cliff notes: resources.archova.org/336

Links

• Schedule a Leadership Strategy Call with Ramona HERE.
• Grab the free New Manager Toolkit: archova.org/free-toolkits
• Learn how to turn your 1-on-1 meetings from time wasters, awkward moments, status updates, or non-existent into your most important and valuable meeting with your directs all week. Learn more at: archova.org/1on1-course
• Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Other Episodes You Might Like

• Episode 321, From Doer to Leader: Redefining Competence in Your New Role
• Episode 322, How to Read the Room: The 3 Questions Intuitive Leaders Ask

What's Next?

• Learn more about our leadership development programs, coaching and workshops at archova.org.
• Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP
• Want to better understand your leadership style and patterns? Take our free quiz to discover your Manager Archetype and learn how to play to your strengths and uncover your blind spots: archova.org/quiz
• Are you in your first manager role and don't want to mess it up? Watch our FREE Masterclass and discover the 4 shifts to become a leader people love to work for: archova.org/masterclass
• Love the podcast and haven't left a review yet? All you have to do is go to ramonashaw.com/itunes and to our Spotify Page, and give your honest review. Thanks for your support of this show!
• If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @ramona.shaw.leadership or DM me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ramona-shaw

* Disclaimer: Shownotes may contain affiliate links. That means that I am awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost to you.

Free download: Get the Episode 335 cliff notes, with the 4-step calm correction, the exact scripts and the 3-question check: resources.archova.org/335

Someone on your team rolls their eyes when you introduce a new process. Or makes a joke about your decision in the team meeting, and a couple of people laugh. Or takes a concern straight to your manager, and you only hear about it from your manager.

Each one is small enough to wave off, which is why it works as a test. The first time someone is openly disrespectful to a new manager, they are finding out where the line is. The other 5 people in the room are watching to see where you put it, and the line ends up wherever you let it settle.

In Episode 335 of The Manager Track, Ramona explains why your response in that first moment shapes what the whole team believes is acceptable, and why that matters far more than whether one person likes you. She walks through the calm correction, a 4-step method for handling disrespect promptly, privately and briefly, with the exact words to use in the room and in the follow-up.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• The 3 people who usually test a new manager, and what each one needs to see from you
• Why letting it slide and correcting someone in front of the room both cost you
• The 1 line that resets the meeting without turning it into a standoff
• What to say in the private follow-up, including how to take the concern seriously while setting the standard on delivery
• What changes the second and third time it happens, and how to document it so it holds up

If you've ever replayed a team meeting on the drive home because of one comment, this episode is for you.

Listen to the episode: The Manager Track Podcast

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/pAusucMeN6s

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Episode 332: When Your Direct Report Has More Experience Than You Do
• Leadership Accelerator, Archova's 12-week program for new and early-stage managers
• Episode 335 cliff notes: resources.archova.org/335

Links

• Schedule a Leadership Strategy Call with Ramona HERE.
• Grab the free New Manager Toolkit mentioned in the episode: archova.org/free-toolkits
• Learn how to turn your 1-on-1 meetings from time wasters, awkward moments, status updates, or non-existent into your most important and valuable meeting with your directs all week. Learn more at: archova.org/1on1-course
• Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Other Episodes You Might Like

• Episode 332, When Your Direct Report Has More Experience Than You Do
• Episode 324, Managing Former Peers? Have These 4 Conversations First

What's Next?

Learn more about our leadership development programs, coaching and workshops at archova.org.

Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Want to better understand your leadership style and patterns? Take our free quiz to discover your Manager Archetype and learn how to play to your strengths and uncover your blind spots: archova.org/quiz

Are you in your first manager role and don't want to mess it up? Watch our FREE Masterclass and discover the 4 shifts to become a leader people love to work for: archova.org/masterclass

Love the podcast and haven't left a review yet? All you have to do is go to ramonashaw.com/itunes and to our Spotify Page, and give your honest review. Thanks for your support of this show!

If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @ramona.shaw.leadership or DM me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ramona-shaw

* Disclaimer: Shownotes may contain affiliate links. That means that I am awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost to you.

Free download: Get the cliff notes, including exact lines to use and a one-on-one prep worksheet here: resources.archova.org/334

You ask your direct report a handful of questions in a one-on-one and leave feeling like you coached them well. They leave wondering why you didn't just say what you wanted.

That gap is common. In a Zenger Folkman study of 3,761 leaders, 24% rated their own coaching skills higher than the people around them did. On nearly every other skill, leaders tend to underrate themselves.

In Episode 334 of The Manager Track, Ramona walks through 5 mistakes managers make when they try to coach. Each one is hard to spot from your own seat, since you did ask questions and you didn't give orders.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• The quick check that tells you whether someone needs teaching, telling, or coaching
• Why "Have you thought about...?" still lands as an instruction
• What happens to your ideas once your title is in the room
• The order that keeps coaching from becoming a way around a hard conversation
• The closing questions that turn a pleasant chat into a commitment, plus how to coach in a Slack reply or a document comment
• 
  

If you've ever had the same coaching conversation twice with nothing changing in between, this episode is for you.

Watch on YouTube: The Manager Track on YouTube

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• The Advice Trap by Michael Bungay Stanier, the source of the "advice monster"
• The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier
• Leadership Accelerator, Archova's 90-day manager readiness program for new and early-stage managers
• Episode 334 cliff notes, available on the episode page

Links

• Schedule a Leadership Strategy Call with Ramona HERE.
• Grab the free New Manager Toolkit mentioned in the episode: archova.org/free-toolkits
• Learn how to turn your 1-on-1 meetings from time wasters, awkward moments, status updates, or non-existent into your most important and valuable meeting with your directs all week. Learn more at: archova.org/1on1-course
• Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Other Episodes You Might Like

• Episode 326, Giving Feedback as a Manager: The 3-Conversation Method
• Episode 313, Why Your One-on-Ones Turned Into Status Meetings (And How to Fix It)

What's Next?

Learn more about our leadership development programs, coaching and workshops at archova.org.

Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Want to better understand your leadership style and patterns? Take our free quiz to discover your Manager Archetype and learn how to play to your strengths and uncover your blind spots: archova.org/quiz

Are you in your first manager role and don't want to mess it up? Watch our FREE Masterclass and discover the 4 shifts to become a leader people love to work for: archova.org/masterclass

Love the podcast and haven't left a review yet? All you have to do is go to ramonashaw.com/itunes and to our Spotify Page, and give your honest review. Thanks for your support of this show!

If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @ramona.shaw.leadership or DM me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ramona-shaw

* Disclaimer: Shownotes may contain affiliate links. That means that I am awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost to you.

If you've ever read an email from someone on your team and caught yourself thinking they sound like ChatGPT, you probably took it a little less seriously. Your team does the same thing with your messages.

Managers now use AI to draft feedback, prep difficult conversations, write performance reviews, and polish status updates. On paper, the output is often good. The trouble starts when the words arrive before the thinking. People pick up on that mismatch, and now they have a ready explanation for it. Research from Cornell found that people rated a chat partner as less cooperative when they only suspected AI-suggested replies, whether or not AI was involved.

In this episode, Ramona looks at why scripted messages land as inauthentic even when the script is solid, what that costs a manager's credibility, and how to keep using AI without your team discounting what you say.

In Episode 333, we cover:

• The three costs of sounding like AI, including the one that surprises people
• What "workslop" is, and why 42% of the people who receive it trust the sender less
• Where AI-written work gives itself away: reviews, proposals, scripted conversations, and emails
• Why knowledge is losing value as a differentiator, and what replaces it
• Four habits that keep your own judgment and voice in anything AI helps you write

Whether you use AI for every draft or only when a deadline hits at 8 p.m., this episode shows you how to keep your own judgment visible in what you send.

Listen to the episode: The Manager Track Podcast, Episode 333: https://www.ramonashaw.com/how-not-to-sound-like-chatgpt

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/08uSGQIr0fE

Time

• The Leadership Accelerator, Archova's 12-week program for new and early-stage managers: https://archova.org/leadership-accelerator/
• Episode 333 cliff notes (free download on the episode page): https://resources.archova.org/episode-333
• Free masterclass: how to lead successfully as a new manager: https://archova.org/masterclass
• The Confident and Competent New Manager by Ramona Shaw: https://archova.org/books

• Schedule a Leadership Strategy Call with Ramona HERE.
• Grab the free New Manager Toolkit mentioned in the episode: archova.org/freetoolkits
• Learn how to turn your 1-on-1 meetings from time wasters, awkward moments, status updates, or non-existent into your most important and valuable meeting with your directs all week. Learn more at: http://archova.org/1on1-course
• Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP

• Episode 325: How to Write a Leadership Philosophy: https://www.ramonashaw.com/write-a-leadership-philosophy/
• Episode 330: Written Presence: What Your Slack Messages Say About How Senior You Are: https://www.ramonashaw.com/executive-presence-in-writing/

Learn more about our leadership development programs, coaching and workshops at archova.org.

Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Want to better understand your leadership style and patterns? Take our free quiz to discover your Manager Archetype and learn how to play to your strengths and uncover your blind spots: archova.org/quiz

Are you in your first manager role and don't want to mess it up? Watch our FREE Masterclass and discover the 4 shifts to become a leader people love to work for: archova.org/masterclass

Love the podcast and haven't left a review yet? All you have to do is go to ramonashaw.com/itunes and to our Spotify Page, and give your honest review. Thanks for your support of this show!

If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @ramona.shaw.leadership or DM me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ramona-shaw

* Disclaimer: Shownotes may contain affiliate links. That means that I am awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost to you.

Starting this week, our episodes come with downloadable cliff notes, so you have the scripts and tools in front of you when you need them. Grab this week's here: https://resources.archova.org/episode-332/

________

You got the job but now one person on your team has been doing this work longer than you've had a career, and you can feel them watching how you handle it.

So you do one of two things. You start correcting details and pushing your ideas harder than they deserve, trying to show you know enough. Or you turn every decision into a polite question about what they think you should do.

Both feel reasonable in the moment. Over a few months, the team figures out who actually runs things. And the survey data on younger managers is blunt about what bothers experienced employees: a boss who acts like they know more and gets defensive when questioned. Age barely comes into it.

In this episode, Ramona separates the two kinds of authority that show up in these relationships and shows you how to hold yours while putting their experience to real use.

In this episode:

• The two kinds of authority in the room, and what happens when you mix them up
• What to say when someone says “we tried that in 2019” in front of the whole team
• The habit that turns your decisions into requests for permission
• A four-part method for earning credibility with someone who has seen more than you
• The team code word that turns an old failure into useful information

If you've ever caught yourself explaining the same decision a third time to someone with more tenure than you, this episode is for you.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/f0Knz_suTTA

Episode page: https://www.ramonashaw.com/managing-experienced-employees

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• The Leadership Accelerator, Archova's 12-week cohort program for new and early-stage managers: https://www.archova.org/leadership-accelerator
• Free masterclass on leading successfully as a new manager: https://www.archova.org/masterclass
• The Confident and Competent New Manager by Ramona Shaw: https://www.archova.org/books

LINKS

• Schedule a Leadership Strategy Call with Ramona: https://calendly.com/ramonashaw/leadership-strategy-session
• Grab the free New Manager Toolkit mentioned in the episode: https://www.archova.org/freetoolkits
• Learn how to turn your 1-on-1 meetings from time wasters, awkward moments, status updates, or non-existent into your most important and valuable meeting with your directs all week. Learn more at: https://www.archova.org/1on1-course
• Grab your copy of Ramona’s best-selling book ‘The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role’: amzn.to/3TuOdcP

OTHER EPISODES YOU MIGHT LIKE

• Episode 329: Stop Overexplaining at Work: The Three-Beat Answer: https://www.ramonashaw.com/stop-overexplaining-at-work/
• Episode 317: Leading an Inherited Team: The First 90 Days: https://www.ramonashaw.com/leading-an-inherited-team/

WHAT'S NEXT?

Learn more about our leadership development programs, coaching and workshops at archova.org.

Grab your copy of Ramona’s best-selling book ‘The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role’: amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Want to better understand your leadership style and patterns? Take our free quiz to discover your Manager Archetype and learn how to play to your strengths and uncover your blind spots: archova.org/quiz

Are you in your first manager role and don't want to mess it up? Watch our FREE Masterclass and discover the 4 shifts to become a leader people love to work for: archova.org/masterclass

Love the podcast and haven't left a review yet? All you have to do is go to ramonashaw.com/itunes and to our Spotify Page, and give your honest review. Thanks for your support of this show!

If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @ramona.shaw.leadership or DM me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ramona-shaw

* Disclaimer: Shownotes may contain affiliate links. That means that I am awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost to you.

When a senior leader handles a hard question at an all-hands and makes it look easy, it's natural to assume they were born comfortable in front of a room and you weren't.

Kathryn Janicek has spent her career watching that assumption fall apart. As a 3-time Emmy-winning TV news producer, she put Fortune 500 CEOs on camera for 20 years and saw how many of them arrived unprepared. Today she coaches leaders for earnings calls, keynotes, and the move into the CEO seat, and she says the people at the top share an open secret: they all have a coach.

In this episode, Ramona and Kathryn talk about what goes into looking effortless on a bigger stage, whether that stage is a keynote, a client pitch, or your next team meeting.

In Episode 331, they cover:

• Why the work on nerves and confidence can't be crammed into the days before a presentation
• "Service over nervous," the question Kathryn asks herself before every talk
• The small habits that make people stop listening, including one big-city mayor's rings
• Vocal fry and upspeak: who does it, and why executives ask coaches to fix it
• Where "just be yourself" turns into bad career advice

If you've ever assumed your competence would be enough to carry you in the room, this conversation is for you.

Listen to the episode: The Manager Track Podcast, Episode 331

Watch on YouTube: The Manager Track on YouTube

Resources mentioned in this episode

• Janicek Performance Group: Kathryn's media, public speaking, and executive presence coaching firm
• Kathryn Janicek on LinkedIn: where she answers her direct messages
• Oprah Winfrey's 2013 Harvard commencement address: the "Was that okay?" story Ramona references
• Free New Manager Masterclass: the 4 shifts to become a leader people love to work for
• The Confident & Competent New Manager by Ramona Shaw

Links

• Schedule a Leadership Strategy Call with Ramona HERE.
• Grab the free New Manager Toolkit mentioned in the episode: archova.org/freetoolkits
• Learn how to turn your 1-on-1 meetings from time wasters, awkward moments, status updates, or non-existent into your most important and valuable meeting with your directs all week. Learn more at: http://archova.org/1on1-course
• Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Other episodes you might like

• Episode 327: Resistance to Coaching: What Leaders Are Really Protecting
• Episode 329: Stop Overexplaining at Work: The Three-Beat Answer

What's next?

Learn more about our leadership development programs, coaching and workshops at archova.org.

Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book 'The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role': amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Want to better understand your leadership style and patterns? Take our free quiz to discover your Manager Archetype and learn how to play to your strengths and uncover your blind spots: archova.org/quiz

Are you in your first manager role and don't want to mess it up? Watch our FREE Masterclass and discover the 4 shifts to become a leader people love to work for: archova.org/masterclass

Love the podcast and haven't left a review yet? All you have to do is go to ramonashaw.com/itunes and to our Spotify Page, and give your honest review. Thanks for your support of this show!

If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @ramona.shaw.leadership or DM me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ramona-shaw

* Disclaimer: Shownotes may contain affiliate links. That means that I am awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost to you.

The perception of how senior you are gets built in rooms you are not in, using text you wrote in about forty seconds.

A skip level reads three of your Slack messages. A peer forwards your email two levels up and never mentions it. None of those people hear your voice, catch the warmth you would bring in person, or hold the context you were carrying when you typed it. In writing you do not control the tone. The reader does, and they supply it from their own mood, their own week, and whatever they already assume about you.

Most managers have never treated this as a skill worth learning. Ramona makes the case that it is one, and that the closer comparison is a consultant learning to write executive briefs or a lawyer learning to draft, not anything you picked up in school.

In Episode 330, Ramona covers:

• The Cold Read: how to read your own message the way someone scrolling on a phone with eight seconds of attention and no preloaded goodwill will read it
• Four phrases to delete from your writing starting this week, and the one swap that gets you a better answer
• What to do when someone uses a public channel to call you out, and why the long reply is a trap
• A two-word signal anyone on your team can drop to end a thread that is going sideways, without either person conceding

If you have ever written a careful, considerate message and then watched the decision get made without you, this episode is for you.

Listen to the episode: The Manager Track Podcast, Episode 330

Watch on YouTube: The Manager Track on YouTube

Resources mentioned in this episode

• The Executive Presence Intensive: eight weeks in small groups for mid-level and senior leaders. Next cohort starts September 28.
• Priya Parker on The Daily, The New York Times, late August, on how Slack did not just change how we talk at work but turbocharged conflict. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/22/magazine/priya-parker-interview.html
• High Conflict by Amanda Ripley, the source of the term conflict entrepreneurs.
• Justin Kruger and Nicholas Epley, 2005 research on tone in email. Senders expected to be understood about 78 percent of the time. Receivers read it correctly about 56 percent of the time.
• Episode 328: The Update Trap: Why Good Status Updates Cost You Authority
• Episode 329: Stop Overexplaining at Work: The Three-Beat Answer
• Email [email protected] to talk about facilitating a written norms conversation with your team.

Links

• Schedule a Leadership Strategy Call with Ramona
• Grab the free New Manager Toolkit mentioned in the episode: archova.org/freetoolkits
• 1-on-1 Meeting Mastery Course: learn how to turn your 1-on-1 meetings from time wasters, awkward moments, status updates, or non-existent into your most important and valuable meeting with your directs all week. Learn more at archova.org/1on1-course
• The Confident & Competent New Manager: grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book on how to rapidly rise to success in your first leadership role. amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Other episodes you might like

• Episode 329: Stop Overexplaining at Work: The Three-Beat Answer
• Episode 328: The Update Trap: Why Good Status Updates Cost You Authority

What's next?

• Learn more about our leadership development programs, coaching and workshops at archova.org
• Grab your copy of Ramona's best-selling book The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role
• Want to better understand your leadership style and patterns? Take our free quiz to discover your Manager Archetype and learn how to play to your strengths and uncover your blind spots: archova.org/quiz
• Are you in your first manager role and don't want to mess it up? Watch our FREE Masterclass and discover the 4 shifts to become a leader people love to work for: archova.org/masterclass
• Love the podcast and haven't left a review yet? All you have to do is go to ramonashaw.com/itunes and to our Spotify page, and give your honest review. Thanks for your support of this show!
• If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @ramona.shaw.leadership or DM me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ramona-shaw

* Disclaimer: Shownotes may contain affiliate links. That means that I am awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost to you.

You give a good answer. Clear, accurate, done in one sentence.

Then you keep going. You add the context, the caveat, the option you considered and did not pick. All of it is true but together it tells the room something you never meant to say.

The person who asked was not doubting you. By the end of your answer, they are. Not because the decision was weak, but because you spent ninety seconds defending something nobody attacked.

Ramona calls this the difference between explaining and justifying, and often, even the most capable professionals cannot tell which one they are doing while they are doing it. This episode gives you the tell, the correction, and a protocol for people who use questions as a status instrument.

In this episode:

• Why the length of your answer is the signal people actually read
• The three-beat answer, and why the third beat is the one everyone skips
• The Why Ladder: how to spot a question that is really a test, and how to name it without sounding defensive
• What you are actually chasing when you overexplain, and why it has to go

If you have ever walked out of a meeting knowing you talked too much, this episode is for you.

Listen to the episode: The Manager Track Podcast, Episode 329: ramonashaw.com/stop-overexplaining-at-work

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0mepS-bnejY

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• The Executive Presence Intensive, eight weeks for mid-level and senior leaders. Next cohort starts September 28. Learn more at https://archova.org/executive-presence-program
• Last week’s episode on the update trap and reporting your judgment instead of your work. https://www.ramonashaw.com/status-updates-to-leadership/
• Next week: the written version of this problem, and what your Slack messages say about how senior you are.

Links

• Schedule a Leadership Strategy Call with Ramona: https://calendly.com/ramonashaw/leadership-strategy-session
• Grab the free New Manager Toolkit mentioned in the episode: archova.org/freetoolkits
• Learn how to turn your 1-on-1 meetings from time wasters, awkward moments, status updates, or non-existent into your most important and valuable meeting with your directs all week. Learn more at: http://archova.org/1on1-course
• Grab your copy of Ramona’s best-selling book ‘The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role’: amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Other Episodes You Might Like

• Episode 281 – Are You Overexplaining? When Leaders Should (and Shouldn’t) Justify Themselves – https://www.ramonashaw.com/281-overexplaining-leadership
• Episode 303 – Exec Communication: How to Speak So Senior Leaders Actually Listen – https://www.ramonashaw.com/how-to-speak-so-senior-leaders-actually-listen

What’s Next?

Learn more about our leadership development programs, coaching and workshops at archova.org.

Grab your copy of Ramona’s best-selling book ‘The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role’: amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Want to better understand your leadership style and patterns? Take our free quiz to discover your Manager Archetype and learn how to play to your strengths and uncover your blind spots: archova.org/quiz

Are you in your first manager role and don’t want to mess it up? Watch our FREE Masterclass and discover the 4 shifts to become a leader people love to work for: archova.org/masterclass

Love the podcast and haven’t left a review yet? All you have to do is go to ramonashaw.com/itunes and to our Spotify Page, and give your honest review. Thanks for your support of this show!

If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @ramona.shaw.leadership or DM me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ramona-shaw

* Disclaimer: Shownotes may contain affiliate links. That means that I am awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost to you.

You have done it a hundred times. Someone senior asks where things stand, and you give them the full picture: every work stream accounted for, clear timelines, nothing missed.

Sure, you must have sounded competent and in control. But what if that type of response actually costs you authority?

Most managers never catch this happening, because nothing about the update looked wrong.

The cost shows up months later, in a promotion conversation, or in who gets pulled into the room where the decision actually gets made.

In this episode, Ramona breaks down why an update and a briefing look identical on the surface while functioning as two completely different transactions, and what to change before your next meeting with anyone more senior than you.

In this episode:

• The Decision Line: the invisible boundary between where effort lives and where authority lives
• Why the research on processing fluency is so unkind to thorough people
• The four moves that keep you above the line, including the one most managers skip entirely
• What to say when someone deliberately pulls you down into the weeds
• A one-word protocol you can install with your team this week

If you have ever walked out of a leadership meeting feeling like you did everything right and still lost the room, this episode is for you.

Watch on YouTube: The Manager Track on YouTube.

— RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE —

• The Executive Presence Intensive, Ramona’s eight-week program for senior leaders. Next cohort starts September 28. https://archova.org/executive-presence-program/
• Free New Manager Masterclass: archova.org/masterclass
• The Confident & Competent New Manager by Ramona Shaw: archova.org/books

— LINKS —

• Schedule a Leadership Strategy Call with Ramona HERE (calendly.com/ramonashaw/leadership-strategy-session).
• Grab the free New Manager Toolkit mentioned in the episode: archova.org/freetoolkits
• Learn how to turn your 1-on-1 meetings from time wasters, awkward moments, status updates, or non-existent into your most important and valuable meeting with your directs all week. Learn more at: http://archova.org/1on1-course
• Grab your copy of Ramona’s best-selling book ‘The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role’: amzn.to/3TuOdcP

— OTHER EPISODES YOU MIGHT LIKE —

• Episode 303 – Exec Communication: How to Speak So Senior Leaders Actually Listen — https://www.ramonashaw.com/how-to-speak-so-senior-leaders-actually-listen/
• Episode 309 – From Executor to Strategist: How to Talk About Your Work at the Right Altitude — https://www.ramonashaw.com/crafting-a-vision-as-a-leader/

— WHAT’S NEXT? —

Learn more about our leadership development programs, coaching and workshops at archova.org.

Grab your copy of Ramona’s best-selling book ‘The Confident & Competent New Manager: How to Rapidly Rise to Success in Your First Leadership Role’: amzn.to/3TuOdcP

Want to better understand your leadership style and patterns? Take our free quiz to discover your Manager Archetype and learn how to play to your strengths and uncover your blind spots: archova.org/quiz

Are you in your first manager role and don’t want to mess it up? Watch our FREE Masterclass and discover the 4 shifts to become a leader people love to work for: archova.org/masterclass

Love the podcast and haven’t left a review yet? All you have to do is go to ramonashaw.com/itunes and to our Spotify Page, and give your honest review. Thanks for your support of this show!

If this episode inspired you in some way, take a screenshot of you listening on your device and post it to your Instagram Stories, and tag me @ramona.shaw.leadership or DM me on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/ramona-shaw

* Disclaimer: Shownotes may contain affiliate links. That means that I am awarded a small commission for purchases made through them, at no added cost to you.