It starts with a question nobody asks

For me, most leadership problems start with a question nobody feels safe enough to ask out loud.

Have a think about a recent decision that unravelled quietly in the weeks after it was made.

Somewhere in that room, someone had a doubt. A different view or a concern they couldn't quite name.

They didn't say it.

Mainly because the room didn't feel like the kind of place where it would 'land well'.

That silence is expensive. Problems grow before they're named.

But you have the power to change this with a behaviour shift.

When you ask question "What am I missing?", and genuinely engage with the answer, it changes what's possible in the room.

When someone names a problem early and the response is "I'm glad you raised that," people learn that honesty has a pay-off.

The culture you have built from dozens of small signals. People read them constantly, and they act accordingly.

The question isn't the complicated thing. The courage to ask it, and to make it safe for others, is the real leadership work.