The Hidden Wisdom Your Team Isn't Sharing with Jeff Wetzler

What if the answers to some of your biggest leadership challenges are already sitting inside your team, but nobody is saying them out loud?

In this episode, I sit down with Jeff Wetzler, founder of Ask Approach, co-founder of Transcend, former Chief Learning Officer at Teach For America, and author of Ask: Tap Into the Hidden Wisdom of People Around You for Unexpected Breakthroughs in Leadership and Life.

The reality is that the people around us know things we don't. They have ideas, perspectives, concerns, and feedback that could help us make better decisions, avoid mistakes, and navigate challenges more effectively. Yet so often those insights never get shared.

Jeff has spent decades helping leaders understand why this happens and, more importantly, what we can do about it. In this conversation, we explore why people hold back what they're really thinking, how authority changes conversations, and the practical habits leaders can develop to hear more of what matters.

We also dive into curiosity, listening, psychological safety, feedback, and what Jeff calls "the unspokens" that exist in every team and organisation.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why people hold back feedback, concerns, ideas, and perspectives from leaders

• The hidden cost of the "unspokens" inside teams and organisations

• How power and authority make it harder for leaders to hear the truth

• The four things leaders are least likely to hear from their people

• Jeff's ASK Approach and the five practices that unlock collective intelligence

• Why curiosity is a choice, not a personality trait

• How to create environments that feel safe enough for people to speak up

• The difference between quality questions and the questions that shut down learning

• Why most leaders think they're better listeners than they actually are

• How to encourage more honest feedback, especially as you become more senior

• The role AI can play in helping leaders become more curious, reflective, and effective

Many of the answers we are looking for already exist somewhere in the organisation. The challenge is that people don't always tell us what they know, what they're worried about, or what they're seeing.

My favourite part was Jeff's perspective on curiosity. We often think of curiosity as something you either have or you don't. Jeff challenges that idea and offers a much more practical way of thinking about it.

I also found myself reflecting on how easy it is, particularly when we're busy or under pressure, to move too quickly into problem-solving mode. Sometimes the most valuable thing we can do as leaders is pause long enough to ask another question.

If you're leading a team and want to hear more of what people are really thinking, I think you'll get a lot from this conversation.

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