How to Hear More of the Right Voices in Your Team (So You Make Better Decisions Together)

Transcript:

“Most teams think they’re hearing everyone. But in reality? They’re usually hearing the same 3 voices… over and over and over”

“One of the biggest advantages you have - especially with a smart, capable team - is the range of perspectives in the room. Different brains. Different instincts. Different ways of seeing the same problem.

That’s where better ideas come from. That’s where risk-awareness comes from. That’s where good decisions get made.

But here’s the catch:

A lot of that intelligence never gets heard.

Not because people don’t have ideas. But because teams fall into predictable habits:

The fast thinkers jump in first. The confident ones take the space. And sometimes - without meaning to - the leader signals a direction, and the conversation centres around it.

And when that happens, you lose nuance. You lose challenge. You lose the ‘wait, let’s talk about that more’ that protects you from blind spots.

It’s a habit. But it’s a habit that costs you a lot.

So. Here are three simple shifts that unlock more of the right voices immediately.

(All practical, all simple, all things you can use this week.)

1. Start the conversation before the conversation

Before you open a discussion, ask everyone to take 60 seconds on their own to jot down their thoughts first.

Why this works:

• It levels the playing field.

• It gives reflective thinkers time to form actual language.

• And it stops the first comment from anchoring the whole conversation.

Some of the best ideas never get voiced simply because people needed ten extra seconds to catch up. This gives them that space. And the quality of thinking rises immediately.

2. Ask: ‘Which perspective haven’t we heard yet?’

At some point in the discussion, ask: ‘Which perspective haven’t we heard yet?’

This is a magic question.

You’re not calling out individuals. You’re calling out missing thinking.

It opens the door for quieter or more deliberate voices without putting anyone on the spot. And it signals something powerful:

We’re here to think well together, not just make fast decisions.

3. End with: ‘What haven’t we considered yet?’

At the end of the discussion or meeting, ask: ‘What haven’t we considered yet - that we should?’

This cuts straight through groupthink. It creates space for safe dissent. And it surfaces the risks, insights, and ideas that would normally stay in people’s heads.

Those are often the moments that change the direction of a decision. Or save a team from a bad one.

When you consistently make room for more of the right voices, trust rises fast. People feel heard. The quality of thinking improves. Blind spots shrink. And the team makes better decisions - without slowing down.

High-performing teams don’t have louder conversations. They have better ones.