The manager who talks first decides the meeting

Watch what happens in a meeting right after the boss says what they think.

Heads nod. Laptops close a little. The two people who had a different idea suddenly find it "not that important".

Nobody told them to stay quiet. They just did the maths: why argue with the person who signs off on my work?

That's the problem with leaders who speak first. You don't get your team's thinking anymore. You get your own opinion back, politely, in five different voices.

The fix is boring and it works.

Ask the question. Then stop talking. Let the most junior person in the room answer first, then the next one. Your view goes last, after everyone has already put theirs on the table.

It feels slow the first few times. It even feels like you are not leading.

But the meetings where I said the least are usually the ones where I learned the most.

Hearing yourself agreed with is not the same as being right.