Deliberate Leaders Podcast with Allison Dunn

Episode NotesWhat’s really happening when your team keeps asking you questions Fast answers feel efficient in high-pressure environments Over time, those answers become “thinking bypasses” Teams follow the path of least resistance when clarity lives with the leader Three hidden patterns that quietly reshape your culture The Certainty Loop Teams return to the fastest source of certainty, reinforcing dependency instead of reasoning. The Leadership Tax Micro-decisions accumulate, slowing execution and turning leaders into bottlenecks. The Inversion of Roles Leaders drift into problem-solving while teams drift away from ownership. Why this isn’t a delegation problem Reactive answers remove productive friction Judgment and prioritization skills don’t develop Teams stop anticipating and start waiting The shift that changes everything Stop providing answers Start providing a thinking process Five questions that build thinkers instead of dependents What options have you already considered? What outcome matters most here? What constraint are we solving for? What information is missing? What do you recommend and why? The core idea behind Think First Leaders don’t scale by thinking for people They scale by building systems that help people think clearly Next step Early access to the executive edition of Think First Visit deliberatedirections.com/thinkfirst