Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques

258. When Power Talks, People Walk: Why Leaders Don’t Hear What Matters Most

194 snips

Jan 26, 2026

Megan Reitz, an associate fellow and leadership scholar who studies workplace communication and power, discusses how conversational habits shape ethics, innovation, and engagement. She explains the T.R.U.T.H. framework and how titles and status shift who gets heard. She names common leader power traps and practical ways leaders can train attention to invite more voices.

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INSIGHT

Why Conversational Habits Matter

Conversational habits determine what gets said and heard in organizations.
Reitz's T.R.U.T.H. framework (Trust, Risk, Understanding, Titles, How-to) explains why people speak or stay silent.

ADVICE

Use T.R.U.T.H. As A Diagnostic Tool

Use the T.R.U.T.H. checklist to diagnose voice problems: trust, risk, understanding, titles, and how-to.
Change interventions should target the specific T.R.U.T.H. factor blocking speech or listening.

INSIGHT

Status Creates An Optimism Bubble

Titles and labels create fluid status that shapes who speaks and who is heard.
'Advantage blindness' makes high-status people unaware of how intimidating they appear and how much voice others lack.

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Why it’s critical to say what needs to be said — and listen when others do the same.

Speak out, listen up — these are Megan Reitz’s core pillars of workplace communication. According to her, healthy organizations are only possible when everyone can say what they think, and they know they’ll be heard.

Reitz is an academic and author whose work focuses on creating workplaces where all voices are heard and valued. Her latest book, Speak Out, Listen Up, explores the power dynamics that shape our communication at work and beyond. “Conversational habits define organizational success and our capacity to flourish,” she says. “Ethical conduct depends on what we're able to say and what we aren't, and whether we're heard or not. Innovation depends on our capacity to speak up, challenge, and disrupt, and whether that is heard or not. And of course, our engagement and our ability to perform depends on a feeling that our opinion is valued and that we're respected.”

In this episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Reitz and host Matt Abrahams discuss how to create workplaces where every voice is heard. From her T.R.U.T.H. framework (trust, risk, understanding, titles, and how-to) to the pitfalls of communicational power dynamics, Reitz’s insights reveal why healthy organizations are only possible when we all speak out and listen up.

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Chapters:

(00:00) - Introduction
(02:31) - The TRUTH Framework
(05:42) - Status, Titles, and Voice
(09:31) - Power Traps For Leaders
(14:16) - Mindful Leadership = Habit Change
(18:45) - The Final Three Questions
(25:57) - Conclusion

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