"Silence isn’t the same as agreement"
In a recent 1:1 with an experienced engineer, I fell into advice mode. They tried, twice, to share their perspective, but I kept going. Eventually, they stopped contributing. At first, I thought maybe they agreed with me. But a part of me knew better they were withdrawing from the conversation. Here’s the thing: when someone withdraws from a conversation, it often means they’ve mentally stepped away from the outcome too. As leaders, we can’t afford to assume silence = agreement. It’s too easy to walk out of a conversation thinking we’re aligned, only to find out later we’re on totally different pages. Tomorrow, I’ll share a story about how this same dynamic can derail an entire initiative. Until then, |