Before getting to this soundbite, a note for those who travel the deep weeds.  Notice how whenever Fauci is answering questions on COVID subjects that are positive to his worldview, he uses the phrase “we“, including himself in the conduct of health officials.  However, whenever Fauci is answering questions that are critical of health officials, he uses the phrase “they“, to distance his role in the decision-making.  This is a key ¹*tell* in any conversation with leadership and/or teambuilders.

In this soundbite [full interview here and below], Anthony Fauci notes the CDC guidance on quarantine exit is likely to change, specifically because the feedback from media has been critical.  The media have been struggling to support the fear narrative, and the CDC changes are not helping them.  As a result, Fauci says the CDC quarantine guidance will change.  Not very science-y, huh?  WATCH: 

Fauci, along with Stephanopoulos, is a big fraud and a narcissistic con artist.  Notice in the full interview (below) Stephanopoulos asks if the media should stop focusing on infection rates now.  Transparently, the media motive is to stop the criticism of the Biden administration.

Going deeper on the introductory point:  Blame-casting is a profoundly negative leadership trait, with horrific consequences.  Stable executives, those with extraordinary skills at leading massive institutions, always look for this blame-casting trait when listening to peers, lower-level executives and teambuilders within the organization.

¹The most effective leaders, people of the most consequential influence, listen 95% of the time and speak only about 5% of the time. And when they do speak, the overwhelming majority of that time is simply to ask more questions.

If you want to become a leader of enormous consequence, listen more, speak less, even if that means silence.  For those of you who are young in your career, consider this advice for a New Year resolution.   It is not easy to listen 90% and talk only 10%.  Those who can do it have extraordinary confidence in who they are, confidence expressed with a rare currency of leadership humility.

People who speak less are considered more measured, stable-minded, more thoughtful, contemplative, analytical and more strategic.  These are tremendous assets in a large organization.  Again, for most people listening is not an easy skill to develop; it takes time, mentorship, a great deal of practice and intense focus at first.  However, once you learn how to listen effectively your influence will skyrocket.

Listening is also a strong negotiation skill in both life and business.  When you encounter a problem with a product or service, you can watch how powerful it is just by staying silent as soon as both parties understand the problem.

Rather than repeating your argument/position in multiple terms, learn to state your position with clarity and focus, including all the reasons why your position on the issue at hand has merit.  THEN SHUT UP, even if you are tempted to speak, even if the reply is nonsense, stay silent.  The other party will almost always start speaking again.

As long as you are silent, the other participant is carrying the monkey of the next move in the negotiation or arbitration.   If you are forced to break the silence, do so only by asking a question about the position of the other party.  Clarify using your words regarding what you just heard, and ask if that is correct. Then, shut up again.

In both large organizations and small teams, those who have either an inherent or learned skill in the art of listening are always the most influential and the most valuable.

For those of you who are employers or already leaders, whenever you hear a person or team-member use “we” when describing positive outcomes and “they” when describing negative ones, do not EVER -regardless of their other skills- consider elevating their leadership in your operation or organization.  If you do, you are setting your organization on the path to failure in the long term.

This little pro-tip on listening and speech has been consistently true.  However, only a select few people are gifted and/or able to do it.

Here’s the full interview with Fauci:

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