August 7, 2025 • 5 mins
In this episode, we explore leadership debt—the hidden cost of delayed decisions—and how unresolved issues silently damage your team and culture. Learn tactical steps to identify and eliminate leadership debt before it spirals.
Host: Paul Falavolito
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Host: Paul Falavolito
Connect with me on your favorite platform: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Substack, BlueSky, Threads, Discord
Free Leadership Resources: www.paulfalavolito.com
Books by Paul Falavolito
- The 7 Minute Leadership Handbook: bit.ly/48J8zFG
- The Leadership Academy: https://bit.ly/4lnT1Pf
- The 7 Minute Leadership Survival Guide: https://bit.ly/4ij0g8y
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
performance through strong human relations, team building, and goalajiving. This
is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Felloaldo.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
It's episode four twenty four. Let me ask you something.
If your organization was a credit card statement, how much
leadership debt would be on it right now? Leadership debt
is real, and like financial debt, it starts small, a conversation.
(00:42):
You didn't have a hiring decision, you delayed, a red
flag you chose to ignore. At the time, it probably
felt like a smart move. Now's not the right moment,
or let's wait and see, or maybe it'll fix itself.
But here's the truth. It rarely does. And every time
you swipe that leadership credit card without paying it down,
(01:04):
you're compounding the interest. Eventually, it hits your culture and
it hits hard. Today we're going to talk about what
leadership debt is, how to spot it, and how to
pay it down before it bankrupts your credibility, team morale,
and trust. So what is leadership debt? Leadership debt is
(01:25):
the accumulation of unresolved leadership responsibilities. It's the stuff we delay, dodge,
or delegate into a black hole. And it comes in
many forms. Not addressing poor performance, avoiding crucial conversations, pushing
off strategic hiring decisions, ignoring conflict or bad behavior, and
(01:48):
failing to give feedback good or bad. And every time
you put one of these things off, it doesn't go away.
It becomes a weight your team quietly carries. Eventually they
stop asking for guidance, stop trusting your consistency, and start
believing that mediocrity is acceptable. You're not just delaying a task,
(02:11):
You're accumulating culture interest. So let's say you have an
underperformer on your team. You know it, they know it,
and everyone else definitely knows it, but you keep telling
yourself they're going through a lot, or I'll handle it
after the next project. That's leadership debt. Now add another situation.
(02:34):
You need a new hire, but you've delayed interviews for months,
so your current staff keeps working overtime, burning out covering shifts.
That's more debt. And then there's the person with the
bad attitude. You've seen the eye rolls, heard the passive,
aggressive comments, but confronting them feels uncomfortable. That's another charge
(02:56):
to your balance. These things pile up, and eventually, just
like financial debt, there's a breaking point. That's when good
employees leave, toxic behavior spreads, and your team silently checks out.
So why do leaders delay? It's usually one of these
three reasons. Fear of conflict you don't want to be
(03:19):
the bad guy, decision fatigue you're so overwhelmed you let
things slide. And hope. You keep thinking things will magically resolve.
But hope is not a strategy, and fear is not leadership.
Leaders who avoid hard decisions are building castles on sand,
and sooner or later, the tide comes in. So let's
(03:43):
talk about how to fix it. Here are five steps
to start paying down your leadership debt today. Number one,
audit your debt. Take fifteen minutes and write down what
you've been avoiding. Be brutally honest. What decisions have you
kicked down the road? Who do you owe a conversation to?
(04:05):
What issues have you buried? Number two, prioritize the impactful.
Not all debt is equal. Tackle the high interest stuff first,
the things that are hurting morale, productivity, or trust. Number three,
rip off the band aid, have the uncomfortable conversation. Fire
(04:26):
the person who's poisoning your team, Promote the one who's
quietly saving the day. Whatever it is, do it now.
Delaying it further only makes the pain worse. Number four,
build a decision rhythm weekly. Ask yourself what am I avoiding?
What needs to be addressed before it grows teeth. This
(04:47):
keeps your leadership clean, lean and honest. And number five,
communicate your repairs. If your team knows you're owning your
delays in making moves to fix them, you'll gain more respect,
not less. Transparency in leadership, debt recovery builds trust. So
(05:10):
every leader carries some level of debt. That's reality, but
great leaders recognize it early and start paying it down
before it costs them their team. You don't need to
be perfect, but you do need to be accountable, because
your silence today becomes someone else's resignation tomorrow. Leadership isn't
(05:30):
just about what you do, it's also about what you
deal with. Don't let delays become decay. Because leadership debt
is real, so start to pay attention to it today
to avoid the hidden cost of delayed decisions tomorrow. This
has been the seven Minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank
you for listening.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
For more Paul fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot
com
Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
performance through strong human relations, team building, and goalajiving. This
is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Felloaldo.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
It's episode four twenty four. Let me ask you something.
If your organization was a credit card statement, how much
leadership debt would be on it right now? Leadership debt
is real, and like financial debt, it starts small, a conversation.
(00:42):
You didn't have a hiring decision, you delayed, a red
flag you chose to ignore. At the time, it probably
felt like a smart move. Now's not the right moment,
or let's wait and see, or maybe it'll fix itself.
But here's the truth. It rarely does. And every time
you swipe that leadership credit card without paying it down,
(01:04):
you're compounding the interest. Eventually, it hits your culture and
it hits hard. Today we're going to talk about what
leadership debt is, how to spot it, and how to
pay it down before it bankrupts your credibility, team morale,
and trust. So what is leadership debt? Leadership debt is
(01:25):
the accumulation of unresolved leadership responsibilities. It's the stuff we delay, dodge,
or delegate into a black hole. And it comes in
many forms. Not addressing poor performance, avoiding crucial conversations, pushing
off strategic hiring decisions, ignoring conflict or bad behavior, and
(01:48):
failing to give feedback good or bad. And every time
you put one of these things off, it doesn't go away.
It becomes a weight your team quietly carries. Eventually they
stop asking for guidance, stop trusting your consistency, and start
believing that mediocrity is acceptable. You're not just delaying a task,
(02:11):
You're accumulating culture interest. So let's say you have an
underperformer on your team. You know it, they know it,
and everyone else definitely knows it, but you keep telling
yourself they're going through a lot, or I'll handle it
after the next project. That's leadership debt. Now add another situation.
(02:34):
You need a new hire, but you've delayed interviews for months,
so your current staff keeps working overtime, burning out covering shifts.
That's more debt. And then there's the person with the
bad attitude. You've seen the eye rolls, heard the passive,
aggressive comments, but confronting them feels uncomfortable. That's another charge
(02:56):
to your balance. These things pile up, and eventually, just
like financial debt, there's a breaking point. That's when good
employees leave, toxic behavior spreads, and your team silently checks out.
So why do leaders delay? It's usually one of these
three reasons. Fear of conflict you don't want to be
(03:19):
the bad guy, decision fatigue you're so overwhelmed you let
things slide. And hope. You keep thinking things will magically resolve.
But hope is not a strategy, and fear is not leadership.
Leaders who avoid hard decisions are building castles on sand,
and sooner or later, the tide comes in. So let's
(03:43):
talk about how to fix it. Here are five steps
to start paying down your leadership debt today. Number one,
audit your debt. Take fifteen minutes and write down what
you've been avoiding. Be brutally honest. What decisions have you
kicked down the road? Who do you owe a conversation to?
(04:05):
What issues have you buried? Number two, prioritize the impactful.
Not all debt is equal. Tackle the high interest stuff first,
the things that are hurting morale, productivity, or trust. Number three,
rip off the band aid, have the uncomfortable conversation. Fire
(04:26):
the person who's poisoning your team, Promote the one who's
quietly saving the day. Whatever it is, do it now.
Delaying it further only makes the pain worse. Number four,
build a decision rhythm weekly. Ask yourself what am I avoiding?
What needs to be addressed before it grows teeth. This
(04:47):
keeps your leadership clean, lean and honest. And number five,
communicate your repairs. If your team knows you're owning your
delays in making moves to fix them, you'll gain more respect,
not less. Transparency in leadership, debt recovery builds trust. So
(05:10):
every leader carries some level of debt. That's reality, but
great leaders recognize it early and start paying it down
before it costs them their team. You don't need to
be perfect, but you do need to be accountable, because
your silence today becomes someone else's resignation tomorrow. Leadership isn't
(05:30):
just about what you do, it's also about what you
deal with. Don't let delays become decay. Because leadership debt
is real, so start to pay attention to it today
to avoid the hidden cost of delayed decisions tomorrow. This
has been the seven Minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank
you for listening.
Speaker 1 (05:51):
For more Paul fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot
com
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