November 18, 2025 • 7 mins
This episode reveals high-level leadership tactics the top 0.1% use, including the OODA loop, red teaming, the barbell strategy, and shadow boards. These tools are practical, rare, and proven to give leaders a lasting edge.
Host: Paul Falavolito
Connect with me on your favorite platform: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Substack, BlueSky, Threads, LinkTree
View my website for free leadership resources and exclusive merchandise: www.paulfalavolito.com
Books by Paul Falavolito
Host: Paul Falavolito
Connect with me on your favorite platform: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Substack, BlueSky, Threads, LinkTree
View my website for free leadership resources and exclusive merchandise: 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
- The Leader's Book of Secrets: http://bit.ly/4oeGzCI
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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 golajieving. This
is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul
Fello Aledo.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
It's episode five twenty seven. Today we're cracking open what
I call the leadership black file. This isn't illegal, and
it's not from some dark corner of the Internet. It's
the kind of knowledge that the top zero point one
percent of leaders know, use and guard closely. These aren't
(00:43):
the tips you get in a basic management seminar. This
is rare air and I'm about to let you in,
so grab a pen. You'll want to write these down.
Secret number one the OODLE loop weaponized speed. Originally created
by Air Force Colonel John Boyd. The ODE loop stands
(01:04):
for Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Most people think it's for
fighter pilots. The truth the world's best CEOs live in it.
They train their teams to act faster than the competition
can respond, and that speed becomes a weapon. So how
do you use it? Weekly leadership reviews where you process data,
(01:28):
adjust your view, make small decisions, and take microaction. Repeat constantly.
The goal is to become so nimble your competitors feel
like they're standing still. In Secret number two, the Barbell
strategy safe plus wild, and this comes from the black
(01:49):
Swan author that seem to lead elite performers protect their
downside with safe, low risk bets and reserve a small
piece of their resources for extremely high upside wild ideas.
How you use it keep your core systems, staff and
budget stable, but take five percent and invest it in
(02:13):
weird ideas, experimental tech, or moonshot thinking, because that's where
breakthroughs happen. Secret three the pre mortem failure in reverse.
Before any major initiative, the best leaders ask, it's six
months from now in this completely failed Why that's a
(02:36):
pre mortem and it's one of the fastest ways to
surface blind spots you never saw coming. So how do
you use it before a product, launch, a reorg, or
a new strategy. Gather your leadership team, run this scenario,
enlist every reason it failed, then start fixing it before
(02:59):
it be comes real. Secret number four is red teaming
punch holes in your own plans. Military and cybersecurity experts
use red teams to simulate an attack on their own systems.
Elite leaders do it with their strategies, So how do
you use it? Assign a small, trusted group to challenge
(03:23):
your plan like it's their job to destroy it. Make
them find cracks. You'd rather them expose it than the media,
the board, or your customers. Secret number five shadow boards
gen Z's secret weapon. Companies like Gucci, Prada, in some
(03:45):
of the world's most elite firms, use shadow boards made
up of younger talent. These teams don't replace the c suite,
but they give raw, unfiltered feedback to keep executives from
going blind to trends. How you use it. Create a
group of sharp young minds in your organization. Let them
(04:07):
audit ideas, strategies, and even culture. Then they'll tell you
what your leadership team is too far removed to see.
Secret number six Meta leadership beyond your org chart. Real
power doesn't live inside your org chart. It lives in networks.
(04:28):
Meta leaders are the ones who can lead across departments, organizations,
and even industries. How you use it. List every external
person or organization you regularly interact with, then ask how
am I leading them to influence? Doesn't stop at your title.
(04:51):
Secret number seven The five percent rule budget for what's next.
Elite leaders set aside five percent of their time, money,
or people purely to build future capabilities, even if there's
no immediate return. How you use it dedicate five percent
(05:11):
of your monthly budget or schedule to training, AI, exploration,
culture reinforcement, or blue sky thinking. It's the most consistent
difference between flatlined companies and legacy builders. In secret number eight,
the second order mindset, most leaders stop at what happens next?
(05:35):
The best keep going, asking and then what, and then what? So?
How do you use it? Build the habit of asking
second and third order questions after every big decision. You'll
avoid unintended consequences and lead with foresight. Secret number nine
(05:56):
is oblique strategies lateral thinking. Under pressure, musician Brian Eno
made a deck of cards with strange prompts to break
creative blocks. Some leaders and hedge fund managers use the
same idea to shake up stuck thinking. So how do
(06:17):
you use it when you're gridlocked? Ask a totally different question,
Flip the problem, add a bizarre constraint, challenge your default assumptions.
It's not silly, it's strategic chaos. In number ten, the
leader's log. This is your black box recorder. Elite pilots
(06:41):
have black boxes, Elite leaders keep black logs. It's a private,
brutally honest diary of decisions, emotions, wins and losses, and
how do you use it? Start with one sentence a day.
After ninety days, go back and read it. You'll find
patterns in how you think, decide, and lead. It's the
(07:04):
mirror you've been avoiding. So these tactics aren't found in
the first ten pages of a leadership book, and chances
are you don't have a boss that will teach them
to you. They're from the deep end where all the
elite leaders are currently operating from. They're what the zero
(07:24):
point one percent are doing while the rest are just
reading about it and wondering why those people are successful.
And they're not just doing it once in a while.
This is their battle plan every day. So start using
and incorporating these tactics and you'll begin to operate in
a completely different league. This has been the seven minute
(07:46):
Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
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 golajieving. This
is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul
Fello Aledo.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
It's episode five twenty seven. Today we're cracking open what
I call the leadership black file. This isn't illegal, and
it's not from some dark corner of the Internet. It's
the kind of knowledge that the top zero point one
percent of leaders know, use and guard closely. These aren't
(00:43):
the tips you get in a basic management seminar. This
is rare air and I'm about to let you in,
so grab a pen. You'll want to write these down.
Secret number one the OODLE loop weaponized speed. Originally created
by Air Force Colonel John Boyd. The ODE loop stands
(01:04):
for Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Most people think it's for
fighter pilots. The truth the world's best CEOs live in it.
They train their teams to act faster than the competition
can respond, and that speed becomes a weapon. So how
do you use it? Weekly leadership reviews where you process data,
(01:28):
adjust your view, make small decisions, and take microaction. Repeat constantly.
The goal is to become so nimble your competitors feel
like they're standing still. In Secret number two, the Barbell
strategy safe plus wild, and this comes from the black
(01:49):
Swan author that seem to lead elite performers protect their
downside with safe, low risk bets and reserve a small
piece of their resources for extremely high upside wild ideas.
How you use it keep your core systems, staff and
budget stable, but take five percent and invest it in
(02:13):
weird ideas, experimental tech, or moonshot thinking, because that's where
breakthroughs happen. Secret three the pre mortem failure in reverse.
Before any major initiative, the best leaders ask, it's six
months from now in this completely failed Why that's a
(02:36):
pre mortem and it's one of the fastest ways to
surface blind spots you never saw coming. So how do
you use it before a product, launch, a reorg, or
a new strategy. Gather your leadership team, run this scenario,
enlist every reason it failed, then start fixing it before
(02:59):
it be comes real. Secret number four is red teaming
punch holes in your own plans. Military and cybersecurity experts
use red teams to simulate an attack on their own systems.
Elite leaders do it with their strategies, So how do
you use it? Assign a small, trusted group to challenge
(03:23):
your plan like it's their job to destroy it. Make
them find cracks. You'd rather them expose it than the media,
the board, or your customers. Secret number five shadow boards
gen Z's secret weapon. Companies like Gucci, Prada, in some
(03:45):
of the world's most elite firms, use shadow boards made
up of younger talent. These teams don't replace the c suite,
but they give raw, unfiltered feedback to keep executives from
going blind to trends. How you use it. Create a
group of sharp young minds in your organization. Let them
(04:07):
audit ideas, strategies, and even culture. Then they'll tell you
what your leadership team is too far removed to see.
Secret number six Meta leadership beyond your org chart. Real
power doesn't live inside your org chart. It lives in networks.
(04:28):
Meta leaders are the ones who can lead across departments, organizations,
and even industries. How you use it. List every external
person or organization you regularly interact with, then ask how
am I leading them to influence? Doesn't stop at your title.
(04:51):
Secret number seven The five percent rule budget for what's next.
Elite leaders set aside five percent of their time, money,
or people purely to build future capabilities, even if there's
no immediate return. How you use it dedicate five percent
(05:11):
of your monthly budget or schedule to training, AI, exploration,
culture reinforcement, or blue sky thinking. It's the most consistent
difference between flatlined companies and legacy builders. In secret number eight,
the second order mindset, most leaders stop at what happens next?
(05:35):
The best keep going, asking and then what, and then what? So?
How do you use it? Build the habit of asking
second and third order questions after every big decision. You'll
avoid unintended consequences and lead with foresight. Secret number nine
(05:56):
is oblique strategies lateral thinking. Under pressure, musician Brian Eno
made a deck of cards with strange prompts to break
creative blocks. Some leaders and hedge fund managers use the
same idea to shake up stuck thinking. So how do
(06:17):
you use it when you're gridlocked? Ask a totally different question,
Flip the problem, add a bizarre constraint, challenge your default assumptions.
It's not silly, it's strategic chaos. In number ten, the
leader's log. This is your black box recorder. Elite pilots
(06:41):
have black boxes, Elite leaders keep black logs. It's a private,
brutally honest diary of decisions, emotions, wins and losses, and
how do you use it? Start with one sentence a day.
After ninety days, go back and read it. You'll find
patterns in how you think, decide, and lead. It's the
(07:04):
mirror you've been avoiding. So these tactics aren't found in
the first ten pages of a leadership book, and chances
are you don't have a boss that will teach them
to you. They're from the deep end where all the
elite leaders are currently operating from. They're what the zero
(07:24):
point one percent are doing while the rest are just
reading about it and wondering why those people are successful.
And they're not just doing it once in a while.
This is their battle plan every day. So start using
and incorporating these tactics and you'll begin to operate in
a completely different league. This has been the seven minute
(07:46):
Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
For more Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.
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