Cat Matson

speaker

1,623 appearances 6 recordings 1 series first heard May 2026 last heard 6 Aug

Cat Matson’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 6 in all, peaking in Jun 2026 with 3.

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Speaking with Confidence with Cat Matson: communication coaching for humble leaders · 204 - How To Speak With Authority Without Sounding Demanding · 6 Aug 2026 podcast

And she feels like she then has to engineer everyone back to the recommendation that she originally wanted to make.

And as we were unpacking this, what became really clear to me was that this wasn't just a messaging issue, and I'll talk about that in a second, but it was also a perception issue.

And the perception was very much, I don't want to be seen to be shutting other people down.

I want everyone to feel good about the recommendation.

I want everyone to feel like they've contributed.

is the thing not everything needs everybody else's contribution so what I want to talk about today is how can we make our recommendations how can we be the experts in the room how can we contribute according to what it is that we are in the room to contribute to give space for people to object or to

add extra pieces on but not to be doing it in such a way that people feel like we don't have the answers so I feel like in order to do this one justice we need to start with a little bit of mindset it's kind of it's not uncommon really is it to start with a little bit of mindset

At a macro level, at a big global level, I often joke with people that democracy doesn't mean consensus.

Democracy means majority.

Now, of course, in a team meeting, we're not necessarily talking about democracy issues or democracy sausage side issue.

We're not talking about democracy, but

But I do wonder whether that's what contributes to this reluctance to just tell people what we think.

This desire for consensus could come from a number of different places.

It could come from wanting to look nice, wanting to be accepted by everyone, not wanting to look bossy.

I mean, we could literally spend hours talking about the need for us to look nice.

But in the context of getting things done in professional conversations, I want to be really clear that being nice does not mean that you have to get everyone's opinion on everything and being nice does not mean that everyone has to agree with you.

You can still be a nice person and do something that not everyone agrees with.

Ask me how I know.

I mean, that's what leadership's about, isn't it?

Leadership is about making decisions that are for the best for the organization, the best for the team, the greatest good for the greatest number.

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