The Leadership Temperature Test
Just because something feels fine to you doesn’t mean it actually is.
In this Two-Minute Tip, I share a quick story from home (involving a thermostat accidentally set to 81 😅) and the leadership lesson it sparked. As leaders, it’s easy to assume things are okay based on our own experience — especially when no one is complaining.
But feelings aren’t facts.
Great leaders pause to “check the thermostat.” They ask questions, seek real feedback, and look beyond their own perspective to understand how work is actually landing for their team.
If you want to build a healthier, more sustainable, and more productive work environment, this simple habit makes a bigger difference than you might think.
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One of the most dangerous phrases in leadership is things feel fine to me. And this very thing happened to me recently.
In our house, there's a bit of a disagreement on what the appropriate thermostat temperature should be. Idaho is cold in the winter and I'm constantly cold in our house putting extra sweatshirts on blankets, slippers, everything.
And one day I came home from work and it actually felt really nice in the house, really warm, and I was just soaking it up and enjoying it. Eventually my husband came downstairs, he's like, I'm sweating in here. And he went and looked at the thermostat and it was set to 81 degrees, which is a little bit higher than what we usually have it at.
But for me it felt great. The problem is in leadership, just because we feel like things are fine doesn't mean that they're actually fine. Perhaps you've said, well, morale seems okay. I haven't been hearing any complaints. I feel like the expectations have been set clearly.
But feelings aren't facts. We have to check the facts. Great leaders go and check the thermostat.
They get the data, they conduct pulse surveys. They hold one-on-ones and check in frequently. They invite people like me in to do 360 reviews for them to get real feedback. They are constantly checking the data to make sure it feels fine to their team as well.
So in case you are feeling great at 81 degrees and your team is just sweating it up, take the action this week to go and check. Ask the hard questions, gather the feedback. Bring somebody in to gather real feedback. Go and check the thermostat.