Minute With Mallon: The Three Questions That Change Everything!
Welcome to Minute with Mallon!
Something I Taught (and Learned!):
My friend Jonathan recently said something to me that stopped me in my tracks.
He said, “When you get a new boss (or client or partner), have a meeting where you ask three questions:”
What do you always want to know or want me to check with you first?
What do you want periodic updates on?
What do you trust me to handle completely unless you ask?
At first glance, it sounds simple. But the more I thought about it, the more wisdom I saw in it.
Most of the tension in relationships — at work or anywhere — doesn’t come from bad intentions. It comes from unclear expectations. One person thinks they’re being proactive; the other feels blindsided.
These three questions cut through all that. They create clarity, trust, and partnership right from the start.
It’s not just for new bosses either — you can use this with clients, team members, even your spouse. What do you always want to know? What do you want periodic updates on? What do you trust me to handle?
A few weeks ago, I shared Jonathan’s three-question idea with one of my clients — a regional manager who’d just been promoted and now had six branch leaders reporting to him. He was excited about the new role but admitted he was already feeling tension with one of his senior team members.
I suggested he sit down with that person and walk through the three questions. He did it the very next morning. Later that week, he told me it completely changed their working relationship.
He said, “Robert, I realized most of our issues weren’t performance problems — they were communication problems. Once we both knew what the other expected, everything got easier.”
That one conversation brought clarity, trust, and peace to what had been a frustrating relationship for months.
It’s amazing how much peace and productivity come from simply knowing where the lines are.
Simple. Wise. And worth doing.
Something to Ponder:
“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
William Arthur Ward
Something I Learned:
At the end of every year I read a little book by James Allen called "As a Man Thinketh." It keeps me conscious of the fact that my thinking has a whole lot to do with how my life plays out.
A few days ago I read this:
“Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot. It rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance.”
Leaders often believe their internal dialogue is invisible. It’s not.
If you constantly think, “I’m overwhelmed,” you begin acting like someone who’s overwhelmed.
If you think, “No one on my team cares as much as I do,” you start treating people through that filter—and they feel it.
If you think, “We can figure this out,” you lead with confidence and clarity.
What you think becomes what you practice.
What you practice becomes who you are.
And who you are becomes the culture around you.
Your circumstances are often the echo of your thoughts.
So the real leadership work isn’t just fixing problems “out there.”
It’s paying attention to what’s happening “in here.”
Something I Saw:
Think this could help someone? Share the link: RobertMallon.com/Newsletter
Hope you have an incredible week!
Robert
