EP. 1893

02/23/26

Leslie John

โ€œWe worry way too much about TMI (too much information), and we don’t worry enough about TLI (too little information).โ€

Why You're Afraid to Share (And What It's Costing You) | Leslie John

Leslie John drops a finding that stops most people cold: couples married an average of 12 years guessed what their partner was thinking and feeling correctly only 20% of the time. That gap between how well you think you know someone and how well you actually know them is where relationships quietly break down.

It’s the same dynamic playing out in friendships, at work, and in families everywhere. You think you’re saving people discomfort by holding back, but what you’re actually doing is building a wall you can’t see.

Leslie walks through the science of “disclosure decisions,” the hundreds of small choices you make each day about what to say and what to swallow, and what it costs you over time when the scales tip too far toward silence.

Learning to share with the right people, at the right moments, with the right context isn’t just good communication. It’s how you build the kind of relationships that actually hold.

The Greatness Playbook: The Communication Mastery Edition

Leslieโ€™s book Revealing: The Underrated Power of Oversharing

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โ€œStudy after study has shown that feeling known for who you really are, warts and all, is such a strong predictor of strong relationships.โ€ โ€” Leslie John
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And now let’s jump into episode 1893 of The School of Greatness!

Some Questions I Ask:

  • Why does it hurt us being silent in relationships, undersharing or not being vulnerable, versus oversharing?
  • Why did that marriage end, based on the research you’ve done in your book?
  • When you just start to have an emotional breakthrough where you were like, okay, I’m realizing that this is who I am, I’m being more aware that I have had this upbringing, when did you have an emotional breakthrough where you said, I need to learn how to emotionally evolve so that I can have better intimacy relationships with my partner, with my children, with friends?
  • What happens to your self-respect, or anyone’s self-respect, when we don’t express our truth to someone else?
  • When is oversharing actually hurt you?
  • What’s one question you could ask your intimate partner that would get them to share what they truly feel if they’ve been blocking or hiding those emotions for a long time?
  • Is it important to give difficult feedback to people in your life?
  • What happens to a person inside of them when they decide not to share what’s really going on?

In this episode, you will learn:

  • Discover why undersharing, not oversharing, is quietly destroying your closest relationships and what the research says about the real cost of silence.
  • Understand how “mind reading expectations” create a hidden trap in romantic relationships and learn the simple shift that breaks the cycle before resentment builds.
  • Learn the one question that can open any conversation with a guarded partner and why leading with your own vulnerability is more powerful than finding the perfect words.
  • Recognize how the things you leave unsaid pile up into a weight that erodes your self-respect over time and what it takes to start speaking your truth again.
  • Apply the science of the feedback sandwich, including what the research actually found about which part matters most, so you can deliver hard truths in a way people can actually hear.
  • Plus much more…
The School of Greatness Podcast
The School of Greatness Podcast

The School of Greatness Show

The School of Greatness shares inspiring interviews from the most successful people on the planetโ€”world-renowned leaders in business, entertainment, sports, science, health, and literatureโ€”to inspire YOU to unlock your inner greatness and live your best life.