1. Importance of Finesse in Leadership
- Finesse means skillfully interacting to achieve desired outcomes, not just being right.
- Handling delicate situations and understanding unspoken cues are crucial at senior levels.
- Examples showed how blunt truth-telling or technical details without diplomacy caused issues.
- Actionable: Before communicating, pause to define what outcome you want; consider others’ hidden goals; find and emulate a senior leader with good finesse; seek feedback on your approach.

2. Delivering Bad News Effectively
- Bad news is inevitable but often mishandled by adding drama, over-explaining, or being too lengthy.
- Avoid taking blame unnecessarily or blaming others outright; use diplomatic language hinting at causes.
- Actionable: Keep bad news concise and factual; aim to minimize negative impact on listeners; carefully craft wording to maintain professionalism and avoid drama.

3. Giving Feedback to Senior Leaders
- Giving feedback upwards is challenging and often done poorly.
- Recommended techniques: use “even more” phrasing to soften criticism; share personal examples to empathize; provide data or success stories to justify your points.
- Avoid extremes of submissiveness or blunt harshness.
- Actionable: Prepare feedback with tactful language; avoid direct criticism; demonstrate understanding of leader’s perspective; support points with evidence.

4. Avoiding Inaccurate and Misleading Language
- Overconfidence or excessive hedging undermines credibility.
- Balance is needed between assertiveness and acknowledging uncertainty.
- Actionable: Review your written communication for language that is either too forceful or too tentative; add or reduce caveats accordingly to improve clarity and trust.

5. Managing Insecure Vibes
- Insecurity shows through hesitation, overexplaining, or avoidance of direct communication.
- Such behaviors create cycles of decreased confidence.
- Actionable: Reflect on moments you feel insecure; question if you would say the same if fully confident; gradually expose yourself to challenging interpersonal situations to build confidence.