# Be a Thermostat, Not a Thermometer

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/communicast-a-communication-skills-podcast-4432989/be-a-thermostat-not-a-thermometer
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/communicast-a-communication-skills-podcast-4432989/be-a-thermostat-not-a-thermometer.md
Podcast: [Communicast: A Communication Skills Podcast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/communicast-a-communication-skills-podcast-4432989)
Published: 2026-09-22T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://communicast.simplecast.com/episodes/be-a-thermostat-not-a-thermometer-ueTxsMDZ
Audio file: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/cdn.simplecast.com/media/audio/transcoded/2edadbec-c90d-40cc-a150-86f7c2f8efda/69c845e0-35a5-467c-8990-b89e42340434/episodes/audio/group/7c6cd1cb-4d4f-40e9-8774-3780fc64f360/group-item/ecee96a8-4689-4cdd-b316-6af9a204f000/128_default_tc.mp3?aid=rss_feed&feed=MvLPjJO9
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/communicast-a-communication-skills-podcast-4432989/episodes/be-a-thermostat-not-a-thermometer
Duration seconds: 2099

## Resource

Today, I’m joined by Grant Ballard, an engineer, business leader, climate finance expert, and author of The Zero-Sum Illusion. Grant brings a fascinating perspective to communication, shaped in part by growing up in South Africa during apartheid and witnessing firsthand what can happen when people move beyond division and find ways to engage with one another. In our conversation, we explore what strong leadership communication really looks like and why it has far less to do with charisma than many people think. Grant shares a great analogy about communicators being thermostats rather than thermometers, why the success of a message should be judged by how it is received rather than simply how it is delivered, and how empathy and curiosity can help us navigate difficult conversations. There is a lot to unpack in this one. Let’s dive in.

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## Transcript

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