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Podcast Episode

Saying I Don't Know: The Credibility Cost of Faking It | BLx l Ep.039

The Backbone Leader Exchange··29 May 2026·12 min

About this episode

Most NCOs would rather guess than admit a gap. We tell ourselves authority is at stake. It is not. Credibility is. A junior soldier asks you a technical question. You half-know it. You give the half-answer with full confidence. Two days later they figure out you were wrong. You did not lose the answer. You lost the next ten questions. This week SGT Cashe and SSG Jones break down the sentence senior NCOs avoid the most, and the three-part move that turns it from a weakness into a credibility play. *I do not know. Let me find out. I will come back to you by Friday.* The third part is the one most leaders skip. It is the one that changes everything. *Because of you, our Army is better.*