A friend and business partner of mine often tells a story from the early days of his company.

He was the CEO of a technology startup where every deal mattered. Winning a customer meant another few months of runway; losing one could change the future of the business.

One afternoon he was presenting to the procurement manager of a large multinational company.

The meeting had gone well. The technical team had already bought into the solution. The procurement manager had stopped asking whether the company could deliver and had started discussing commercials and timelines.

The sale was, in all likelihood, done.

But my friend didn't know it. He explained one more feature; shared another customer success story; made one more case for why they should choose his company.

The procurement manager smiled, waited for him to finish and said,

"Stop drilling when you hit oil."

My friend has never forgotten those six words. Neither have I.

As leaders, we often believe our job is to make one more point. In my friend’s case, the question was no longer whether. It was when, and how much. He just couldn't feel it yet.

The harder truth is that most of us sense the shift, but keep going anyway.

Stopping feels like a gamble. One more point feels like insurance.

It isn't. It's noise.

Whether you're presenting a strategy, pitching a client or asking your team to support an idea, watch for the moment the conversation changes. The questions change - not "should we?" but "how do we?"; not "why you?" but "what's the timeline?"

Stop drilling.

In your next meeting, don't just pay attention to what you're saying.

Pay attention to what your audience is asking.

The moment the conversation shifts from "Why should we?" to "How do we?", resist the urge to make one more point.

Instead, stop.

Then notice what you feel in that pause. That discomfort is the habit you're breaking.

The Swedish idea of lagom means "just the right amount." It's a cultural preference for sufficiency over excess - not too little, not too much, just enough. It applies as well to communication as it does to life. Sometimes the most persuasive presentation is simply the one that ends at the right moment. Read more >>