The Ryan Leak Podcast - The Cost of Always Being Right

Episode Date: August 10, 2026

Would you rather be right or would you rather be connected? Ryan has met a lot of people who are always right. And he’s noticed something about them. They’re often alone. Not because they’re wrong, but because it’s exhausting to interact with someone who never considers the possibility that they might be. Ryan gets personal about seasons where he won every argument and lost every connection.In this episode, Ryan unpacks why being right is addictive, why your brain literally rewards you with dopamine when you prove your point, and why that hit comes at the expense of the relationships that matter most. Relationships aren’t courtrooms. The people in your life aren’t opposing counsel. And every time you prioritize being right over being kind, you chip away at the thing that matters most. Be right sometimes. Be kind always.

What's going on, my friends? Welcome back to the Ryan League podcast where we love to keep things short and sweet free each and every week. Today I want to talk to you about the cost of always being right. The cost of always being right. Let me ask you a question. Would you rather be right or would you rather be connected? Because I met a lot of people who are always right. And one of the things I've noticed is that, well, they're often alone.

I think the cost of always being right is that eventually people stop talking to you. They stop sharing their ideas. They stop bringing you into the conversation. Not because you're wrong, but because it can be a little exhausting to interact with someone who never considers the possibility that they indeed might be wrong. I know this well because I've been that person. There have been so many seasons in my life where I was so committed to being right that I won every argument and lost a lot of connections. Now, I mean, because I communicate for a living, I'd walk away from a disagreement feeling victorious.

And yet the person walks away feeling unheard. I'd correct someone in a meeting and feel smart. but I made them feel small. I was right, but I was alone in my rightness. Here's what nobody tells you about being right. It's addictive. Your brain literally reward you for it because when you prove your point, when you land the perfect comeback,

when you find the fact that shuts the conversation down, when you bring up something that they forgot that is like just, slams the case closed. Your brain actually releases dopamine. It feels good. It feels good to be right. Yeah. And if we're not careful, we'll actually chase that.

We'll actually look for opportunities to be right. And then every conversation becomes a courtroom. Every disagreement becomes a competition, but relationships aren't courtrooms. And the people in your life aren't opposing counsel. They're partners. Their teammates. They're the people who chose to do life with you.

And every time you prioritize being right over being kind, you chip away as a thing that matters most, which is the relationship itself. I've had to learn this the hard way. I've had to learn that being right about the budget doesn't matter if the team feels steamrolled. I've had to learn that being right about the strategy doesn't matter if my team feels dismissed. I've had to learn that winning the argument is often the fastest way to lose the person. Can I tell you like one of the things that I've just thoroughly enjoyed lately,

I've actually found the joy of being wrong. I had some members of my team, and we were arguing about this. They said, Ryan, did you know that, like, there's people in this world that would pay money to golf with you? I was like, why? Why would they do that? Like, why in the world would they, like, like, like, why?

They said, because, man, there's people that would love to pick your brain. Like, they would absolutely love that. I said, I disagree. I don't think that's the, case and i'm not i'm not good at golf no no right it's but it's not it's not about the sport it's about the it's about the it's about the quality time yeah i i still i i think you're wrong and i'm right i i think i would know because well you know i talk to people and you know it's a tough economy out there and you know people can't sell their house or buy a house or sell a house or

somebody else or get them to get insurance like i'm just out in a real world i'm just like i don't know what you're like that that that's that's not my audience i don't know who you think you know listens to my podcast i don't know who you think it's like following me on the internet and and and so anyways we did a survey yeah we sent out a survey you know like 28 000 people and i don't know maybe we got like four or five thousand responses and essentially we were asking a question Hey, how can we have value in your life? And what are some things that we can do? And we put golfing on there.

You know, hey, would you be interested in a golf mastermind? Here's what I learned. I was wrong. Yep. Team was right. Team was right. Yep. Team was right.

And I was wrong. And I could just say this. This is happening a lot lately. Yeah, the team would make a suggestion. And I'll say, no, I don't think it's going to work. and then it works. I'm actually finding value. I'm finding value and not being the smartest person in the room

because I think that's actually how you grow. Now, there are going to be some times where you are right. And, you know, that can be interesting. You know, like, you are right. But how do you make space for somebody else's perspective? even when you're like, but I am right. I think you obviously can still share your perspective. You can still advocate for your position,

but I think you just do it with humility. You do it with curiosity. You do it while leaving room for the possibility that maybe just maybe. There's something that you're not seeing. Like, just because I'm right or just because you're right, doesn't mean we're all knowing. All knowing is.

I know. Maybe that's too God for you, right? You're not all seeing. You're really smart. You've got a lot of experience. It does not mean you're all seeing. Like, it doesn't mean you've seen it from every single angle. It just means you've seen it from your angle.

Maybe you're looking at some data, but it's, none of it's foolproof. So I think we can share the thing that we think we're right. about and still make space for somebody else to be able to speak into it. I mean, instead of living with a mindset that's going, well, I'm right, you're wrong. What if we had the mindset that says, man, I want to understand their perspective. You know, one of the words that I'll use, especially when I'm winning an argument, is, actually, actually, yeah, yeah, well, just so you know. And I just think conversations make space for one another

And where respect enters the chat When we use phrase like, hey, that's interesting I see it differently That's interesting, I see it differently Like some of us just have this need To correct Like I got to fix this person's perspective Now. And I just, I have to wonder what it would look like for you and me to replace the need to

correct with the willingness to connect. Like, I don't want to correct this person. I'm actually trying to connect with this person. Because here's what's interesting. You and I, here's what I know to be true about you and me both. We actually receive correction from people we actually have a connection with. But if it's Mr. always right, if his miss is always right, even if they're always right,

we don't listen to them anyways. If you're always right, the cost is not even just that people will stop talking to you. They'll stop listening to you. Even though what you have to say can help them

because the way you're saying it all the time isn't helping them. At the end of the day, nobody puts on their tombstone. He was right about everything. Nobody says that. But what somebody might say at the end of your life was that they made everyone around them feel valued. And I think that's a legacy worth building.

This week, I'm going to encourage you to pay attention to how often you fight to be right. And ask yourself, what's it costing me? What does my rightness cost to me, right now, and the answer might just might surprise you because the price of being right all the time is often higher than the price of being wrong. Be right sometimes, but be kind always, and watch how your relationships transform. A friend, thank you so much for listening to the Ryan League podcast today. If today's episode had a value of your life, I would ask that you don't

keep it to yourself, share it with a friend. And hey, it would mean the world to me if you take a moment to rate review and subscribe to our support helps us reach even more people with these short and sweet nuggets of inspiration. Thank you so much for being a part of the journey and we'll catch you next time.