The Power of Calm Leadership: Listening and Speaking Softly

A note to young leaders.
Let me tell you of a time I was at my impressive best … entirely by accident.

One day I walked into the office gingerly knowing that I had only slept 2-hours the night before. I walked straight into an internal meeting where we dealt with a number of big problems in quick succession.
Afterwards, a colleague of mine who was also a good friend pulled me over to the side and said: “Wow, you were really good in that meeting. You listened well, you were very calm and you spoke softly. You should do more of that.”
“Perhaps I should be sleep-deprived more often”, I quipped.

As a leader, your words are already magnified. Rarely does a megaphone add to the clarity of your message, and very often it detracts from it.

I don’t wish you the lack of sleep, but I wish you the intent listening, calm and soft voice that comes with it.