The Deeper Art of Leadership

Reading James Scott’s Quiet and Invisible is like being initiated into the deeper secrets of leadership.

Let me explain. Most leadership material I’ve read espouse idealized virtues: be authentic, play fair and nice, see the best in people.

But Scott would argue that it’s not that simple. Reality is darker: people have dubious motives and can manipulate you to their own ends. If we pursue the squeaky-clean school of leadership, it will be like being a boy scout in Gotham City. After all, it is eat or be eaten.

So what should a leader really do?

This is where Quiet and Invisible serves as a more realistic manual for leadership. It harbors no illusion of a fair and virtuous environment. Thus, Scott urges the reader to be astute, adept, and adaptable. He lays out practical (and sometimes paradoxical) principles for executive directors, but these principles can apply for the business and military leaders as well.

The book is a gold mine of insights that while some may be jolting (for example, there is a place for being ruthless), you can’t help but say, “I hate to admit it, but the author has a point.”? It is hard to challenge Scott’s sagacity.

The underlying theme is that the reader must be adroit with silence and shadow, hence (I suppose) the title Quiet and Invisible: don’t declare your position until the right time, the subtle is more powerful than the overt, the way down is the way up, turn competitors into unsuspecting allies, guide the narrative without the other players seeing your hand, strategy is never linear,?

While a casual browsing of the book gives it a Machiavellian tone, it is not sinister. To be fair, Scott is most concerned with intent. While he advises the welding of, say, fear and deception, he does not mean we become evil brutes. Rather, while these elements can easily be deployed in destructive ways, these can be skillfully redeemed to serve the organization’s goals. (However, it is implicitly assumed that the organization has commendable goals.)

To grasp the book as a whole, it helps to see a recurring pattern. The key words are: acknowledge, understand, adaptability, strategy, risk, balance and vigilance. ?

First, we are not to be na?ve. Admit that the world is not all black and white, and there are nefarious agents seeking your emasculation and downfall.

Second, we need to understand our organization and environment, because how can we adapt to what we don’t understand?

Third, we need to calibrate our moves to what the situation really is, not to what we think the situation should be.

Fourth, this requires a fine balance, because to do too little or too much can damage one’s credibility and influence. Prize discretion, shrewdness, and patience if you want the upper hand.

The lyrical introduction alone is worth the price of the book: “[W]hispers in the wind hold more weight than a typhoon’s roar… Perfection is a mask… Scars are not signs of defeat, they are testimonies of survival…”

Did I mention paradoxical principles? I won’t give the crown jewels away, but check out what Scott meant by strategic sycophancy, enlightened self-interest, the illusion of generosity, and the mask of morality.? The book won’t shatter our cherished notions of ethics and integrity, but it splashes the cold water of reality. After all, we are not really the rational beings we think we are, we are a mass (and mess) of impulses and agendas, many of which are undeniably ignoble, that we do best to understand and leverage to our advantage.

Philosophy precedes strategy. Thus, it is also wise to reflect upon Scott’s use of trust, fear, and history. Then there is the eye-opening paradigm of adversaries.? There are no adversaries, only potential allies yet to be won over. Crisis are not calamities, but will reveal who your true alliances are. The master turns adversaries into unwitting allies. One ultimate end is for us to enjoy lasting control. Put differently, if we don’t control our destiny, someone else will.

Sometimes the author goes straight to the practical. For example, which follower would you rather have? Someone who’s brilliantly competent but you can’t trust him to be utterly loyal? Or someone utterly loyal but has gaps in competence?? Scott’s middle-ground advice is instructive.

Beware that you won’t find real-world illustrations here, unlike the fascinating stories in, say, Robert Greene’s The 48 Laws of Power. At most, there are two fleeting references to Henry Kissinger. Then again, this is a wise restraint because Kissinger circled a different world than ours. Scott is not offering a road map but a compass. As you navigate through a terrain where there are forces that seek to run roughshod over you, you need Scott’s principles to avoid the land mines, cultivate influence, and inflict the coup de grace.

At the end, Scott advises the leader to be in a continuous state of self-reflection, learning, and growth. There are no short cuts, but the benefits will be long term.

Read Quiet and Invisible before your adversaries do!

To order your copy of Quiet and Invisible, go to

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Invisible-Executive-International-Stakeholdership-ebook/dp/B0CCK6N2Y2/ref=sr_1_51?crid=3VXL5BMB68ZVR&keywords=The+art+of+quiet+influence&qid=1692990279&s=books&sprefix=the+art+of+quiet+influence%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C681&sr=1-51

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Invisible-Executive-International-Stakeholdership/dp/B0CCCMPCLD/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1692990627&sr=1-91

About the Reviewer: Nelson T. Dy is an author, speaker, trainer and coach for career, relationship, and spirituality issues. His day job is being an Assistant Vice-President running two factories for a well-known beverage conglomerate. He is among the Top 100 Filipinos to follow on Linkedin in 2023.

Follow Nelson at https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/nelsontdy/ and subscribe to his Youtube Channel @nelsontdy a he continues to share his insights through posts such as the one you just enjoyed.