The Silent Leader

Silence is often defined as absence of sound, noise or absence of any other element which breaks the cacophony and makes everyone to sit back, think and reflect. I would say it is the opposite of a hectic debate where louder is the voice (often construed as noise) and stronger are the vocal chords to make a mark. Silence sometimes speaks louder than words ever can because it consumes in your heart and makes you go in your inner self and tells you what is correct and what is incorrect, what should be done and what should not, what should be accepted and what shouldn’t be accepted.

When you start your professional journey, not necessarily your first job but could be anything, wherein you have to plan, the first thing that people do is a group discussion, a debate, understand production capacity, highlight SWOT analysis, segment the market (traditional STPD) and what not. We see a lot of buzz around, a lot of activity to first finalize targets and then plan to achieve it and finally the actions and lastly the reviews as to how one would have done better. This is a common phenomenon and many management gurus would say let us not allow people to think but only action. To sum up this para, thinking and planning is the privilege of chosen few, rest all are supposed to act.

But does voice and noise really confirm that some body is a leader; many and in fact most would say yes it is. I would go to an extent to say that everybody would acknowledge that leaders need to make noise and that is the only way they can prove that they are leaders.

I would not totally dispute this all assuming inference and thought process but let us think. When you as a leader make a sound, say something, however articulate it might be, in your opinion that is your signature. Coming to the essential point that I wish to drive is, sometimes leaders do not make sound, it is their presence alone which make the atmosphere charged enough for others to feel the vibe, positive or otherwise.

Broadly there are 2 types of leaders, one type who wants others to understand him and the other type who wants to understand other people. In most scenarios in the corporate world an effective leader is considered to be a person whose vision is shared by others. When we look at the other type where a leader tries to understand other people, the leader is considered to be subdued, passive, introvert and sometimes ineffective. However, the synergy that such leaders create is long lasting, keeps the flock together, creates an environment where concerns are heard, problems are shared and solutions are found as a team in a highly cohesive manner.