Why silence is golden for leaders
Home // Why silence is golden for leaders
- Greg Orme
- June 18, 2020
- 11:59 am
Why do so many managers know how to talk, but not how to listen? How many meetings have you attended in which the person occupying the power seat is a disastrous communicator?
This is sometimes true even when they’re nominally ‘asking a question’.
The question is asked.
A nanosecond goes by…
…and the manager simply ploughs on.
What’s lost? A a precious chance to hear another viewpoint. The more often a manager fills the silence with his or her own thoughts. The less likely they’ll hear a voice other than their own.
Next time you pose a question (especially if you are the leader of a group) STOP. Leave a pause. Breath.
Carers learn it. Coaches learn it. Journalists learn it. It’s a simple, but magical, technique.
Don’t say another word until the person who as posed the question speaks. Stay quiet, even if it feels a little uncomfortable.
The more interesting your question, the longer it often takes for people to process and to respond. We live in a world where quiet pauses are often filled to avoid embarrassment (or, worse, where the question wasn’t really a question at all).
When exploring the minds of other people, silence is truly golden.

This blog is adapted from my second book The Human Edge: How curiosity and creativity are your superpowers in the digital economy (Pearson) which won the Business Book of The Year 2020.
All right reserved Copyright © 2020 Greg Orme
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