The Two Faced Power of Silence in Leadership

“As we must account for every idle word, so must we account for every idle silence.” – Benjamin Franklin***

When the boss is not exactly stellar in his or her words and deeds, what is the role of other leaders who sit under that person’s leadership? If silence is golden (bright, favorable), as they say, when is it actually golden and when does it become dark?

The Meaning of Silence

Silence can mean many things. It holds quite a bit of power. For some people, unfortunately silence might mean isolation, sadness or loneliness. It may be used to impose punishment, state disapproval or to pull away from others emotionally. For others, silence is a welcome retreat from the busy norms of clamor and chaos in today’s world.

Being the introvert that I am, and having worn the multiple hats that I have worn, I have often lived a life that was constantly on the go and when in one place or the another, I was surrounded by groups of people; small groups, large groups, family groups…surrounded by people. In living this way, my introverted soul would cry out for those precious moments of silence that helped restore order, peace and stability in the midst of busyness. I have always treasured moments of silence as the gift that they are. As a child, when I wasn’t in the yard when the streetlights came on or didn’t come in the house on time, my parents would punish me by saying I couldn’t go outside to play and couldn’t have friends over. Our house was fairly quiet… peaceful in my opinion… so having this punishment was an invitation for me to spend time alone in my room or some other part of the house silently reading a book or writing a story. It wasn’t punishment at all.

The Psychological & Physiological Benefits of Silence

In addition to my personal interpretations on silence, psychological and scientific studies have shown that silence can lower blood pressure, regulate hormones, boost the body’s immune system, lower cortisol (stress hormone) levels, two minutes of silence relieves tension in the brain and the body, two hours of silence may create new cells in the hippocampus region of the brain, where emotions, learning and memory occur. In addition, silence can positively affect, creativity, self-awareness, reflection and spirituality. Clearly examples of the Golden kind of silence.

Four Easy Infusions of the Golden Kind of Silence in Your Life

If silence is hard to come by for you or difficult to embrace because you are just itching for conversation and noise… which is quite common, consider incorporating a few additional silent moments into your days and weeks.

1. Take a 10 minute… no, a 20 minute walk in a safe, quiet area where you won’t be tempted to chat with anyone.
2. Spend 10 extra minutes in bed before rising and thank God for the things that you are grateful for and spend time in prayer for the good things you seek in your day. Be sure to allow part of that prayer time to be a time of silence in which you are listening for what God whispers back to you in the silence.
3. If you have private office space, a cubicle or if you can get away for a 5 minute bathroom break in the middle of the day, take 5 minutes of silence to just take a few deep breaths and allow your mind and body to have a quick getaway.
4. At least once a week, when you are driving alone or riding public transit, just drive or sit in silence and enjoy the ride. It may rejuvenate you when you most need it.

When Silence is No Longer Golden

Ecclesiates 3 speaks to the fact that there is a time for everything.

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:… a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;” Eccl. 3:1, 7b (KJV)

A Time to be Silent and a Time to Speak

The 2020 Presidential elections have come and gone amidst Covid-19 and people voted in record numbers during early voting and on the official date of the election. Voting took a number of days to complete across the country so the final declaration of the winner was delayed until an adequate number of votes were counted and the determination of a winner could be determined. The current president, Donald J. Trump, has struggled to accept the results of the election, even though the results are quite similar to his own win which occurred four years prior.

As a result of the impact of the current pandemic on the counting and calling of the winner, and the prolonged process of declaring the presidential winner, he has insisted that there was foul play. He began to plant the seed of foul play, months before the actual voting took place and shouted it louder as the day approached, stating, “The only way we are going to lose this election is if it is rigged.” Prior to the official voting date, of November 3, 2020, the stage was set, in the event that a foul needed to be called. Multiple precautions and monitoring were put in place, a flurry of lawsuits filed on the president’s behalf and dismissed, states have engaged in recounts and yet no evidence of foul play can be found. Nothing was rigged, no actual inappropriate actions took place. The president continues to cry foul. He continues to cry conspiracy; so much so that supporters have taken to the streets to rally and protest what they believe to be a rigged election.

This type of behavior did not just begin. He has stated a number of unfounded or inappropriate statements in the past and his statements take on a life of their own among his supporters. When Barack Obama ran for president, Donald Trump changed his party affiliation from democrat to Republican and started a story in the media that Obama was not born in the U.S. and was Islamic; he stated the current vice president elect was “The meanest, the most horrible, most disrespectful of anybody in the U.S. Senate.” (Aug. 2020), he has called professional women and political figures, wacky, nut jobs, told congress women to “go back to the totally broken and crime-infested places from which they came,” (July, 2019); and now he refuses to concede his loss to the president elect, Joe R. Biden and has forbidden his administration to cooperate with a smooth transfer of power (including resources, facilities and access to important information) to the incoming administration. In addition, he has all but retreated to a place of inactivity on the pandemic, according to his Coronavirus task force spokespersons and national news media. I could go on but the reality is, the behavior has been less than stellar and far from appropriate for a leader, let alone a President of the United States. One doesn’t have to be a democrat or an independent to see that.

My question, however is, where is the Republican Party? In spite of the huge embarrassment that such behaviors have caused our country and specific individuals who have been aligned with the president, his political party has remained silent and thus complicit in his actions. This is an example of those times when silence is no longer golden but it becomes dark. Why would anyone defy common sense, intellect, respect, judgement and professionalism when they were elected to exercise all of the above? Time doesn’t wait for us to get over ourselves. It waits for no one. We must keep moving, Leaders must keep moving… in fact, leaders are the ones who have to keep things moving, so let’s go!

The Spiral of Silence

There is a situation referred to as The Spiral of Silence, in which individuals who believe they hold an uncommon or unpopular opinion, will often self-censor, and avoid speaking out for fear they will be ridiculed or ostracized.
In this case, the fear that lies at the bottom of that spiral is a fear of being called a sell out and a fear of retribution from the leader himself. This is bullying of the worst kind. Grown men and women, who forfeit their own responsibilities and integrity in order to remain in the good graces of one who has little or no current concern for responsibility or integrity, at least not for the moment. Most Republican Senators and representatives of Congress have refrained from the customary congratulatory wishes to the president and vice president elect for fear of retaliation from the incumbent president.

What this is creating is a crisis for the U.S. Democracy. In a corporation or other entity it would be a crisis that would be handled by a board of directors or other corporate executives. In this case, the Senate and the Republican Party should be advising and correcting privately ensuring protocols are followed. This is not occurring.

The irony is that the Republicans who are up for reelection in coming months, fear the incumbent president will publicly denounce them and cause Republican supporters to withdraw their support from said politicians. For this reason they have chosen not to carry out the duties of their elected offices. How interesting if the result then ends up being that they lose this same political seat because they chose to remain silent in a time of necessity?

I have witnessed leaders in a corporate setting who found it easier to comply with an individual’s personal agenda over the mission, vision and values of the organization. When operating in fear, creativity and productivity suffer so ultimately everyone who is looking up to and following that leader or those leaders misses out on what could have been, nonetheless, the clock keeps ticking. Things change and so does the leadership. When new leadership took over, those individuals found themselves out of a job. The results of paralysis were hard to hide.

Recovery is Possible

Extreme narcissism will cause one to seek self-preservation but lash out and damage others. The goal is to be a winner and look good in the process. Those who stand idly by when it is their time to speak will find themselves caught in the fire without proper protection. While I may not be in a position to officially advise the Republican Party, I may plant a seed of advice in the hearts and minds of those and others who have become the victims of what is known as narcissistic personality disorder. Leaders who find they have succumb to this unfortunate persona should recognize that like everything else, this too shall pass. We are who we are and we’ll get through it. In order for you to move with us:

1. Accept that the situation happened – Consider your part in it but know that it is bigger than just an oddity… Your part might be you didn’t vote, so this person got in office…You didn’t speak up when you had the authority to do so etc.
2. Avoid Denial – Acknowledge don’t deny the damage that was done as a result of all that occurred. Time to take responsibility for participating in something that went awry.
3. Learn from the experience so you won’t repeat it and so you won’t allow it to repeat itself. Learn so you can be prepared to take a stand the next time someone tries to take advantage of you again. Figure out how to defy the fear and do what is right.
4. Apologize to those you hurt, including yourself. Admit you missed it, work with others to pick up the pieces and move on.

“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted, the indifference of those who should have known better, the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most, that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
– Haile Selassie

Best Regards,

C.

Image by anncapictures from Pixabay