Jeff Brunson

“Silence is the ultimate weapon of power.” - Charles De Gaulle, founding president – France’s Fifth Republic

 Power. Leaders need power, and by the nature of position, many leaders are ordained with power. Leaders need power to carry out what’s been placed in their charge.

The impact measurement of power is in how it is discharged. It is in this release where control becomes a factor. The issue of control is a large topic to be dissected, but I want to focus on only a narrow portion … the leader’s control in personal interactions.

I don’t advocate control from a standpoint of any negative connotation, like manipulation, but I do believe control in its positive sense is fundamental to effective leadership.

As a leader, important things have been entrusted to you. And there is a certain amount of control needed to assure the right things are done to secure targeted results. I simply believe the listening leader is in control.

The silence you bring about by the voluntary suppression of your own opinion and way, puts you in control.

The art of true listening is a powerful force in the 21st Century where one of the developing mantras is ‘collaborate or die.’ Artful listening is a core component of dialogue – a conversation with a center, not sides.

You have to ask yourself about that of which you think you are in control. It’s like motivation. Some people like to think they are great motivators. The truth is we can only influence others in finding their own motivation – and listening is a powerful tool for the process. Similarly, we are probably in less control when it comes to outcomes and in more control of how we lead others to actions that create outcomes.