Leader, Strategically Keep Thy Mouth Shut
Leadership is influence, so the words a leader says are powerful…
Therefore, leaders must choose their words carefully…
I see leaders get excited, underestimate the power of their influence. fail to realize the heaviness of the moment…forget that what they are saying is being listened to closely…
and is always subject to interpretation…
So they say things they wouldn’t say if they had time to think about it.
(I must admit, I’ve been there…stuck my foot in my mouth…and regretted what I said many times.)
The real problem is that some leaders don’t think beyond the moment…they don’t think about the moments after the moment…
Great leaders train and discipline themselves to strategically think in the moment…
Sometimes that means they learn to not say anything at all until they’ve had time to plan their response.
It’s even okay to say “Let me get back to you on that”…or “I don’t know yet”…
Great leaders, learn to control their tongue in the moments…
Leader, have you had this problem before? Do you need to learn this principle?
