Strong Silent Types

You don't have to have all the answers. But when you speak, make it count.

Abraham Lincoln by George Peter Alexander Healy, 1887 (public domain - National Portrait Gallery)

“Silence is one of the great arts of conversation.” — Cicero

You don’t have to have something to say constantly.

You don’t always need to be on.

Sometimes, the power of silence can convey something greater.

And sometimes, your audience simply might not want to hear from you.

In our digital world—especially now, with ubiquitous video calls and presentations—we want to try to fill the void of silence with sound. We go on and on and on, blasting each other with a constant flow of words, giving them little time to absorb what we say and giving ourselves less time to consider what we’ll say next.

We seem to be judged by how much rather than what we have to say.

Great leaders practice an economy of words and capture attention by saying things more powerfully because they speak less frequently. And when they do, they pick their words carefully.

Consider the anecdote about Calvin Coolidge, the thirtie…