Thoughtfully Ruthless

Chapter 6Shush!How to Create Silence, Space, and Time

The first time someone on my team told me to shush, I was stunned. She had the desired effect, however; I was quiet, for at least long enough to ask her, why did you tell me to shush? I soon found out that she would regularly say, “Shush!” to her peers and executives. While her tone may have bristled a few, her intent was clear. She needed silence to think, to reflect, or just to get a word in between many energetic and boisterous leaders. I led a dynamic group of leaders, driving change and leadership improvements across an IT consulting firm, so we were no quiet bunch. We were running fast, making acquisitions, and hiring rapidly, and I was failing as their leader because I was not creating the most readily available and free resource for my team: silence and space.

Your Daily Silence

Now that you have your sensible selfish charter and your newfound ability to say no, you need the freedom to give you and your team the gift of silence. I am not suggesting you go and tell your team or boss to shush, but you can give your team the perfect gift of silence and space. In this noisy world of endless tweets, likes, shares, pins, and posts, many leaders I work with tell me they are overwhelmed and don't prioritize time to think, to reflect, and to focus on the future. For that you need silence. To achieve it, you'll need to be a little more thoughtful and a lot more ruthless with creating and protecting time for reflection.

Bill ...