#238: Silence is expensive
Hello dear reader
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/strategy
I love silence. Sadly, these days, it is permanently compromised by an incessant four-year-long post-COVID tinnitus whining. Nevertheless, I still love the silence that sits just outside my buzzing ears. I often rise before dawn to luxuriate in the early morning quiet. It is not unusual for me to sit outside in the early hours for the same reason. You get the picture. Love.
But I also know that in organisational life, silence can be deadly. Silent organisations bleed value. All those people, with all their intellect, experience and capability keeping quiet. Wasteful.
It is surprisingly easy to silence people. We are hardwired to avoid risk. As Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson writes “No one is fired for silence. The instinct to play it safe is powerful”.
There are the obvious ways – humiliation, intimidation, bullying and belligerence. And there are more subtle ones, making people feel they don’t belong or simply not being intentional enough to ensure that the organisation is welcoming. When we feel unwelcome, or like we don’t belong, we keep quiet. And when we’re silent, our knowledge, our contribution, our ideas remain unheard.
Two weeks ago, Rassie Erasmus, head coach of South Africa’s rugby team, the Springboks, addressed the FW de Klerk Foundation Annual Conference. The conference commemorates the anniversary of the speech by FW de Klerk that initiated South Africa’s constitutional transformation process, and the Springboks are currently world champions, having won the last two rugby world cups in succession.
His address is 24 minutes long. Watch it. In fact, start this week’s management meetings watching it. It is a master class in creating an environment for excellence, I guarantee you and your team will be better leaders once you’ve discussed it.
He starts his speech saying “In all honesty, I am out of my comfort zone…” He delivers it with, for the most part, his hands wedged firmly in his pockets. And still, you will laugh, cry and be inspired. It’s entirely authentic, and a powerful reminder that content and care have their own charisma.
He explains his coaching philosophy “revolves around if a player feels safe in the environment, if you don’t embarrass him about things he can’t control, and he can express himself then you’ll have a happy team, But, if someone is nervous to be himself… if you embarrass him with ‘does he have matric’, ‘can he read on a laptop’, ‘can he write on a whiteboard’… well, you don’t have to put people through that” (go to 8:55 for that part of his speech).
When people are scared or embarrassed or just uncomfortable, they silence themselves. When they’re quiet, you’re not getting all of them. When you’re not getting all their input, per definition, your business is under-performing.
He goes on to say that if we put effort into understanding and minding each other, into taking a little more time to listen, it will take us far. It has worked for him. Erasmus creates a safe place for his players, they are world champions and inspire tens of millions. It’s worth paying attention to what he says.
For us to start understanding and minding each other and just taking a little more time will take us far.
(Thank you to Khaya Dlanga, whose original post, brought this to my attention).
Incidentally, and perhaps unsurprisingly, Leadership Lessons (from Rassie Erasmus) has been the most viewed page on my website in the last year.
//self
Swiss-based entrepreneur, Mike Schwede has owned a Tesla since 2016. In recent months he has felt conflicted as Tesla-founder, Elon Musk, took more than a few leaps to the political right.
Still liking what his car stands for but disturbed by its obvious association with Musk and his politics, he began donating 10 cents for every kilometer he drives to charities supporting LGBTQ+ youth or fighting hate and extremism.
It is a small gesture, but a powerful reminder that we can always find space to express ourselves. And when we do, we might inspire others.
(You can read the full story here).
///soul
Advocate Sha’ista Kazee introduced me to the Japanese work Tsundoku. It refers to the “habit of collecting books and letting them pile up, unread, whilst still cherishing the possibility of reading them one day”.
Buying books is my favourite and most expensive habit. Haphazard piles of them, my untidiest. Even unread I never think of them as tasks to be done. Spine uncracked, they speak to me. They’re symbols and signposts. Their titles tell me who I want to be.
Although I own a Kindle, I mostly buy physical copies. The piles are ongoing reminders of what I care about, the knowledge I want to deepen, the world I want to contribute to and my enduring hope that, one day, I will have a home with a library. Their silent presence forces me to listen to myself, my deepest hopes and ambitions for myself and the people I work with.
If your budget doesn’t stretch to the buying, create a reading list and pin it somewhere you can see it. It is not quite the same, but it is good enough – a symbol of the soul you are cultivating (you can do the same for movies and podcasts).
All the best
Karl
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