What You Can Learn About Leadership From A Tough Guy Who Doesn't Say Much

There is one advantage that quiet people have over those of us who like to hear the sounds of our own voices. They are good observers.

This is a point that actor Liev Schreiber made about the title character he plays on Showtime’s Ray Donovan. During an interview on NPR’s Fresh Air, Schreiber says Donovan’s character, who “doesn’t say much,” instead spends time taking things in. That is, he listens to what people tell him. This is invaluable to the Donovan because he is a fixer, one who helps Hollywood’s moguls and celebs get out of tight jams, the kind where they cannot go to the police.

It makes for good drama, but such insight also makes a good point about the need to be aware of the situation. Donovan, although he makes his living taking actions for others, is essentially an introvert. Introverts because they speak less and listen more can be more attentive to what is happening around them.

Introversion, according to Myers-Briggs assessment, is a style where people draw energy from inside of themselves rather than extroverts who draw it from others, is effective when bringing people together. While the archetypal leader is one who is extroverted, there are many with whom I have worked who are just the opposite. They are serious and reflective, and value what others have to say.

Those leaders who listen more are often the type of people that others like to follow because they feel that the leader is interested in them and what they have to say.

A quiet leader is one who values his own strengths but also has the ability to see the world as others do for one simple reason. They listen. Knowing how another things is essential to persuasion.

So often people are accustomed to being talk at, rather than listened too, that when a leader looks at them and actually listens, and even asks some follow up questions, it makes people feel better about themselves, and about their abilities. Savvy leaders know that when they listen they learn. And so the good ones spend time with people at every level gaining their perspective. Executives who live in a bubble surrounded by senior colleagues only receive information that has been filtered. Leaders who meet and mingle with others, including front line employees and customers, expose themselves to a more realistic perspective on how things are going.

Introversion does not negate the need for communications. Introverts I have known in leadership positions are adept communicators. They know when to put themselves on to the proverbial stage in order to convey their ideas and more importantly use their communications to bring people together for common purpose.

Doug Conant knows this first-hand. He is a self-described introvert but when he became CEO of the struggling Campbell Soup Company he had to communicate clearly and directly. As Conant said at a conference held at Harvard Business School in early 2013, “I had to go out on a limb and talk about my vision for going forward… Tell them that we were talking the company to a higher ground.” This is something says Conant that every CEO needs to do.

Quiet leaders are effective communicators, in part because when they speak others listen. Employees and stakeholders sense that a leader of few words choses them carefully and when he does articulate the message they had better pay attention.

Speaking less and listening more is a good exercise for any leaders. It’s an advantage that introverts may have but it is a learned behavior that extroverts can make it work for them.