Leadership is the love of the voice used to actively listen and speak affirmingly

Have you ever noticed that leadership is a very active thing in communication?  Good leaders are overt in their speaking and listening.  They say what needs saying.  They reassure.  They give constant feedback, not of constant criticism, but of constant affirmation of what they’re seeing you do well.

When you’re tired, they tell you, “Thank you for the work you’re putting in.”

When you’re unsure, they reassure you, “That’s good, keep doing that...”

Good leaders never leave people feeling that they are dammed if they do and damned if they don’t.  Abusive leaders are quick to constantly criticise.  They leave their people feeling anxious and focused on what they are doing wrong, which is toxic.

Good leaders build on what is being done right, they listen for it, and they affirm it.

Leadership is a constant commitment to service of the people who are being led.  You can’t be an inspiring leader unless you’re proactive in this.  Indeed, we begin to fail as leaders when we stop using our voice to encourage from the things we’re hearing.

That’s right, a leader who doesn’t listen well or intently enough will miss opportunities to use their voice to express their leadership, and those they are leading will miss out on the encouragement they need to do the work they are doing.  Get it right, this is a form of abuse in neglect.  It leaves people feeling unsupported.

Listening is an active leadership in that a leader is constantly listening and using that intelligence that they gather as a catalyst for using their voice.  Again, this is positively oriented.  Leaders cannot afford to use what they’re hearing to give too much negative feedback.

Indeed, it is a slack, ineffective, and even a dangerous leadership that cannot convert the negative into a positive message that responds to the needs of the day.  Of course, it is all too easy to think critically and to react in that way, but when leaders do this, there is a heavy price to be paid.

Amazingly, good leaders use the seconds and minutes well.  They communicate their positive messages most powerfully when they are succinct.  Regular specific positive encouragements are required in leadership because good leadership is essentially about love.

What I mean is, leaders notice the negative that is occurring, and they speak into that in supportive ways, endeavouring not to leave important things unsaid.  See how much leadership relies on listening to what’s really going on and speaking into the morale in ways that feeds into the culture positively.  That’s in essence what the leader’s job is.

Leaders who leave too much unsaid run the risk of neglecting their most important work, which is to maintain the morale of those they lead, because again leadership is service into the mental and emotional health of the team and of individuals.

Leaders are accountable for the mental and emotional health of the team, and they certainly contribute to the mental and emotional health of individuals in the team, and in some cases they’re the sole cause of mental and emotional ill-health in those they lead, e.g., in the constant criticism they give.

When important opportunities are not taken, people feel the void, they feel unsupported, and into that void a spirit of discouragement spreads.  This is indeed why the management of people is integrally a leadership of listening into the culture and a speaking in words of maintenance, words of life, words of hope, words of peace, and words of assurance.

The best leaders need few words, but those few words are packed with powerful encouragement.