Today I attended an insightful webinar session with Megumi Miki on Quietly Powerful Leadership, organized by Facet5 Ltd.
Here are a few insights that have resonated with me so strongly
🌿 Historically we are biased towards assertive, aggressive, and loud leadership. It comes from the earlier ages when military leadership was there to protect us and therefore the image of that leader got incepted in our heads as make, strong physically, loud, aggressive, rational, and direct.
🌿 Nowadays, what we need more is a leader who is thoughtful, calm, less aggressive, and can possess a more “quiet” authority.
🌿 Megumi had identified 4 “Quiet Superpowers”:
- Calm
- Listening
- Deep Thinking
- Inclusive.
🌿 Think what kind of impact leaders could make when they are calm even in the most stressful situations, when they truly listen to their people and can integrate their thoughts into their thinking process, how all that would impact people feeling included and therefore, how it would impact engagement.
🌿 We falsely misinterpret “quiet” as being introverted, which is not always true. While this could be related, it also could be reasoned in conditioning or power dynamics. Culturally, some people are raised in a certain way and conditioned not to stand out or be loud. But also, we can be quiet at times when a stronger authority is present and we respect the boundaries.
🌿 I also think about corporate cultures where you are noticed, given the chance to speak, or promoted for being more vocal, for being more confident, for being louder 🙂
🌿 The key attributes of “Quiet Leaders” are: Comfortable with themselves (not confident, be careful about this term), Present, and Purposeful.
🌿 On “Purposeful”: these leaders are not choosing to become leaders because they want authority and power. They choose leadership because this is the way for them to be more impactful on the purpose they put in front of themselves.
🌿 How Quiet Leadership Improves your organization: brings a stronger Diversity & Inclusion practice, strengthens Engagement, leads to better Talent & Leadership quality, and leads to better Culture!
How you can develop Quiet Leadership in yourself and your team
🌿 For those who’d like to learn more, Megumi Miki had written a book that I am very much looking forward to getting myself – “Quietly Powerful”, which got several awards for being one of the best leadership books. Not surprised after the session today 🙂
🌿 You can also look at the Programs Megumi developed: right here.
Reflections
🌿 I believe this topic is so powerful and important! We need to change our perception of leadership. Now, as never before, we need leadership that is acknowledging people, develops inclusive practice, and engages very different talents.
🌿 Everything I’ve heard today about the Quiet Power reminded me of so many people, who didn’t get to the management or leadership roles just because they were not that vocal or visible, but who could make an extraordinary impact.
Your Own Coach 