Introduction
When we imagine a leader, we often think about the noisy ones who are very forceful with their opinions. But quiet thinkers have a role to play in shaping our society. They tend to be attentive listeners. The examples go from scientists like the face of America’s fight against Covid-19, Anthony Fauci, to Maori tribe leaders.
In the seventh part of our series on leadership, we discuss when the quietest person in the room has ‘the loudest’ voice.
TRANSCRIPT
Presenter
They never chose to be leaders, yet they calmed the world in a pandemic.
She leads a large Maori tribe, but not in the way you’d expect.
Linda Te Aho
You can show strength in different ways when it’s needed, but I think people will respect leadership more if they feel that you are listening to them.
Presenter
Their leadership could be described as quiet, but what do we mean by that? And how do they compare to the more brash leaders we might be used to?
Our leaders talk while others listen, right? They use their personality to get what they want.
Scientists are more used to watching than being listened to: quiet, thoughtful experts.
But in the Covid pandemic, they have led more than ever and changed the lives of billions of people.
Tim Spector: a professor of genetics in the UK. Thanks to him and his team, people around the world found out that losing your sense of taste and smell were symptoms of Covid.
That changed the way millions behaved, saving countless lives.
Anthony Fauci took over America’s Disease Institute in 1984, dealing with things like a relatively small Zika outbreak. But that meant he was perfect to help lead the response to coronavirus. His messages were not always popular and he disagreed with President Donald Trump.
Anthony Fauci
The China vaccine, the vaccines that are produced in the United States – I don’t think it’s going to be one winner and only one vaccine: what the world needs is more than one vaccine.
Presenter
So, what can we learn from quiet leaders?
And is this style of leadership really the best way?
Chellie Spiller
We’ve been taught to believe that we have to be loud, brash, push ourselves forwards, be dominant, be in charge and command. And some cultures, you know, really promote this idea that this is successful leadership. But what the research shows – that, in fact, this kind of leadership can be very diminishing in an organisation, that can weaken relationships and so, if we’ve got a… a loud leader, who’s really silencing others, they are not creating an organisation which is really unleashing the talent of its peoples.
Presenter
So, loud leaders can drown out other talented voices and diminish or weaken the organisation. What about quieter leaders?
Chellie Spiller
If you look at these leaders from the scientific community, particularly those that have being leading the Covid response, such as Tim Spector, Dr Fauci, Dr Ashley Bloomfield over here in New Zealand, what we see is this sense of calm, quiet assuredness. They’re very calm under pressure, very resilient and steadfast. They look to evidence to provide them with information that they give out in a very clear, unambiguous way.
Presenter
So, quiet leaders bring calm assurance and steadfastness – qualities that are seen in Maori leadership in New Zealand.
Chellie Spiller
Leadership in the Maori culture can be more like a… a kind of a triangle. Whereas in some cultures you’ll see that, you know, it’s more like this – and the leader’s on top and everything, sort of, trickles down from the leader – while Maori culture’s more like an inverted triangle, where leadership is more the bottom and their task is to listen to the views of others and… as it trickles down to them. So, they really cultivate this idea of listening, of paying attention. And leadership is very much vested in the collective, not in the person.
Presenter
Quiet leadership comes from listening to others. Maori leaders listen to the views of their group before deciding on a course of action. So, can we see similarities with our scientists?
Chellie Spiller
Yeah, I think from what I can gather from Fauci and other scientists is that in the face of adversity, they weren’t reacting to it. They… they were more responsive, not reactive. So, they were really stepping into that moment, with that calm assuredness, based on evidence – and I think that’s very important – not on opinion and not pushing their ego forward, and not needing to speak loudly in order to be heard – but when they did speak, people listened.
Presenter
There is a big difference between responding – making a decision based on the facts – and reacting, which is the result of emotion and opinion. So, should we all aspire to be quiet leaders?
Chellie Spiller
We take this journey of unfolding to become better leaders, better listeners, to develop that quiet confidence and to know that we don’t have to speak just for the sake of it, or for the sake of hearing our own voice being heard. So, I think this is a quality that we can all cultivate in ourselves and, for the quieter amongst us, sometimes it is about speaking up more. So, it’s not always about simply just being silent and quiet, but it’s really managing our ego, managing our defaults, habits, reactions, judgements and really taking time to reflect, and to look at how we could have done better in a certain situation.
Presenter
So, quiet leadership isn’t about staying silent. It’s about listening to others. Better listeners become better leaders.
Linda Te Aho brings the qualities of Maori leadership to her work.
She leads the Waikato-Tainui, one of the largest tribes, or iwi, in New Zealand. It has around 80,000 people across the North Island. It celebrates its ancient traditions, but has a modern, parliamentary-style decision-making body and a multi-million dollar budget. So, how does Linda make her voice heard?
Linda Te Aho
As a leader, I need to get out and about and be seen. We have a very common mantra, if you like, in Maori culture generally, which is being a ‘kanohi kitea’ – a face that’s seen. So, it’s not enough to sit somewhere in an office – a head office somewhere – and receive email updates. I mean, it’s an important part of that role, but getting out and about, being seen, going to the events – we have a series of cultural and tribal events – and I try my best to get out and… and hear what the people have to say and respond to questions – be there to respond to questions.
Presenter
Linda Te Aho makes personal connections to tribal members to better hear their concerns. How does this make her an effective leader?
Linda Te Aho
You can be a strong advocate. You can show strength in different ways when it’s needed, but I think people will respect leadership more if they feel that you are listening to them. And so, we trying… we continue to work hard to find out what is important to the people and they’re telling us it’s employment, it’s home ownership, it’s flexible health delivery.
Presenter
Linda is ready to fight for her tribe when needed, but listening is a key part of her leadership. What other Maori qualities does she bring?
Linda Te Aho
We have a set of values that we aspire to… to live by in one of them is ‘whakaiti’ or humility and that means it’s not about you; it’s about the people. It’s… it’s about the ‘kaupapa’ – it’s about the topic of the day, not about somebody’s individual aspirations or, you know, grandiose statements. And so, it’s putting the people first and putting the issues first, rather than your own… you know, your own agenda. That’s really, really important in the way I have been brought up and in my leadership style.
Presenter
Humility is an important quality of Maori leadership: the focuses on the tribe, not the individual. So, is there room for loud people with this kind of leadership?
Linda Te Aho
It takes a team and so what I try to do is – in my leadership style – is maximise the strength that I have on my board and in our iwi. And I may not be the… be the best person to do certain things and I have no problem delegating or asking others to do something if I think… you know, if this requires this kind of approach, then… then I’m absolutely willing to say to somebody, ‘Actually, you might… you might be best placed to lead that particular… that particular issue.’
Presenter
So yes, there is room for loud people: a group is stronger when leaders make use of everyone’s strengths.
So, what have we learnt about quiet leadership? Being a good listener is key. Good decision-making comes from knowing all the facts. Be humble: the community is more important than the individual.