The Language of the Leader – ElPropósito3 min de lectura

What does a leader’s language look like?

Photo by Mikael Kristenson on Unsplash

One of the qualities I admire most in a leader is their inner language. It’s a hypothesis I’ve always held, since as human beings we can stay quiet, think and act. It’s precisely in that moment of silence between stimulus and response that thoughts get encoded in a way that lets someone make a real difference when they speak. I truly admire and value it, and I’ve learned to read it in others, especially in people I consider true leaders.

The response usually shows up in the different behaviors that define us or that we can learn (staying quiet, running away, delegating, fighting, leading and so on). When I think about what makes up a leader’s inner language, values like empathy come to mind: empathy to read what others are thinking or feeling, and to understand their surroundings, what is within their control and what isn’t.

A leader’s language is often silence: a dialogue with themselves about how to become a better person, how to help others, how to solve the biggest challenges they face and how to answer for those who depend on them.

A leader’s language is also the one conveyed through their actions and work, especially actions that make more people want to be around their transparency and the trust with which they get people to communicate genuinely and openly. Beyond the leader’s own language, it’s the language of others: the sincerity and thoughts of each person who has at some point enjoyed the company of a true leader, speaking on that leader’s behalf.

It may be a little risky to define leadership in a single word, since it will always be a tacit language that’s somewhat hard to express. It’s a silent event that happens on a personal level, both in each individual’s thoughts when they become aware of wanting to be better and in their actions when they genuinely want to help others and leave a better world. It’s also the meeting point of everything others see happening in the person who models that language of leadership.

When was the last time you realized you were standing in front of a true leader?

Warm regards,

Rodrigo Baccaro

P.S. This week’s VELA (what I was Watching, Listening to, Reading and Learning):

• What I was Watching: Teoría general del Coaching (A general theory of coaching). Dr. Leonardo Ravier’s doctoral thesis defense. An excellent defense and a great contribution to coaching excellence
  – What I was Listening to: Coaching no directivo fuera y dentro de la ICF (Non-directive coaching inside and outside the ICF). A great conversation between Leonardo Ravier (the doctor defending his thesis in the previous video) and Alfonso Medina (my coaching trainer and mentor). Every second is worth watching. Some of the best coaching material online for understanding what coaching is, where it comes from and where it’s going, and above all, how we can benefit from it. Thank you, Vir, for making this content happen
  – What I was Reading: The Art of Impossible. A great book by Steven Kotler, his latest work. It’s proving very useful, especially these first sections I’m focused on. There’s a series of practical exercises (something I really like) that are sharpening my attention on very specific topics I’m already passionately eager to explore
  – What I was Learning: Pranayama. A new concept for me that I’m benefiting from a lot, especially for controlling my breathing. An interesting and fairly vast world, and I’m very grateful to have started exploring it

Author: Rodrigo Baccaro

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