Leaders Think More and Talk Less

Proverbs 29:11 (NKJV) A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.

I cannot help but think of Professor Gates and the controversy surround the 911 call to his home when I read this verse. Angry diatribes about big subjects – venting – produces no good to the speaker or the listener. It does gratify the ego, however.

“Letting it all come out” is acting stupidly. It is a weakness in character, especially for a leader, to be so open that one spews anger or even just tells everything one knows about a subject. It was La Rochefoucauld (17th century French epigrammatist) who commented that “conceit causes more conversation than wit” and this verse supports that contention. Often we tell what we know, or vent how we feel about someone or a group, to feed our ego, not to help the questioner or listener.

The wise practice a different kind of communication: unlike people whose mouths are instantly filled with whatever is in their minds, the wise have learned one of the fundamentals of leadership and that is “…. silence is one great art of conversation…”

Remember the wise words of Montesquieu: “The less men think, the more they talk.” The wise take a second for thought. Sometimes, they tuck away what they want to say for a time better suited to express a thought. The pause that catches the thought before it’s expression is a sign of maturity.

Leadership is always a heart issue first. The thought quickly expressed is often a sign of what is in a person’s heart (Matt 12:34 “For whatever is in your heart determines what you say.”).

Does your speech reflect a foolish or wise heart?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell