Speak when you can improve upon silence

Speak when you can improve upon silence

Legend has it that one day Saanich Mayor Hugh Curtis was asked what a particular member of Council contributed to the meetings – and he replied ‘about two hours’.  I later served on Council with that individual and can verify Hugh’s assessment.  In fact, from time to time a Council or Regional Board will come across at least one person like this.  They want to always have the last word, they want to explain and show off their infinite knowledge, and they can never be persuaded that this isn’t to everyone’s benefit.  Thankfully, I’ve never run into this on a corporate board – this is something that possesses politicians.

I’m not without sin here - not so much for lengthy oratories but I did seek to get in a good one-liner on most nights.  In fact since a high school chum also served on Council, we would practice our lines in advance and see who could make the paper.  A headline was a victory for sure – a headline with a picture was cause for celebration.  The politics of name recognition can’t be denied.

Yet politically the frequent talker would often succeed and I found it interesting that citizens in the gallery would be impressed by them  – they would comment to me afterwards how wonderful it was that ‘so-in-so’ cared so much and knew the issue so well.  Of course their exposure was only for one night in their lifetime rather than what seemed like a life sentence for the rest of us.

My own style was based on a phrase or proverb that has been around for years in different forms.  My version is: ‘speak when you can improve upon silence.’  As an introvert this allows me to work in my comfort zone but also serves as a strategy.  I found it rewarding to speak when I could have an impact on the outcome and often that meant waiting until discussion had been exhausted and colleagues were looking for solutions.  In fact, as I gained seniority and experience colleagues would ask me to speak as they wanted to hear my views – and that teed up comments for impact indeed.

While I suggest to those in local government today that they do what they need to do in order to succeed politically – speak up, grab a headline, prove your worth – but when the issue on the table requires some serious thought, speaking only when you can improve upon silence is a good rule.  Listening takes practice and you can’t think through your own position while you’re talking.

Perhaps I can sum up my style with this story from my early days in public affairs.  Somehow I managed to get elected President of the Victoria Chamber of Commerce at the age of 30 and a couple of years beforehand I was part of a their delegation to meet the Mayor.  We were lobbying for high speed ferry service to Seattle and I seem to recall the meeting was pleasant but not too productive.  That night at a Gyro meeting (yes, I was a Gyro Club member,) the City Manager said to me: ‘the Mayor was very impressed with you today.’  This was something of an accomplishment as the Mayor of Victoria at the time was Peter Pollen who was not impressed by very many people and seemed to enjoy saying so.  However to be fair, I must admit that of the delegation that were in that meeting I was the only one who never spoke – I never said a word.  Of course this says as much about Peter Pollen as it does about me.


Check out my website at http://frankleonard.ca/ for information on Local Government and Consulting