Leadership Conversational Pauses – Effective leaders understand the necessity and viability of conversational pauses. Many leaders and teachers, however, move through these concepts missing the opportunity for understanding and true learning to take place in the minds of listeners. A pause for even a few seconds will enable the higher order thought processes to kick into gear allowing the listeners to process and grasp what is being said. When listeners are allowed the opportunity to engage the higher order thought processes, the new information is processed alongside familiar information stored in the memory bank of the brain. It is the combining of the old, familiar, with the new information which brings about understanding and learning.
By moving along in a group discussion or a one on one conversation without these pauses there are few indicators that the person(s) have gained an understanding of what you desire from them. In fact, without pauses, there are few opportunities for the needed learning to take place. Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed too many leaders who did not allow this time for understanding, and when the later actions of the listeners did not meet the desires of the leader the only person held accountable was the listener. In my opinion the leader is most at fault in many of these situations.
Another error I have seen leaders make is to run through his spiel letting his listeners know what he wants without any pauses. Then at the very end of his discourse ask something like; “Have you got that?” In most scenarios the subjects would simply say yes, or ‘I think so’, whether they do or not. For this we could find fault with the subjects or listeners. We might ask, why didn’t she speak up? All too often though, people have been put down and made to feel inferior enough times that they are willing to risk going into the project with a partial knowledge of the assignment than face scorn and ridicule even if the ridicule is subtle and unknown by the leader. For others, they do not speak up and ask questions because they do not want to feel like the only one who does not understand and they do not want to prolong the meeting.
Throughout the story in Turnaround Journey coach Greg and Pastor Tim use pauses with the staff and others to effectively communicate the desires and needs of the moment. In chapter eight Greg pauses several times to engage the higher order thought processes allowing the team members to process the new information and to develop a proper strategy for their church.
Practice using pauses in all your discussions and conversations. See what changes come from the people you speak with and those you lead by allowing information to be processed for better understanding. It may seem awkward at first, but you will see positive results. And if the understanding isn’t at the level you expect, you can clarify and make any corrections before leaving the discussion avoiding potential downtime and damage in the ministry field or workplace.
Learning when and where to place pauses in your team meetings and conversations is not difficult. In most cases the pauses should come natural, when you are asking something of your listeners, when you have completed giving instructions to be carried out, or as you are discussing a new platform or venue. The difficulty comes in implementing these pauses when you are not use to them. It is easy to keep going without the pauses. After all in your mind everything is clear. You, as the leader, have thought through the idea and know what you want. Remember: those in front of you are likely hearing this for the very first time. Five seconds of silence may seem like a long five minutes, but it will produce greater understanding and reap great rewards.
Practice pausing in your conversations and leadership meetings. Stop, breathe, allow your listeners to process the information you are divulging. You will build a less stressed team, with better capability to effectively, efficiently carry out the task and ministry ahead.
For more information on using pauses to build a more effective team contact George Yates. To pre-order your copy of Turnaround Journey visit the Turnaround Journey webpage.