The importance of rhetoric and ‘leadership presence’
How to compel others to follow you in a world of crisis
It has been heart-breaking to me to be part of a discussion on ‘constructive conflict’ on the current Israeli-Hamas war that seems unable to get itself off the ground with any kind of progressive thinking on this admittedly divisive topic. The quality of the conversation has been truly awful, with a focus on spouting opinion rather than moving towards the type of meaningful action this particular community of people is capable of bringing into the world. It has been especially saddening to observe that those advocating for the protection of children in the conflict have been unable to compel others to understand the force of their arguments for justice and it is this particular point that has brought home for me the importance of equipping all those at the coal face of leadership with the skills of rhetoric and leadership presence.
With the resignation of Harvard president Claudine Gay last week, it has been made evident that they who shout the loudest are the ones that win. But in order to win back a true democracy, we need to understand that true power is what comes from within — that leadership is only so good as the quality of the thinking that empowers it and our capacity to compel others to follow us from a deeper example of moral principle enacted in public and private life. This was also brought home to me in a recent workshop I conducted on the theme of ‘leadership presence’. I was asked by one participant why it was necessary to build the interior self-confidence and leadership authority of a speaker’s voice if a microphone could do the job. The comment, to me, laid open all that is wrong with our notions of power in the world: he (for it is usually a he) who speaks the loudest is the one who wins.
In past times, public speaking and debate were a core part of the education of young men. In the hallowed corridors of power, at Eton, Oxford and Cambridge, the capacity to rouse others to action through the power of your words — rhetoric — was considered an important component of the training for the future leaders of the country. The British parliament, with its set up of debate in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, is suited most to those who master the art of public speaking.
What has made my interactions with the discussion on ‘constructive conflict’ especially distressing is to see important arguments fall by the way side because of a paucity of ‘leadership presence’ that would lend authority to the weight of an argument. Both ‘sides’ have been equally poor in their use of rhetoric, but, in situations of social justice, compelling communication skills are not just useful, they are actually crucial to the survival of innocent people. Vulnerable populations need advocates who can successfully move others to take action and it has been beyond sad to see the lack of these skills at a time when it is so urgent and necessary.
We currently have a devolution of language — whoever is the loudest and takes up the most space is perceived to have the most power. According to voice coach Jennifer Foster, ‘We need to find a deeper source for our communication, which comes from within, that can connect, move, empower others to follow a vision and emerge into their own potential too. We need to restore the lost art of rhetoric.’ Rhetoric and strong leadership presence has the capacity to inspire and persuade others to follow you in the pursuit of a vision. It works hand in hand with oratorical skill — the capacity for eloquent public speaking, but it is also a lesson in how to use language and ‘presence’ effectively to achieve our goals. It is also, in its deepest meaning, a tool to discover truth.
There is a difference between rhetoric and amplification. We are all familiar with situations where the loudest voice is the one who wields power. This is certainly being played out in our world right now. But true power is held by those who are able to persuade others to follow a higher course of action, leaders who have stood the test of time in their leadership and have achieved outsized results. Leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King all realised that the power of their words and how they stood in society were crucial if they were to achieve their vision. We revere Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech as an inspirational vision without fully appreciating how important King’s public speaking skills were to his leadership. Interestingly, much of King’s speech was apparently improvised on the spot, lending further weight to the importance of really mastering public speaking skills and the capacity to be able to choose the right words at the right time.
And it goes further than this.
“We need a conception of self that is rooted in a source greater than ego” cites John O’Hagan, an actor and creative advisor at The Centre for the Arts and Global Leadership. We need to understand that speech and language and making meaning through our words is also a tool to better understand ourselves and compel others to follow us in our leadership vision.
A great deal of the work we do at The Centre for the Arts and Global Leadership involves the empowerment of business leaders, women and men, children and young people, and vulnerable populations, through supporting the development of their leadership skills and we place a particular emphasis on developing their self-confidence, storytelling and presentation skills, and ability to ‘hold’ their authority in both personal and professional situations. We believe this is equally necessary for men and for women — regardless of gender, it’s about finding a more nuanced and powerful approach to convey their ideas in a way that is not about volume or more ‘noise’; and it is also about developing the interior confidence to make their voice heard in both the private and professional spheres. We believe that focus and attention on this can change the world, as it has done with the leaders mentioned above.
Our world is in crisis mode and we need to support a generation of leaders able to speak truth to power, understand and connect with the deepest source of agency and leadership that lies within, and to use their leadership presence to bring about profound, positive, change in our world.
If you would like more information about the Leadership Presence course, please click here.
Caroline Watson is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum with a background in corporate leadership development and community empowerment. You can learn more about her work at The Centre for the Arts and Global Leadership here.
