Practice being the last to speak as a leader

In one of his wonderful leadership related videos , Simon Sinek mentions the need to “Practice being the last to speak” as a major quality that a true leader needs to possess.This is more than just having good listening skills.

In the video Simon mentions that Nelson Mandela had honed this leadership skill by closely observing his father exhibit this skill during his role as a tribal leader in gatherings.Nelson Mandela used to accompany his father for such meetings.

Practicing being the last to speak is by no means a weak trait of leadership.

It needs great subject matter knowledge , empathy and listening skills in giving  everyone in a group a chance to express their views and collating  the findings at the end.

True principle centered leadership needs empathy , listening skills to make the members in the group feel as if they belong.”Practice being the last to speak” is thus a very key skill in leadership.