His excellence E.D. Mnangagwa said a lot in his silence

At a Zimbabwean Law Society Summer School in Nyanga 2002 cde ED Mnangagwa was a guest of honour. I remember when Ed who was a minister of Justice said the best weapon is silence. A person exposes his or her insanity when he opens his mouth. You gain more respect when you keep your cool at the time of heavy verbal barrage. In graduate class clinical psychology one of the strategies students are taught is using silence as a therapeutic tool. It feels awkward when You try it for the first time. In relationships, there is an expectation to speak. Even a few seconds of silence between two people can feel uncomfortable. But it is a different scenario when you are vilified insulted ridiculed and literally dressed down in front of the whole world. There is always an urge to defend yourself to clear the air to silence the moron or just to be heard. However, in time, One will come to discover that silence is not only a powerful therapeutic tool, but also a very effective strategy as a leader. It covers you with respect and turns sympathy of multitude towards you. In the case of ED silence worked to his advantage and developed him as a leader. He had to deal with a tweeting professor and an uncontrollable first lady. It was a sorry aight to see then president silent in the face of total abuse. Indeed silence is golden.

When you want to learn more about an enemy or colleague. The best way to learn information is to stop talking and listen. Stop reacting engage listening skills and those who seek to destroy you simply build you. Use nonverbal gestures and expressions to show interest, but allow the person to talk without a lot of commentary. This will make the person feel like you're interested in what they have to say and they'll likely give you more information than they would if you interrupt or quickly jump in every time there is a slight pause. They expose their lunacy and idiocy and they give themselves false victory. It is indeed true that empty vessels make a lot of noise and barking dogs seldom bite.

When colleague is distressed or in a false hope When someone is upset, usually they just want someone to listen. Leaders often make the mistake of jumping in quickly and trying to find a solution. However, this isn't necessarily the best strategy. Good leaders give their detractors the tools they need to find their own answers, and silence is one of the tools you can use to help enemies find their own tools. In fact, One can find that when You let someone vent, they often discover answers on their own. In some cases, they come to realize that they played a role in what they're upset about, or they realize that the situation isn't as bad as they thought it. They realise that they are the problem themselves and in most cases the do all the campaigning for you while you swim in silence. A silent leader uses his brains. He applies shut moth and open brain. Schemers scream themselves to silence while silent once are catapulted to stardom by silence.

After you Maintain your silence you exhibit a very very powerful traits of leadership. The silence gives your audience a chance to process what you have not said which will help them remember you better and love you for being a victim.

When negotiations are going nowhere. When the same positions and arguments keep being made and no resolution seems to be in sight, silence can be an effective tool to stop the conversation and get the other side to reflect on what is happening. Silence is akward for most people. They instinctively want to fill in the blank space. If you don't engage, the other side may come up with a new idea or a different position to break the silence and finally destroy themselves.

When you are angry. Anger significantly increases the likelihood that you are going to say something hurtful or that you're going to regret. It takes a lot of self control, but the best thing you can do when you're angry is to bite your tongue and take ten deep breaths. If that doesn't help, take ten more. Most people view the situation differently once they've calmed down. The same holds true to written communication. Before you hit the send button, sleep on it. You can always hit send the next day if you still feel the situation calls for it, but chances are you won't. Reflection time often changes one's perspective of yourself. When someone is yelling at you like what was happening to the President ED. The yelling strengthens you and builds a great support around you. A colleague loses his or her cool and goes off people look at the social standing of that person. The wailing official becomes a public stooge and her behaviour erodes all the respect what ever little it was. Your first responses is likely to be to defend yourself or say something to stop the verbal attack. However, silence can be highly effective in these situations. By not reacting at all, your silence can work to calm the situation down and help the other person recognize the inappropriateness of her or his actions. If the other person suffers from bipolar she attracts people of the same further to her and lives those who matter on your side. When people start questioning your sanity it means if you talked too much. Those who talk against your silence say nothing loudly to your great advantage.

When you use silence strategically, your words are likely to have more impact and you'll be viewed as a more effective and measured leader. The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause."

Silence has earned Mnangagwa great respect and has given his wife the respect deserving the first lady. The silence of the president was very loud and meaningful. It directed him straight to his inauguration. Indeed President Mnangagwa is a silent actor and gained respect from the glued lips. Those who parted their lips ended up parting with power. Now they will be very silent. I can imagine how forced silence feel.

We applaud our President for being silent at the time it matters. We pity The former First Lady and Jonathan Moyo for failing to control their mouths. Indeed it was loud sounding nothing.

Vazet2000@yahoo.co.uk