ELOQUENT SILENCE, JESUS AND SERVANT LEADERSHIP

Abstract

This study combined eloquent silence and Jesus’ Servant Leadership as a concept of leadership, which is a form of communication with theological relevance. This allows for human choice, introspection, and free-will decisions. The current world is a world of assertion, argument, competition, and survival of the fittest. This problem has tipped leadership against themselves; leadership against followers and followers against each other. The methodology was qualitative, mediated by theological analysis and selected secular case studies, such as Jesus, Job, Socrates, Holocaust victims, Mahatma Gandhi, and Nelson Mandela. The research design was based on a literature search and content analysis. These were instrumental to the elicitation of textual data, which were synthesized to generate themes and patterns for general discussions and implications. The study found that though quiet, silence is eloquent. It clarifies human intentions and is meaning making for doctrines, ethics, moral independence, integrity, and justice. In alignment with servant leadership, silent communication had no evidence of domination, manipulation, coercion, aggression, nor contention. By interpretation, eloquent silence was counter cultural. It went against every negative leadership practice. Consequently, if understood correctly, silence was an immensely powerful model of leadership, which should form the foundation of every leadership style. Overall, if the freewill choice of the followers is not engaged, assertiveness, self-imposition, and charisma are different from performance, effectiveness, and efficiency.