Nov 18, 2025 Developing & Enhancing a Leadership Persona: Parts 6-10
Accountability, Discretion, and the Art of Listening
We’re back with Parts 6 through 10 of Developing & Enhancing a Leadership Persona, the latest series from The Bushey Perspective by Keith Bushey. In this section Keith dives deeper into the subtle yet powerful disciplines that separate great leaders from the merely good—accountability without over-apology, discretion in speech, professional boundaries, active listening, and the lost art of dictation. Drawn from decades in the trenches, these principles are blunt, practical, and proven: own your mistakes quickly, guard your words carefully, and never underestimate the leverage of a well-deployed staff.
6. Apologies & Acceptance of Responsibilities
Be quick to apologize and accept responsibility when appropriate. When one apology is adequate, don’t belabor the issue by repeatedly apologizing, as it is typically not necessary and just makes you look insecure.
7. Keep Your Thoughts to Yourself
Except during exploratory discussions, keep your thoughts on courses of action to yourself. People will listen carefully to your words and actions and sometimes perpetuate rumors on organizational movements, promotions, and other issues of importance. In exploratory discussions and public comments, preface your remarks with phrases such as, “among the courses of action I am considering” or similar terms to indicate that the issue is still under consideration.
8. Maintain a Professional Relationship with Your Staff
Except for someone such as a (platonic) personal secretary who is absolutely committed to confidentiality, do not have close relationships with any of your employees. Any departure from that rule will result in some level of perceived favoritism, unhealthy competitive actions, and behaviors based on personalities as opposed to performance. At organizational social functions during off-hours, be conspicuous among all your people and their families and leave before tongues start getting loose. Do not permit anyone to monopolize your time.
9. Be an Active Listener
Do not just be a good listener who seemingly pays attention to what is being said, but demonstrate the demeanor that you are listening and absorbing everything that is being said. Let your eyes and body language reflect that you are fully engaged and paying close attention to the information that is being conveyed or discussed. You want people with whom you have spoken to leave the discussion feeling that they succeeded in delivering their message and that you took their comments seriously.
10. Develop Dictation Skills
Even with delegation and a strong staff, there are leadership actions and initiatives that an innovative leader will be constrained from pursuing because of a funnel that is too narrow for all that he or she may want to pursue. While stenographers are rapidly becoming a thing of the past, a person who can dictate while working with a clerical person, who is a strong typist and computer literate, can produce written tasks at about double the volume as without such a team.
Certainly, there should always be a sensitivity to not overloading the organization with unnecessary information. However, the wise leader will judiciously utilize an efficient and effective staff and clerical function to communicate with outside entities and agencies, initiate funding requests, acknowledge critical issues, pursue grants, and achieve many lesser goals that might otherwise “fall between the cracks.”
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Leadership is built in the quiet moments—how you apologize, what you don’t say, and how you truly listen. Explore more insights from Keith Bushey on The Bushey Perspective →
