The Silent Advantage: Why Solitude Might Be the Leadership Strategy We’ve Been Missing

Let me go ahead and say the quiet part out loud: I’m a leader who thrives in solitude.

Yes, I lead workshops. Yes, I speak on stages. Yes, I’ve taught MBA-level courses and flown across the globe to train executives. But when it comes to thinking, creating, planning, and yes, sometimes healing, it’s the still, quiet spaces where I get my best work done.

And I know I’m not alone.

I recently revisited Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, and it gave language to what I’ve known all along: solitude isn’t the enemy of leadership—it’s one of its greatest, most underutilized tools.

Cain cites research that nearly one-third to half of all people identify as introverts. Yet, our professional cultures—especially in Western business—are built for extroversion. Brainstorms. Open offices. Constant collaboration. "Team players only."

But here’s the catch: collaboration isn’t synonymous with creativity. And constant group think doesn’t always yield the most innovative or effective results. Sometimes, it actually muffles them.

Cain writes: “There’s zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.”

Say that one more time for the folks in the open-plan office.

A Case Study (Me)

As someone with an MBA and a doctorate in business, I’ve seen firsthand how traditional leadership models reward the loudest voice in the room. But I was never the loudest voice, not at school, not at work, and definitely not at home. I’m the 8th of 9 children, a quiet kid from Rossville, TN, who learned early that the world doesn’t always slow down for the quiet ones.

I thrived in solitude. My best ideas, my boldest creativity, and my deepest learning happened in silence, while reading, writing, observing, or just thinking. But for years, I was forced to live, work, and problem-solve against my natural wiring. Group projects, open offices, performative brainstorming sessions…I learned how to play the part. But it came at a cost.

I’ve had to teach myself to trust the quiet again.

When I first encountered mathematics, the kind that required more than memorization, I felt a peace I hadn’t known before. And to quote Ms. Sophia from The Color Purple, “I knows there is a God.” Haha. Mathematics gave me a space to sit with complexity. To let my thoughts wander through the elegance of logic, the rigor of proofs, and the beauty of structure. Solving mastery-level equations and proving theorems became my form of meditation. It was silent, internal, and infinite.

And yet, even then, I was often challenged to make my intellect perform. “If you’re so smart, solve this.” “Answer it out loud.” As if my genius only counted if it echoed. But some of the most powerful insights don’t come from reaction; they come from reflection.

Because let’s be real: silence can feel countercultural in business. If you’re not doing, meeting, or responding, people assume you’re not working. But stillness isn’t stagnation. Solitude, when used intentionally, becomes a strategy for clarity, for depth, for vision.

So, I’m Building a New Framework

I’m currently developing a new session that helps leaders, and the companies they serve, explore the productive power of solitude. Not as a personality trait, but as a tool.

Here’s the premise:

• Recognize your working style and creative triggers
• Reimagine productivity beyond the constant need for collaboration
• Redesign workflows and expectations that allow quiet thinkers to contribute fully
• Respect that different minds work best in different environments—and that’s not a threat to cohesion, it’s the foundation of innovation

Why This Matters Now

We keep asking for better ideas, better leadership, and better workplaces, but we rarely stop to ask: Are we giving people the space to think?

When we center productivity over presence, visibility over value, and noise over nuance, we miss out on some of the most transformative contributions sitting right in front of us.

So, I’m making room for solitude in the leadership conversation. And I hope you do too.

Because quiet is not weakness. It’s wisdom in waiting.

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