Those who know do not speak.
Those who speak do not know.
Tao Te Ching 56
I was walking to class one January day in 1986 when my friend Jeff 
came running up, his eyes filled with tears. That morning, he told me, the space shuttle Challenger had blown up on takeoff, killing all the crew, including that beautiful teacher, Christa McAuliffe. My heart sank.
Why? What happened? I searched the news, the records of that fatal flight. The mechanical cause was a defective O-ring on the solid rocket booster joint, the human cause a failure to communicate.
NASA engineers had known about the O-ring problem for years. An internal memo on February, 6, 1979 acknowledged the defect, but NASA managers ignored it. In 1985, engineers found the O-rings seriously eroded after a launch in unusually cold weather, but managers did not listen. Before the 1986 launch, engineers at Morton Thiokol asked for a flight delay, worried about the extremely cold weather at the Kennedy Space Center. During a late night teleconference, the engineers who warned about the problem were overruled while others remained silent, intimidated by NASA managers. With the problem uncorrected and the nation watching, the fatal launch took place the next day, January 28, 1986.
Communication is certainly key to so many tragedies—as busy leaders we often rush around, trying to meet deadlines, too busy to listen to new information that threatens to slow us down. And yet, as leaders, it is our duty to practice deep listening. For if we do not listen, we won’t know the facts or achieve the necessary clarity to make the best decision.
Contemplative leaders know when to speak, when to pause, when to listen to the people around us. Contemplative leaders understand the power of listening. The next time you find yourself rushing, your heart racing, going too fast, unable to listen, take a moment to center down.
Pause for a moment before the next appointment.
- Take a deep breath and slowly release it
- Feel your feet on the ground,
- Your breath gently grounding your body.
- Tell yourself, “I am here, now.”
- And slowly look around you,
- More centered, more open, more present.
Namaste,
Diane