Loud Leadership is not any formal form of leadership(don’t start looking in PMBOK). Don’t worry if you haven’t heard of this term earlier. I am sure you must have leaders in your company who are loud. They feel, the louder they speak the better their point of view is conveyed. They are under the impression that being loud in meetings, or with their subordinates and peers will make them strong and successful leaders. Is that true ? Another point of view is that, maybe they are very outspoken and what others keep in their minds, they don’t – they think loudly and do not keep anything in mind – thus may be less dangerous. On the other hand this may directly or indirectly hurt another person who is not expecting that behaviour.
Psychologists also connect it to being – ‘extroverts’ or ‘introverts’. Being loud is a behaviour but the real point is, is the person talking sense ? If (s)he is then it is about listening to the person carefully and gracefully asking the questions, by first stating with accepting their point conditionally. Argument in such cases will lead to deadlock, no decision and often personal grudges. This leads to an unhealthy organizational culture where the introverts (who may be creative and research oriented people) feel suppressed.
Senior Management in such cases need to keep a close eye on the grapevines. They need to come up with a plan to ensure a ‘safe haven’ for the employees who are ‘internal customers’ of the organization.
Some of the well known ‘introverts’, yet most powerful leaders are Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Larry Page.
It is not how loud you are but how intense and committed you are makes the difference.