The furthest thing from the mind of most leaders is the value of silence. Mornings begin with the compulsion to check messages in case something important happened while sleeping. Meetings are scheduled back to back and meals are eaten mindlessly or not taken. Many consider “work/life balance” a normal and inevitable struggle. Entire workshops have been designed around the seemingly banal problem of “managing the calendar.” The time between office and airport has become an extension of meeting time. How often have I worked with leaders while they travel, aware of the irony that we are discussing the chronic stress that dominates their life while they are going through airport security?