Solomon wrote that a word spoken in the right circumstances was “like apples of gold in settings of silver.”

Few principles carry more weight in leadership than this one.

The challenge is how to develop this ability. 

1) Actively listen. A key attribute for learning what to say at the right time is to listen. There are times silence speaks more to the need than words.

2) Think before speaking. The tendency is to speak as soon as the thought crosses our mind. Relationships are often destroyed when we speak too quickly.

These two suggestions provide a foundation to speak the right words in the right circumstance.