ount Quietly First

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

Professor Hamblin, the Baron’s chief advisor on many things involving the proper running of Lilliland, was especially concerned about diplomacy in all matter of state.

The Professor spoke often about responding to concerns about Lilliland in a calm manner. He said, “Even though you understand the question completely and have an immediate answer, count quietly to yourself from one to ten. That’s about ten seconds.

”This simple exercise will avoid a lot of problems down the road. It will have a calming effect on everyone involved. It will deliberately avoid unnecessary escalation of the topic into areas that may be uncomfortable for both sides.

“If a debate gets heated up too rapidly, then there is the tendency of people to say things that they may later regret. The ten-second pause will, in most cases, prevent that escalation.

“The Baron must always be in control of the situation. If he accidentally seems out of control and acting like a hothead, people will remember that and act accordingly. People will think that he is losing control and his leadership may be too much for him to handle.”

That is why Professor Hamblin needed to be present in all discussions about the future of Lilliland. Lady Angela of Alpine Castle was also an invaluable person who needed to be present. She was very bright and helpful, beyond words, for the Baron.

One thing that the Baron wanted to avoid was to commit himself and Lilliland to a position that he might regret and have to defend at a later date. Proper diplomacy was vital especially to a small country the size of Lilliland.

The more time that the Baron was allowed to think his position with his advisors, the more likely that the decision would be to the liking of everyone concerned.

It was important not to make a decision that would have to be retracted later. The amount of time and effort involved in the retraction effort would be totally unnecessary if the mistake could have been avoided in the first place by counting quietly from one to ten.