Five Steps to Pain-Free Productive Meetings
By Suzanne Bates
Do you think all meetings are painful, time wasting, poorly run and unproductive torture sessions? If you hate meetings, you’re not alone. Practically everyone does, and although businesses have to run meetings, very often meetings run businesses. They’re more than just a drag; bad meetings can have a tremendous negative impact on productivity and the bottom line.
You may think that the only thing worse than sitting through meetings is having to lead them.
After all, you don’t want all that wrath and boredom directed at you, right? But rather than dreading running meetings, you can embrace them as an opportunity to polish up and show off your leadership skills. The style in which you lead a meeting will establish the meeting’s tone and influence the overall culture. People will take their cues from you, adopting your good practices. Different types of meetings require different approaches. You must be flexible and adapt to the purpose and participants in a meeting. While there are different meeting styles, some practices and policies make all meetings better.
The following five steps will help you to lead great meetings:
1. Prepare for Productivity
As the meeting leader, you must determine why the meeting is taking place in order to know who to invite, what to put on the agenda, how long to discuss each item and even what methods to use to come to a decision. Productive meetings begin with good pre-meeting communication.
Several days or even weeks in advance of the meeting, call, e-mail or speak in person with the influential people who will attend. Identify which issues will need to be addressed. This checking-in process will help you to anticipate and deal with objections and build consensus.
2. Stick to an Agenda
Without an agenda, participants cannot prepare so time is lost while people read or catch up.
Missions fall by the wayside as people talk about whatever is on their minds instead. As the meeting wanders, some may start whispering side conversations and anyone dominant enough can easily hijack the meeting. Agenda-less meetings often end before decisions are made, or decisions are made after key people have already left. Sound familiar?
Realize that you can’t solve all the problems of the world in one meeting. If you decide to spend 10 minutes on something, and the 10 minutes is up, it’s your responsibility to move on. You may be amazed to find what a difference just starting and ending the meeting on time and keeping it clipping along will make in participants’ morale and willingness to participate now in future meetings.
3. Encourage Participation
Your most valuable resource is the collective knowledge of others in the organization. A good leader encourages participation in order to harness others’ creative power.
Everyone will benefit when you make the atmosphere safe and easy for everyone, even the shy ones, to get involved.
Take note of those who remain silent, and make it a point to ask them what they think. You don’t want those who disagree with you or with the group’s decisions to not say anything, and then leave the meeting and attempt to undermine the decisions later.
Encourage participation by saying: “Stan, you shook your head just now. What else do we need to consider?” “I would like to hear from Karen on this.” “Becky, you and I talked about something before the meeting. Would you share it?” “Do we have all the issues on the table, Barrett?”
4. Listen Actively
Listening well and being able to provide a brief but accurate review of what has been said sets great leaders apart from the rest. To summarize effectively, you must hear everything that is said, and even more importantly, notice what is not said. Take notes or listen in a “note-taking” mind-set to key words and phrases. Put ideas you hear into the context of the whole discussion, and you will find that this creates accountability. Ask questions and then truly listen to the answers.
Questions that will yield valuable insights are ones like these: “What’s your reaction to ____?”
“What’s your view on____?” “What led you to____?” “How could we____?”
5. Manage Conflict
As a meeting leader, if you ask good questions and make it safe to disagree, participants will debate issues on the merits. You can’t allow discussions to get personal or let issues go unresolved. If this occurs, you risk damage to the whole organization, not just the individuals involved. Meeting leaders must promote positive conflict while avoiding personal attacks. While debate is usually healthy for organizations, some people in the group will test the limits.
Because they are angry or feel ignored, they will argue miniscule points, be unable to see others’ views, or fail to recognize the value of compromise. They may be poor listeners or have hidden agendas. Most of the time, difficult people are unaware of how they affect others, or what a serious impact they have on their own careers as well as on the effectiveness of their teams.
To keep difficult people from derailing your meeting, intervene in advance. Speak with them one-on-one so that they can vent or discuss what’s on their minds outside of the meeting context.
During the meeting, allow them to have their say, ask a few questions, and then move on.
Remember, your role as a leader is to enforce time limits.
Learning meeting skills leads to great opportunities. Good meeting leadership is not as common as it should be. Few people have the skills, and even fewer are taught how to lead meetings effectively. Rather, like most of us, they sit through many bad meetings, develop a lot of terrible habits, and when it’s their turn to step up and lead, they just don’t have the skills to do it.
Your ability to run a meeting well is a direct reflection of your leadership skills. Your staff, your peers, and the people you report to will all judge how you lead meetings and, in turn, whether your meetings accomplish results. In other words, your leadership skills will have a direct impact on the organization’s bottom line because the meeting is not an end in itself – it is a vehicle to accomplish the work of the organization. By following these five steps, you can learn how to lead productive meetings and demonstrate that you have the leadership qualities to position yourself for promotions and advancement in your organization.
By David Casullo
Recently, I watched our founder, Suzanne Bates, expertly ply her significant teaching talents with a group of PhDs and a very bright leader of a Fortune 500 chemical company division. I tried to pinpoint the elements of her style that so effectively pierced the intellectual barricade surrounding these talented individuals and caused them to watch and learn so intently. On a break I overheard one of the participants articulate to Suzanne exactly what I was looking for. He thanked her for the material that he found helpful and added, “I am trained as a scientist so I am used to data and information. What you did for us is provide the rule behind the information that the data support. That's what really matters”.
This “scientist” was referring to the rule that people connect more deeply when something touches their emotions versus their intellect. The epiphany was how a well-positioned and well-articulated story can be used to drive home a key selling point.
The rule is the key. In consulting, most people offer good information for the client. Most can explain some factual tidbit or concept. At the very least, any “expert” worth his or her salt must provide useful information, right? The difference between good consulting work and great consulting work lies in providing clients with the rule (in other words, the why); the fundamental principle that lies beneath it all.
When it comes to leadership development there is one rule that qualifies as the Holy Grail.
The Holy Grail is “Start with someone who is developable”. Makes sense and sounds simple, doesn't it? Some of the best rules of all time are the simplest. “Do unto others … ” is a good rule, and pretty simple. So is “Start with someone who is developable”.
Developable leaders demonstrate capability in the four Cs:
- character;
- competence;
- confidence; and
- communication.
Character
As my good friend Dr Phil Martin says, this is imperative. In today's business world character is simply the price of entry as a leader of people. If you intend to select leaders for the next level in your organization, your selection criteria must start here. And please remember, character is values in action.
Competence
The right leaders demonstrate strong performance consistently. They bring results. They are trusted because they are reliable. They know what to do and how to it.
Confidence
Developable leaders are confident people. And there's a very fine line between confidence and arrogance. The latter is a deal-breaker.
Communication
This “C” is all-too-often undervalued and overlooked. Leaders can have exemplary traits in the other three “C” areas, but if they cannot communicate what is inside them in a way that inspires and motivates others, then they are precluded from your “A” level candidate pool … period. Thankfully, good communication skills are developable and Bates Communications can help.
While seeking the four Cs might seem like common sense, my experience has uncovered many well thought-through leadership development plans neglecting to find people who are developable. There is, after all, much to sort out. Consider just the art of transferring information from one individual to another. That is an art and few do it well. Just ask my 17-year-old daughter about her math teacher. She will tell you he struggles with the art of transferring knowledge.
Or maybe you race down the path of curriculum development anxious to decide on a set of concepts that you know are essential for leadership success in your company. Once the key drivers of good leadership are identified – character, intellect, social skills, emotional intelligence to name a likely few – it isn't unusual to focus your time and effort as well as your staff's talents on analyzing methodology that could or should be used to inculcate the concepts. All of this is necessary and important but secondary to first clearly understanding what constitutes a developable leader before you expend the finite and often scarce resources to develop them.
And, by the way, developable leaders want to develop themselves. At its core, leadership development is continual self-development. You can't teach this desire. Your best leaders have to bring it to the table.
So a simple rule to keep in mind as you are faced with the daunting task of developing leaders for the future success of your organization is: make sure the folks you select are developable. My cousin said it best when he described Larry Bird's lackluster performance as an NBA coach. During one interview, Coach Bird lamented that his players just didn't get it. He had explained in clear and simple terms what it takes to be successful on the basketball court and he was befuddled why the players just couldn't do it. Well, coach, my cousin explains, you've forgotten one thing: you're Larry Bird and they're not.
It's true that basketball players like Larry Bird are in short supply, but if you're going to build a championship leadership team you need to select players with the right stuff first. Just ask Julio Iglesias (yes, the singer – and also a limited partner of the Miami Heat).
How To Influence and Inspire Others Through the Art of Storytelling
By Suzanne Bates
Managers go to classes, read books and try to learn from other manager’s success, all in an effort to be a good leader. They try to mold employees into what they perceive to be the perfect successful worker. What they don’t realize is that by persuading and telling people how to behave, they are actually alienating everyone. Instead of telling people how to behave, you can show them how by telling a story.
A senior vice president wanted to instill in her team the sense that they should go out of their way to build relationships with their internal clients – other businesses within the company. Her team was not seen as a group that solved problems or helped their colleagues. Instead of lecturing them about it at the all hands meeting, she chose instead to tell the story of an employee who had gone above and beyond – working overtime on a weekend to solve a problem for another department, which went a long way toward rebuilding a soured relationship.
Storytelling is a subtle but powerful tool. By telling stories, you can reinforce values and behaviors without hitting people over the head. A manager or leader provides employees with subconscious clues as to how to get ahead at work.
People love stories of all kinds. Centuries ago, people passed information from one person to another via storytelling long before they could read or write. As a result, today our brains are hardwired to listen to and respond to stories.
When a manager or leader tries to communicate, whether in a one-on-one meeting or a formal speech to a large auditorium of people, they have two choices. They can either lecture the audience with dry, dull data, or they can ensure their interest with a story whose characters and message come to life right before their eyes. If you’re like most people, option two is probably more appealing.
You can use storytelling regularly as a technique to motivate and inspire people with stories about others who’ve done a good job. This recognition or appreciation will allow your audience to relate to the “characters” in your story, and they will want to be the hero or subject of the next story.
The CEO of an airline draws on his background as a mechanic, pilot and business man, telling stories appropriate to each type of audience. He relates to them in their language, and often regales them with funny stories that tell them he’s walked in their shoes.
You may feel you don’t have any good stories to tell, but everyone has hundreds of stories in them, and observing will bring you hundreds more that you can use to communicate more effectively at work and advance your career. Follow these easy steps to use writing and telling stories as a significant leadership skill.
1. What’s Your Point?
When you’re ready to create a great story, figure out the topic, value, or idea you want to promote. What is your reason for telling your story? What purpose do you want the story to serve? Every story should make a point. It may be hysterical when you tell it at a cocktail party, but if it doesn’t drive home a business point, save it for your social life.
2. Who Are You Talking To?
Next, decide who the audience is for your story and how you’ll include them. The topic has to be relevant to that particular group of listeners, or you may entertain but will accomplish very little.
3. Who Are You Talking About?
Coming up with the idea for a story can be the hardest part. Powerful, original stories reveal a lot about you as a leader and a person without being about you, but rather about people you know, events you’ve witnessed, or things you’ve observed.
You probably should not make yourself the hero of your own stories unless you are relating to your audience something you felt, understood or learned. You can also make yourself the central figure if you use self-deprecating humor to make a point. Many leaders use humor effectively to become one of the gang or part of the crowd. Humor breaks the ice and sets up learning.
Begin by considering stories you have told to friends or family in the past. What have been some of your “greatest hits?” Consider looking for stories in the challenges you have faced, conflicts you have witnessed or experienced, and difficult decisions you have made. Any painful experience has many lessons inherent in it. When you have a little distance from those conflicts, you can better understand what they really meant.
4. Where Do You Find a Story?
Storytelling begins with awareness. Start paying attention to what’s going on around you, and every day you will pick up at least one new story to add to your repertoire. Other prompts for great stories include:
• Startling events, historical events and major changes. Has your group or company had new experiences, lost opportunities or had to work hard to achieve something?
• Embarrassments, awkward situations and dumb ideas that worked. Failures, turn-arounds and last-minute saves make great story topics! Especially when you want to provide incentive, consider this type of story.
• Inspiring people, remarkable achievements, memorable events, athletic contests, wins and losses.
• Seemingly insignificant, everyday occurrences, travel stories, interesting people you’ve met, unexpected discoveries.
5. How Do You Use a Story?
When you know what story you want to tell, write it down. You really must put it on paper to tell it right and ensure that you are actually making the point you want to make. Feel free to embellish a little to make the story work most effectively. You can use the same story to make a lot of different points, and you can use the story with a wide variety of audiences.
A CEO who is widely admired for his entertaining speeches keeps a “bible” of personal stories.
It was started and passed down to him by his mentor, who was also a great speaker. Today he continues to add to its rich contents and now has hundreds of stories, poems, funny lines, toasts, and famous quotes to use in his talks. Whenever he’s asked to speak, he simply pulls out his trusted resource, as thick as the New York Yellow Pages.
When writing a story, he’s always sure to include a few colorful descriptive words and phrases.
This brings your stories alive and paints a picture for your listeners. Don’t use so many details that you slow the story down. As you write your story imagine how you might “draw a picture” with your hands, or “show” a feeling with facial expression, instead of saying that you were upset, angry, or thrilled. Make a note in the margin of the text to remind you where to pause and appear perplexed or irritated or happy. Showing is better than telling.
6. Structure your story for maximum effect
All good stories have a beginning, middle, and end. And whether the story is meant to be funny, sad, serious or touching, some conflict or tension must be resolved by the story’s end.
As you work on your story, read it out loud, evaluate what works, and then rewrite and edit it.
Read it again, and work on it until its right. Learn it by heart, but don’t memorize it word for word. Just visualize and internalize, so that when you tell the story, you recall the major events and picture the people. Then you will be able to relate the essence of what happened while remaining conversational.
Story telling leads to career success
Not all of your stories need to relate astonishing, riveting, hang-on-for-your life experiences.
Some will be simple slice of life anecdotes, funny or serious, that are quick and simple to tell.
As you develop a story, don’t be afraid to “dramatize” a bit. A few gestures, facial expression, different tones of voice, or character voices will bring it alive.
Telling stories will become one of your most valuable communication tools. Try a tale or two out and see where they take you and your career!
How to Develop the "Wow" Factor That Makes Great Leaders Stand Out
By Suzanne Bates
We’ve all witnessed that moment when someone walks into a room at a business or social event and instantly attracts intense, positive attention. The air shifts. Heads turn. People gravitate toward them in the conversation circle. In short, they have a “wow” factor.
The wow factor is often called “executive presence.” It is easy to see and yet hard to define. But it’s important to develop because when you have it, people want to promote you, dobusiness with you, give you better assignments, and recommend you to others.
Is executive presence in your DNA or can you learn it? It turns out you’re not born with this skill. And it’s not as much of a mystery as you might think. Executive presence is a blending of competencies and skills that when combined send all the right signals.
Executive presence creates a strong personal brand. The brand is the message or impression that comes to mind when people see you, hear of you, or think about you. In business, you need to build your brand with everyone – your colleagues, boss, direct reports, clients or customers; because it’s impossible to meet and know everyone well. Brand gives you word of mouth that is a tremendous advantage.
Executive presence isn’t just fluff, and it isn’t about first impressions; it is a thought or feeling about you that develops over time based on other people’s experiences with you. When you do it right, you build trust, which creates word of mouth or buzz that opens up business opportunities and creates professional and financial success.
So how do you start developing a powerful executive presence and create your own personal brand? I believe there are seven elements of executive presence:
1) Substance
2) Personal Style
3) Physical Presence
4) Vocal Skill
5) Manners/Etiquette
6) Receptivity/Listening
7) Work Space
#1. Substance
The most important aspect of executive presence is the ability to communicate substance. You are an expert in your field, and you need to share that expertise in a powerful way. In order to do this you need to develop a high level of skill in speaking, presenting, writing and communicating your ideas. You may be one of the most knowledgeable people in your industry, however, if you cannot convey your business and technical skill, you won’t get the recognition you deserve.
#2. Personal Style
We can hope that it doesn’t matter, but the way we dress speaks volumes about us as professionals. Your business attire should make you feel confident and powerful every single day. Think about how you feel when you put on your best suit. You should walk in the door feeling like that every day. Polished personal style isn’t just about the clothing you wear; it’s about how you feel in those clothes.
#3. Physical Presence
Your physical presence is more than your body language. It’s your confidence, spirit, and energy. People are reading your body language 24/7. Learn to sit, stand, walk, move and gesture purposefully. It says so much about your professionalism.
#4. Vocal Skill
Many people know us only by the sound of our voice. Yet the voice is one of the most overlooked aspects of executive presence. Knowing how to use your voice effectively is one of the secrets to standing out in the crowd. Your voice should be conversational and clear. It should demonstrate your confidence, enthusiasm, passion and intelligence. Add interest to your voice by using inflection, varying the pace, emphasizing important words or phrases and pausing when you make an important point.
#5. Manners/Etiquette
It sounds like a no-brainer, but business etiquette is essential to professional presence. Etiquette is easy if you remember a few things; treat others as you want to be treated, put their comfort ahead of your own, and be gracious and grateful to everyone you meet. People may not comment on your manners, but they do notice them.
#6. Receptivity/Listening
Listening is a leadership skill. Those who listen stand out and are remembered. Listening includes being accessible, encouraging people to express themselves, listening with mindfulness, not speaking too much, and using verbal and non verbal language to convey genuine interest in the other person. If you don’t know whether you’re a good listener, ask someone who will tell you the truth.
#7. Work Space
Your work space is an extension of you and can be a tip off to others about how you really conduct business. Many people with a messy office believe it shouldn’t matter. As much as we wish no one will see or notice, that’s not true. A CEO once said he decides whether to promote his people based on “clutter.” Clear it out, find a home for everything, keep electronic files of most documents, and then make it an attractive space for you and others. This is not only important to your image; it will also help you feel better about your hours at work.
Now, where do you start? Choose one of the elements and get started. Ask a trusted advisor to help. Soon, people will be gravitating to your circle when you walk into the room!
By Suzanne Bates
When you’re asked to give a keynote speech, it doesn’t hurt to be the most winning coach in the history of the NFL. I mean, everybody wants to know the secrets to winning, if it’s coming from a real winner; the legendary former Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula!
The guy was a head coach in the National Football League for 33 years; he took six teams to the Super Bowl and won 347 games in his career.
So I was looking forward to hearing Coach Shula speak at a conference a month ago.
What I didn’t expect was how even today he would be able to command the room, the way he once commanded the football field. He really engaged the audience with some self-deprecating humor and great stories from “the day.”
After the speech, I was inspired to share four strategies that I think anyone could use to really engage the audience and be more memorable.
Tell stories about OTHER people.
The coach told a great story about quarterback Dan Marino. Together, they won more games than any other combination coach and quarterback. Shula never mentioned how he COACHED Marino. Instead he took a page out of the book of leadership and talked about all the great things his quarterback did. Apparently Marino was never satisfied with a completed pass—he wanted every pass to be perfect –landing right- square in the arms of the receiver, effortlessly, so that the receiver could then pick up a few more yards and possibly get into the end zone.
Through the coach’s story about another winner, the audience discovered one of the secrets to greatness.
Imagine how you might use the same technique to win over your audience. Talk about your employees like stars, and imagine the impact it would have. Not only do you show them you know what’s going on in the organization, telling their stories is one of the most effective ways to drive positive behaviors down through the organization. People appreciate it, remember you, and want to be the subject of your next presentation. If you frame it as something you’ve learned from them, all the better.
Look for Ways to Have a Laugh at Your Own Expense
Coach Shula recalled a vacation in Maine when he was “hiding out” from fans. He went to town with his family wearing a baseball cap down low over his eyes. Despite the effort to go unrecognized, he was applauded as he entered a small town movie theatre. He reluctantly but graciously went down to shake hands. One Mainer, looking puzzled, said, “I don’t know who you are. We’re just happy enough people showed up to run the movie tonight.” The coach got a good laugh and made a great point about the importance of humility in a leader.
Why go to the trouble to find the laugh line in stories about yourself? In business, if you have a title in front of your name, you had better work twice as hard to relate to people. They don’t know you think of yourself as a “regular person.” Show some self-awareness and have a little fun talking about yourself. No one will arrest you for deviating from the typical boring speech.
Add a dose of levity and you’ll be warmly received.
Make it Easy to Follow and Remember Your Points
There are tried and true techniques for making memorable points, and people still use them because they work. Coach Shula took the word COACH and turned each letter of the word into another word he wanted his audience to know about winning.
COACH stands for:
• C: Conviction driven; if you don’t stand for something you’ll fall for anything
• O: Over-learn: get into a state of unconscious competence. When you know it that
well you can perform without thinking about it.
• A: Audible ready; in football you call an audible when you need to change on a dime.
When you’re audible ready you can change when the playing field changes.
• C: Consistency coupled with intensity. While Shula may have been faulted for his
intensity, every player mentioned consistency as a hallmark of his leadership.
• H: Honesty; the coach said you have to care more about earning respect than
being popular.
Think about how easy it would be to use a device like this when you’re speaking. One of the most important thing leaders do is make their messages memorable and repeatable. Take a word in your world that’s commonly used and play around with the letters. You may find that they match up quite well with your mission statement or corporate values, or the important behaviors you’re trying to encourage. You’ll know your message has been received when after the speech, you see it in the company newsletter, hear your team talking about it with their teams and even overhear someone at the company lunch table mentioning it.
Get Away From Text and Use Video and Sound to Deliver Your Message
To break up his talk and allow others to remind us of some of the accomplishments that highlighted his career, Coach Shula punctuated his own comments with video clips of players and coaches talking about his winning years with the Baltimore Colts and the Miami Dolphins.
Through their eyes we heard why it worked, and what they thought made him a winner.
What about you? Could you use video to break away from the PowerPoint, and engage your audience with pictures and sound? Think about featuring customers, employees or famous movie scenes to both entertain and be more memorable. Video punctuates what you’re saying, brings in a different voice to underscore your point and breaks things up. When the clip ends the audience is ready to hear what you have to say next.
Lessons Learned
One sign of a successful speech is when you see people get out pads of paper and pens while you’re speaking and begin to take notes. There is no better confirmation that people are hearing the message loud and clear. You don’t have to be a celebrity coach to adopt a winning strategy toward giving presentations. As a leader, remember, people have to work for you, but they don’t have to listen to you. That’s why it’s more fun when you incorporate these tips and begin to command a room.
As Coach Shula says, leadership is about credibility and communication.
Athletes have run millions of miles inspired by one of the most famous, compelling slogans of modern advertising: “Just Do It.” Too bad it isn’t that easy in business.
While slogans are nice, we know that things only get done when people are truly motivated. Slogans capture sentiment, but they don’t create it.
In order for any enterprise to succeed, there must be consent, or willingness; a collective view that an idea is good. Once this happens, the group moves to a future focus—when they agree, they want to take action.
Leaders don’t need slogans, but sometimes they might wish they had psychology degrees; a way of understanding human nature so they inspire others. Willingness creates momentum and helps people execute. But makes diverse groups of people in an organization want to achieve a common goal?
A simple way to explain willingness is this—willingness is created when people clearly comprehend what to do and why. This means leaders must know how to articulate a vision, and explain why it is true. There is a simple three-step process to articulating what to do and why.
These three steps are: state the facts, explain the logic, and make the emotional connection.
Let’s say you have to make a persuasive presentation. You start with the facts. Facts must be relevant to the audience, and they must be self-evident or provable. You must have trusted sources, testimonials, credible information. And, the facts must actually matter to your audience.
Think about the way you make the decision to buy a new car. The salesman may give you 40 reasons why a mini-van is practical, but if you want to speed down Route 66 in a red, 2004 sports car with leather seats, you will not be convinced.
You may think this kind of information is presentations 101 – but one of the biggest mistakes we see leaders make is telling audiences what they want them to hear, not what the audience considers relevant. A presenter who hasn’t taken the time to analyze the audience, whether it’s employees, clients, customers, or the media, has little chance to persuade them to do anything.
One multi-national company was facing tough questions about a change in direction that forced out some top-quality people in the organization. Leaders were feeling defensive, and they sounded that way when they were on the phone with their customers. What they didn’t realize was their defensive posture about the business decision was irrelevant to most customers, who simply wanted to know how it affected them. By refocusing on what customers cared about, the company rewrote a talking points memo, sent out letters to customers that satisfied concerns and made the whole mess go away in a few short weeks.
The second element in creating willingness is explaining the logic – A causes B, and that results in C. There are countless types of logic, but most people intrinsically get it. They use logic to connect provable facts with recommended actions. Logic allows a group to collectively debate a situation, review possible courses of action and make a decision about whether to go along with an idea. This process takes place whether or not leaders want it to happen; people discuss it anyway over email or coffee, and decide amongst themselves whether they are willing.
The third element of willingness is emotional connection. People may listen to the facts and logic of an idea and still not be willing to move forward. Emotional attachment to the leader and the idea is critical, especially to sustain action. They must not only see the facts and truth of a situation, they must trust the leader. The emotional connection to the leader and idea become a sustaining force in willingness, especially when they meet obstacles.
In order to succeed, you have to “take people with you” on the journey. Most people in professional life are longing for a reason bigger than a paycheck to do what they do. But, they must see what you see, feel what you feel. You must move them at the emotional level; if you know how to get people excited about your ideas and give them a reason to believe in you, you have an unstoppable force called willingness.
The value of willingness in an organization cannot be overestimated. Willingness primes the pump of the organization. Just as a runner cannot win a race without warming up his muscles and ensuring his body is prepared for a grueling race, people cannot grind through the steps necessary to achieve long term goals until they are mentally primed.
How do you know when you have willingness in the organization? You can’t gauge it by the applause. How many times a day to employees go to meetings, clap in approval and then head to the water cooler to dissect all of its flaws? This process is unavoidable – people need to evaluate the facts, discuss the logic and make up their own minds after they leave the meeting.
They simply won’t devote themselves to a project or cause until they have the opportunity to decide for themselves.
Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.
—Peter F. Drucker
Type in “leadership” on any internet search site, and you will come across thousands of quotes like the one above from Peter Drucker, author of 30 books including Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Lots of wise people have something to say about leadership, and each attempts to convey—in as few words as possible—what it really means.
While these bits of wisdom are eloquent and thought-provoking, they don’t tell us what leaders should be doing. In today’s business world leaders need to know how to do it right.
We decided to find out what American business leaders could do better, by asking their employees.
In our 2004 online survey How Does Your Boss Communicate? We polled 293 professionals nationwide to evaluate the leadership communication skills of their bosses—rating different sets of skills, defining authentic leadership characteristics, and offering suggestions for improvement.
The response was overwhelming and we heard lots of valuable advice.
Many people say the communication skills of their bosses are lacking. In fact, less than one-third believe their organizations have true voices of leadership—a disheartening reality that should send up a red flag to management everywhere.
How can companies develop more true, authentic voices of leadership throughout their organizations?
Participants gave thoughtful, genuine advice that fell into six natural categories. Here they are.
1. Share more information.
Leaders should have a vision and be able to articulate it. In terms of information, more is better.
In their view, authentic leaders and strong communicators also share information that increases their understanding of—and commitment to—the big picture.
2. Keep it real.
How information is shared is also key. Demeanor, use of language and nonverbal skills contribute to credibility—which creates trust. A truly strong communicator is truthful and open, whether the news is good or bad. “Say what you think and think what you say” was an often quoted phrase that summed up this point.
3. Listen.
There’s a strong desire for more and better two-way communication with leadership. Be more open to others’ thoughts, actively seek ideas and feedback. Listen to know who’s doing a good job and follow with praise. “Listen to people in the trenches.”
4. Walk the walk.
Leaders are judged by how well their words, their demeanor, and their actions match up.
Following through is critical to gaining the respect of the organization. This involves not only “the doing” but communicating in a way that underscores consistency between rhetoric and reality.
5. Know the organization & its people.
Employees want leaders who are accessible, to genuinely get to know them and their work.
Soak up knowledge by walking around, see how the staff work, listen to their language and challenges, and learn about them as both professionals and people.
6. Delegate—and trust.
People in an organization have been hired because they bring particular knowledge and skills to their positions. Give people the authority to do what needs to be done. Trust employees to do the job right. Give them feedback and credit where it’s due.
How To Use It In Your Next Presentation
by Meredith O’Connor
When you think of the terms “humor” and “business” – do they seem incompatible?
Do you ever wonder if humor really has a place in your presentations?
Humor not only belongs in business presentations, it’s the secret weapon of many successful leaders. Using appropriate humor in meetings creates a more positive atmosphere. No one has ever been arrested in a business meeting for making people laugh.
"Think about the business presentations and meetings you've attended that you remember as 'fantastic'. Chances are those events included some kind of humor,” says “Corporate Comedian” David Glickman, author of Punchline Your Bottom Line: 76 Ways to Get Any Business Audience Laughing (www.davidglickman.com). “It's what people remember. When people are laughing, they are listening," Glickman adds.
You may not think of yourself as a funny person. You may not be able to remember or tell a joke. You don’t have to remember jokes. In fact, jokes don’t usually work. What does work is a sense of humor. Find a funny “take” on a painful or difficult business situation. Or, choose an appropriate, self-deprecating remark. If you are really tuned in to what’s going on every day in your office, and in your industry, you will find good material.
Humor is a great way to defuse difficult issues or deflect criticism. Writer Mark Katz wrote a line for Al Gore that was priceless. “I know what they say about me – that I’m so stiff, racks buy their suits off of me.” By acknowledging a perceived character flaw, Katz took the edge off and made Gore seem far more like a mortal human.
“Humor actually increases your stature as a leader,” says Suzanne Bates. “Think about it – if you can warm up the room and make people smile, you stand out,” says Suzanne. “You gain the respect of your colleagues, you appear confident and in control.” Who looks like a leader – the person who is stiff and formal, or the one who can help the whole group loosen up?
How do you begin to add humor to your presentations? Here’s a great tip from Judy Carter, the author of The Comedy Bible, (www.judycarter.com): study comedians. "Stand-up is the most condensed form of comedy, and if you understand the basic principles of the simplest of jokes, you will be able to translate that skill to many different domains," says Carter.
By watching the pros like Letterman and Leno who have mastered standup, you’ll notice that they “see” the world a little differently. They find the absurd, ridiculous, weird or uncanny in stuff that happens every day. Remember Jerry Seinfeld? He became a comedy icon by making us laugh about “nothing.”
Studying comedians also teaches you about timing and delivery. Business humor is similar to standup comedy, in that to work, it needs to be short and punchy. If your story drags out, people will forget where you started and won’t care where you’re going by the time you get there.
Comedians will also show you how to be timely and relevant. What’s funny to your audience is what is happening right now. What made them laugh last month – like an encounter with a painful person or group, may not be funny at the next quarterly meeting.
Carter advises to learn to “see” comedy all around you, and says that there are “four basic attitudes that are useful (in seeing the humor in situations): weird, scary, hard, or stupid.” The Comedy Bible has writing exercises that will help anyone who wants to develop their funny bone begin to look at every day situations in a funnier way.
Here are some more tips, from David Glickman:
Tip #1: “Avoid using traditional 'jokes'. Too many speakers think they're supposed to open with a 'joke' and then they make an awkward segue into their material.”
Tip #2: “Instead, search for 'relevant humor'. If the humor is relevant to the subjects being discussed, it won't seem phony. I always like to say, ”The more specific the humor, the more terrific the humor'.
Tip #3: “If you can find ways to parody or poke fun of the 'hot buttons' or stressors at work, you'll acknowledge what everyone is already thinking anyway, and you'll gain the respect of your team by showing that it's 'ok to laugh at some of these things that drive us all crazy'."
Don’t go overboard. Have you ever watched “The Office”? If so, you’ll know what I mean – the perfect example of what not to do as a leader. Nobody wants to hear politically incorrect or potentially offensive jokes in a business setting – it just makes people uncomfortable.
And, know your audience. “What makes one group laugh,” says Suzanne Bates, “may leave another puzzled.” That doesn’t mean you should be afraid to try humor. “As long as the humor is appropriate,” says Suzanne, “people will remember you for giving it a go.”
How Will You Speak, Win Buy-In, and Get People Behind You?
By Suzanne Bates
A number of new research studies clearly reveal that today’s CEOs have innovation on the brain. Recent findings from the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business say that after years of focus on cost reduction and efficiencies, today 75% of CEOs say profitable growth is their top priority. And, according to a recent IBM survey, 65% of CEOs plan radical changes at their companies over the next two years. The IBM data is based on in-person interviews with 765 CEOs and business leaders of small, mid-sized, and large companies.
Why innovate now? According to CEO Notes, an online newsletter, 61% of CEOs from the IBM survey say they fear their competitors are making radical changes in their own business models.
They feel they must also make changes just to avoid falling behind.*
Innovation requires creativity and a well thought-out execution plan. It also requires excellent communication from the top down. The changing times require leaders to look long and hard at how they will deliver their individual message. They have to articulate a clear vision of where the organization is going as well as why it must go there. Winning buy-in and getting people behind you can sometimes be more challenging than coming up with a strategic plan.
Case Study: The New CEO
A brand new CEO earned the top job after milestone achievements that moved the company forward. Change was essential in a competitive industry where the company had lost market share, and he had already developed a clear idea for the company’s new strategic direction.
As he prepared to kick off the radical new tactical plan, he wondered how he could convince everyone in the organization it had to be done. The company was stable, and most employees beyond the top echelon did not perceive the threat that was looming on the horizon.
As we worked with the CEO, he came to realize that in order to win buy-in he had to paint a clear picture of his vision of what the company would look like in the future, and he had to provide a real, compelling reason to change. Stability was highly valued in this organization so the strategy would require some painful, short term disruptions.
The first part of his presentation painted the CEO’s picture of the future and explained why his vision would benefit the company as a whole. The second part outlined the change that would be required, punctuated by stories meant to illustrate and inspire. He had many stories of individuals who had already contributed great new ideas. They had been leaders in the change process. He also talked about the history of those who had brought innovations to the industry. He even told a few stories from his own experience that demonstrated how he learned to handle change.
The presentation was an unqualified success.
Paint a picture for others to help them see what you see, and you are well on the road to winning buy in. People want to be part of something successful. They yearn to contribute to the solution.
They want to give their talents to the effort. When you communicate effectively, your employees feel good because they know they own a piece of the company’s success.
What if the change is radical? Remember the most important word in persuasive communication is “why.” Why does the company need to change? If there is a big enough reason and that reason touches your employees in an important way, you can win hearts and minds. The job of the leader is to find the why and articulate it clearly to all.
Adapt both the message and the style to the target audience. Convey the benefit to those you hope to persuade. In The Art of Selling Your Ideas, a Special Report published by the National Institute of Business Management, you’ll find this advice: No linchpin, no sale. “Your idea’s central benefit to the listener is the linchpin of your sales effort. If this point gets lost, no idea will win approval---no matter how strategically it is packaged or presented.”
Bates Communications uses a process called “180 thinking” to help our clients clarify the “linchpin.”
180 thinking is simple: you sit in their seats, think as they think, ask the questions they would ask. Once you are asking the right questions, you can answer them. This makes for a persuasive presentation that is audience focused and on target.
Even if the reasons are obvious to you, they may not be clear to your audience. If you have lived with an issue and worked on the solution for a long time you may assume others know or understand what you do. Take the time to do your homework. Say what is obvious to you in a way that is relevant to them. In times of change, taking these steps to communicate effectively is more important than ever.
*Source CEO Notes newsletter
The true test of success for leaders is not the amount of money they make, the price of their stock or the size of their businesses. Success is determined by how effectively they are able to communicate their vision and apply their experience to their enterprise. To meet the demands of business—and have a lasting impact on their organizations—leaders must speak with clarity and win the trust of others. When they know how to do this, they have what we call the voice of leadership.
The 2004 presidential campaign is an opportunity to see how important the voice of leadership is. Clarity and trust are the critical elements of any political campaign. Interestingly enough, when voters are interviewed about a candidate, they give you an impression—which may seem like it’s based on little that is tangible. How do they arrive at their conclusions? The fact is we base these impressions on very real elements—what we see and hear. Successful candidates have to project ideas with clarity, and have to be seen as trustworthy, or they cannot win. The long, grueling nature of a presidential contest gives us voters a chance to weigh information and decide.
You may not be out to win votes, but if you want to lead, you must project an authentic voice of leadership, too. This year, we are devoting the pages of the Credibility Report to voice of leadership stories, insights and practical advice—everything you need to develop an authentic, powerful “voice”. Our goal is to provide information about how to assess your voice, develop new skills and enhance your leadership through better communication.
First, let’s define the voice of leadership. It is an authentic, powerful way of communicating—unique to each of us. There is no formula for the voice of leadership—no two leaders are the same—but all good leaders have certain assets and competencies that determine the effectiveness of their voices.
Effective leaders have two powerful assets that provide the foundation for their overall success:
They have vision—the ability to imagine, conceptualize and articulate future hope and opportunity.
And they have experience—the skill and talent acquired by doing.
But vision and experience are not enough. There are two factors that determine how effectively leaders will be able to communicate their vision and apply their experience:
Trust—the most critical element in producing positive human behavior is willingness. If people are unwilling, they will not give their unwavering support to leadership initiatives. Trust is a basic building block of willingness. If people trust their leaders and believe the information provided by their leaders, they will be willingly to follow.
Clarity—if the message of leadership is not clear the team will not know how to do the things leadership asks of them. Confusion will dilute effort and desired results will be diminished.
Trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth or strength of a person or thing. When people trust you, they have a confident expectation about you. A person in a position of trust has a responsibility arising from that trust. In fact, when we trust people, we give over power to them; that’s why we call a property legally entrusted to a person a “trust.” We refer to a person who holds and administers property in trust for another is a “trustee.” People who are trustworthy can act, administer, and move forward with the full cooperation of others. Trust allows a leader to do what needs to be done, with the support of those who need to do the work.
Clarity is the act of making something clear, or easier to understand. In a lab, when you want to give clarity to a liquid, you remove the impurities such as fats through a process of heating. The process of achieving clarity in communication is comparable. To express an idea with clarity, we begin with an intellectual exercise, where we “cook” an idea until the impurities are removed.
What is left is transparent thought. Ideas that are transparent are easier to express, and more readily understood. Clarity is usually achieved when we begin with an intellectual process—observing, considering, reasoning, comparing and contrasting, reflecting, then articulating and communicating a pure message. A transparent idea is easily understood; the truth behind it is easily perceived. It is clear and unmistakable.
When Eliot Spitzer first went after mutual fund companies for trading practices that cost consumers billions, people didn’t really understand—most of us didn’t know how fees were set or care about how trades happened. Spitzer succeeded in building credibility because he was so good at explaining what happened and why it was wrong. He proved you don’t need an MBA to understand corruption in financial services. Once he laid out the case in simple language and stark terms, the press and the public got it. His investigation caught and it became too big to ignore.
Clarity and trust are the keys to tuning the voice of leadership. Over the coming months, we hope you’ll read and find useful information that will help you tune your voice—develop a total package of skills that help you articulate your vision and bring unity and focus to your organization.
We welcome your questions and comments and hope you will let us know about communication topics that will help you become the best you can be.