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Roy, a director of quality
at a major hospital, wanted some
help with a difficult employee. For
thirty minutes Roy told me about
this fellow’s explosive outbursts,
his lack of punctuality at meetings,
his failure to share information and
a dozen other issues all of which
were quite serious.
Finally I asked Roy, “If I went to
this guy right now and asked him
what your top three concerns are
about his performance, what do you
think he’d tell me?”
Roy thought, then shook his head and
said he wasn’t sure.
“OK, let me ask a different
question,” I said. “If he were going
to get a better rating from you at
next year’s review, what three or
four things would he have to
change?”
He wearily shook his head, saying,
“Golly, there are so many things!”
I told Roy I was concerned the
employee was going to continue to
fail because he, Roy, wasn’t taking
the time to make tough decisions
about his own priorities. Since
everything was equally important,
there was no place to start and no
way to measure success.
Think about your own pressures for a
moment. Do you need to guide a
project team? Improve your staff
meetings? Direct a division toward
next year’s goals? Or, like Roy, do
you need to develop an employee? No
matter what your objectives are, if
you want to hit your goal, people
need to know clearly and
consistently what’s important to
you.
In order to drive your messages
home, do these four things:
|
1 |
Reduce your messages
down to just a few core
ideas |
|
2 |
Wordsmith them until
they’re as catchy as can
be |
|
3 |
Say them over and over
to people, the same way
every time |
|
4 |
Tell people why they’re
important |
I experienced this in a wonderful
way when I worked with a group of HR
people who came from all over the
country for a workshop. Although
they rarely see each other, they
responded like a well-rehearsed
chorus when I introduced this topic
of repeated themes. Altogether they
pointed to one man in the room and
yelled, “John’s seven rules of
compensation!” They laughingly
acknowledged that John was a pain in
the butt about his seven rules but
they also acknowledged that over the
years he had transformed their
global organization by being
single-minded in his focus on those
seven things. What a win for that
company. And for John!!
Of course John didn’t create his
clarity and conciseness overnight.
Refinement requires reflection. In
order to accomplish numbers 1 and 2
above, you’ll need to take some time
and that’s a precious commodity
these days. (Read more about taking
time: Accessing Your Best Thinking.)
But even if you have taken the time
to become clear and consistent,
there are other obstacles that
aren’t in your control. Here’s a
simple example.
Recently I was presenting at an
off-site event to a group of
brilliant scientists. Their CEO had
asked me to spend a day on the
topic, “Creating Authentic
Connections with People.” I opened
the day stating the topic with those
exact words. Throughout the day of
exercises and discussions I
reiterated those exact words four
more times.
At the end of the day I asked them
what the topic for the day had been.
Twelve of these very smart men and
women gave their answers and not one
of them said the phrase, “Creating
Authentic Connections with People.”
Not one.
Why not? We’re talking about five
little words here! What was in the
way? Two things: first, their mental
capacity and, second, how we listen
to each other.
First, capacity. Their day had been
full of experiential learning. Their
capacity was pretty well used up
learning about the topic. They had
little capacity left to learn the
name of the topic.
Second, how we listen. To be honest,
I had not told them to listen for
the phrase. I had repeated the
phrase, yes, but I had not made it
important to them; I had not drawn
their attention to it. I had given
them no reason to listen to it. So
they’d listened to what they felt
was important–which is how we all
listen to the world around us.
That’s why numbers 3 and 4 above are
so critical.
Clark, on the other hand, is an
example of an executive who
addressed these issues very well.
The first time his secretary walked
me to his office, I couldn’t help
but notice a large sheet of flip
chart paper posted outside his door.
Five bold bullet points were written
on the chart. I stopped to read it
before stepping into his office.
During our opening moments of chat,
I asked him about that chart.
“Those are the only things my people
should be doing all year. If they’re
doing something else, they’re doing
the wrong thing. I want them to see
it every time they walk by.” I found
out later he mentioned his five
priorities at every staff meeting.
Verbatim.
Wouldn’t you like to think that if
we polled his group they’d be able
to quote those five bullet points
accurately?
Do you want your messages to stick
with people? Start by taking the
time to figure out what’s important
and reduce your messages down to
just a few core ideas. Then
wordsmith them until they’re as
catchy as can be. Make slogans or
memorable sayings. Then, say those
phrases over and over, the same way
every time. And be sure you talk
about why they’re important. Do
those four things and you’ll drive
your messages home. That’s The Look
& Sound of Leadership™ in action!
Read
related Tips:
Leading Change
Leading Teams
Sorting & Labeling |
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