Category: executive coaching

Ever see an executive fumble an answer to a question from a reporter, or maybe even an employee? Of course, it happens all the time. There are times when we simply may not want to answer a question, but the key reason for flubs is that we are unprepared to speak. One way to become more articulate is to prepare yourself in advance.

Essayist Arthur Krystal addresses inarticulateness and the power of writing to resolve it in a recent article for the New York Times Book Review. Krystal paraphrases an email interview with Harvard psychologist Steve Pinker and states, “thinking precedes writing and that the reason we sound smarter when writing is because we deliberately set out to be clear and precise.” Novelist Vladimir Nabokov, whom Krystal also cites, understood this and it’s why he used index cards during a televised interview recorded in the late Fifties about his book Lolita. Nabokov may have looked rumpled, but he spoke eloquently.

It’s a good lesson for every executive — be prepared before you speak. Such preparation is not reserved solely for major presentations; it also applies to impromptu messages that executives need to deliver constantly. I liken these leadership messages to elevator pitches in reference to their brevity (a short ride) but also their importance (selling a big idea).

Leadership is about persuasion — convincing others of the soundness of your point of view. Writing out your thoughts is good practice and I believe that doing so is not onerous because managers regularly script their thoughts in email. Here are three tips for preparing your leadership pitches to be more persuasive.

1. Think it through. Consider the key issues facing your team; it is a good idea to have a short leadership pitch for each one. What the issues are is up to you, but they should reflect the big things that are happening — initiatives, issues, and challenges. Your pitch needs to reflect your reasoning and your point of view as well as why people should support you and your idea.

2. Script it out. Write out your thoughts. This gives you the opportunity to focus on the issue and think about what you want to say. It’s always good to provide a short explanation and then segue into your argument. Leverage the business case for your idea and talk about the impact your idea will have on others and the on the organization.

3. Rehearse it. Yes, it is important to practice your messages out loud. Many executives I have coached practice on their drives to and from work. You might also use a voice recorder (often integrated into your mobile phone) to get used to delivering the message out loud. The recording is for you; no one else need listen. What’s more, as my colleague and consultant Kathy Macdonald advises, you can time yourself. That’s good practice for keeping messages short and tight. (Note: do not try to drive and record at the same time.)

Many of you reading this may be saying, “Great idea, but who’s got time for this?” My response is make time. One executive who helped me learn the importance of leadership messaging is Paul Saginaw, co-founder of Zingerman’s — once judged by Inc. magazine as “one of America’s coolest companies.” As Ann Arbor-based Zingerman’s grew from a deli to a collection of food-related businesses, the number of employees grew exponentially. Paul found himself stretched thin as all entrepreneurs do, but he disciplined himself to think ahead to how he could continue providing insight and direction to key employees. He prepared messages in advance so that if he encountered a person he needed to speak to he would have something cogent and coherent to say, not in greeting but in the form of tangible advice.

Preparing your key messages in advance has another advantage. It will help scripting more formal presentations easier because you will have a collection of key thoughts prepared. This will help you become a more fluent and polished presenter. And when you are asked questions, you will have the verbal dexterity to deliver a reply that shows command of the issues as well as an ease that radiates confidence.

First posted on HBR.org 9/30/2009

Sometimes it pays to shut up! Especially when you are really smart.

As a bright and capable performer, you will have plenty of opportunities to show what you know and how you know it but one thing you can never do is – show off! People in power don’t like it and people you work with find it annoying.

Smart people who know when to speak up and when to act on their initiatives are a special breed. Don’t squander your opportunities by showing off. Let your cool demeanor speak for you.

First posted on Smart Brief 11/01/2013

 

When President Barack Obama wrestled in 2009 with the issue of what to do next in Afghanistan, there is absolutely one thing he could not do: Make it personal. That is precisely the mistake that his predecessor, Lyndon Johnson made when escalating the war in Vietnam.

Again and again, as is made clear by listening to tapes of him in the Oval Office, Johnson personalized the war not as the United States versus North Vietnam (or Russia and China), but as LBJ against the world, be it the enemy abroad or those inside his administration and throughout the nation who protested the war.

Let us be clear, personalization is not the same as passion. Leaders need to have conviction about what they do; they need to love their work and the people who do it. That’s passion. By contrast, personalization is the conflation of ego and hubris; it causes a loss of focus because the executive puts what he wants to do ahead of what the company should do. Personalization is the enemy of the business case, and for that reason you should avoid it. So here are three questions that every leader must ask when making a decision that will have significant consequence on the organization.

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First posted on HBR.org 10/08/2009

 

What do people want most from leaders? The real deal!

This is especially true when leaders open their mouths to speak.  We want people in charge to be honest and we want their words to ring with integrity. Never is this truer than when the leader is making a formal presentation or delivering speech.

“The Leader’s Guide to Speaking with Presence” focuses on delivering the authentic message, and doing it as a leader full of presence. There are chapters on crafting the presentation as well as delivering it. Communication leads to authenticity. A leader’s presence affirms that what a leader says is an indication of what he believes. And when we sense that the leader means well we will want to follow his lead.

First posted on Smart Brief 11.13.2013

 

How can I sell this idea to my boss?

This is something that executive coaches hear regularly. It usually comes from someone seeking to lead from the middle. To begin to answer this question, let me tell you a story.

Ronald Reagan is credited with hastening the end of Cold War between the USSR and the USA. While he had long preached nuclear disarmament, his argument gained personal impetus after watching the made-for-TV movie, The Day After, which depicted the destruction of Lawrence, Kansas, after a nuclear blast. The movie, according to The Dead Hand, a recent history of the Cold War era by David Hoffman, left Reagan depressed for days and gave him even more resolve to seek nuclear banishment. Skeptics may scoff that it took a movie to influence the president, but as Hoffman explained on NPR’s Fresh Air, movies helped to shape Reagan’s world view.

Few managers who seek to influence upward have the resources to make a motion picture, but many managers have the cleverness and street smarts to craft an argument to win their cases. As I illustrate in my new book, Lead Your Boss, The Subtle Art of Managing Up, critical to developing a strong case is first and foremost to frame your argument according to the business case: why is it good sense for the organization to pursue your idea? Without a foundation based on either improving or saving the business, your idea has no chance; with it, you can begin.

To build upon your business case, you must frame your argument, in effect your sales pitch, in ways which appeal to the person with authority. Here’s how.

1. Adopt your boss’ point of view. Marshall Goldsmith taught me that if you want to influence the CEO then you need to see the world as he or she sees it. CEOs take a corporate-wide view of performance, of course, but each of them has hot button issues around products and services, employee morale, or their legacies. If you have a boss who’s a cost-cutter, frame your pitch as a means of cutting costs, or at least reducing expenses. Likewise if you have a boss who is focused on customer issues — frame your pitch as a way to improve customer service or product benefits. The angle of your pitch depends upon the boss’ interest.

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First posted on HBR.org on 10/14/2009

What about when you are pushed in front of the microphone or given very little prep time for something like an introduction of a guest speaker?

This question came from Tonya in response to my previous post on developing your leadership pitch.

Here’s the quick answer, you walk to the microphone and you smile. You take a moment to size up the audience and then you say what you have to say briefly and to the point. Most importantly, as they advise running backs who score touchdowns, act like you have been there before. The great ones hand the ball back the referee; the wannabes whoop and holler.

At the microphone, remain calm. Why? Because you are in control! Your stomach may be churning and your palms may be sweaty, but you must realize the microphone is in your hands. This is a little secret that I share with people I coach: people have to listen to you. Whether you croon or wax eloquent, the audience is at your mercy.

You are the master of your destiny, or at least the next five minutes. When you keep that thought in mind, you will realize that yes, you can do this. You can speak in front of an audience and you will be okay.

Such behavior is how you cultivate your leadership presence, a topic I address in, Lead Your Boss, The Subtle Art of Managing Up. I define leadership presence as earned authority. You may have a title, but you need to earn the respect and trust of your coworkers. Presence is rooted in fundamental competence, and for anyone who aspires to lead, presence is essential. Developing this is a long process that goes far beyond speaking in public.

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First posted on HBR.org 10.21.2009

Leaders need to inspire the trust of those they lead. When the heat is on, leaders need to radiate calmness, clarity and most of all confidence.

Belief in yourself is essential to leadership that must be communicated through words and example to others whom you are asked to lead. They are looking to their leader for direction as well as for hope and often inspiration.

A leader who shakes in his boots is not someone whom others want to follow.

First posted on Smart Brief on 12/23/2013 

Companies have the right to demand that employees pay attention to their jobs — it is a base requirement for performance. However, as the 2009 incident involving two Northwest Airlines pilots illustrates, when other issues are pressing, employees lose focus.

As the story goes, the pilots were trying to figure out the new Delta scheduling system that now governs what flights they’re assigned. (Delta acquired Northwest in 2008.) In doing so, they overshot their destination by 150 miles and did not respond to repeated queries from flight controllers. As reported in the New York Times, pilots’ lifestyles are affected by what schedules they work; every pilot works diligently to sign up for a schedule that best suits his or her needs.

Earlier in 2009, Northwest was correct in telling pilots to “Leave distractions about personal, corporate or other external issues outside of the flight deck.” But this overlooks a basic element of human behavior; it is not easy for people, even trained professionals, to turn off issues that are bothering them.

Pending mergers, suspected layoffs, or even management changes at the top cause employees to focus more on the unknown than what they know — their jobs. I have seen far too many organizations paralyzed for weeks, even months, when uncertainty hangs in the air. It is management’s job to get employees back to work. Here are some suggestions.

1. Raise the issue. Ignoring significant issues, like mergers or layoff rumors, is foolhardy. Employees think about these things, so you as a manager need to address them. Very often, rumors are rumors and can be punctured. That’s the easy part, but when rumors are reality and organizational changes are pending, unease sets in. Understand that as a manager you cannot make the issue go away, but you can be front and center explaining what you know. You also must assure people that you will be the first to announce changes as soon as you know them (and are permitted to disclose them).

 

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First posted on HBR.org 10/29/2009